| Conference Summary |
For the Indian Thermal Power Sector to bring latest and more efficient technology knowledge and partnership and also to simultaneously address the challenges of reducing carbon emissions by using efficient and latest Clean Coal Technologies, TREC-STEP, in partnership with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., has taken-up a major development initiative, funded by the European Union, under its project,‘ Developing a Cluster for Clean Coal Technologies (CCT) and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) for the Indian Thermal Power Sector’.Under the comprehensive project, this unique conference on CCT and CCS Technologies is organized as great knowledge share and networking event.
This two day Convergence Conference on Clean Coal and Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies provided the participants with valuable inputs on a spectrum of latest CCT and CCS Technologies successfully implemented in countries like UK, Germany, Italy, US, etc. The invited experts in CCT and CCS areas are with rich experience and have provided valuable knowledge inputs for the participants.
The resource persons and speakers in the conference include renowned experts from the European Commission, Belgium, International Energy Agency (IEA) Coal Research Ltd, UK, IEA Green House Gas R & D Programme, UK and major CCT CCS organizations across the world such as Foster Wheeler, Italy, ThyssenKrupp Uhde GmbH, Germany, Doosan Power Systems India, British Geological Survey, UK, University of Stuttgart, Germany, University of Darmstardt, Germany and University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA. These experts presented the latest knowledge and cutting edge skills in CCT CCS domain to further develop the capabilities, knowledge and skills of Indian Engineers in the thermal power sector in the CCT CCS domain.
This programme was conceptualized and designed, keeping in mind the specific requirements of the Professionals working in Thermal Power Plants, Policymakers, Entrepreneurs, Innovators, Academicians, etc. involved in Clean Coal Technologies and Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies. Nearly 300 + senior power sector professionals for BHEL Trichy and other units of BHEL, National Thermal Power Corporation NTPC, Central Power Research Institute CPRI, Neyveli Lignite Corporation NLC, Tamilnadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited TANGEDCO, Mettur Thermal Power Station, Tuticorin Thermal Power Station, North Chennai Thermal Power Station, Dr.Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station, Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Ltd MAHAGENCO - Nashik Thermal Power Station, other power sector players, CCT CCS and climate technology enthusiasts and academicians have also participated in the conference.
As one of the first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, this unique conference has been able to bring in great knowledge networks in CCT and CCS domain between the developed countries and India. This conference has been a culminating knowledge exchange, networking and dissemination platform of the EU supported project and has brought huge knowledge dividends to the Indian thermal power sector and will enable its climate friendly development in the future.
At the end of the conference, the participants provided feedback of the conference sessions and rated them as excellent. The participants remarked that it is an eye opener conference brining in new technologies in coal based power generation. The participants remarked that it was an eye opener conference brining in latest technologies in coal based power generation. They felt that the programme was well structured and covered almost all important areas in the CCT and CCS. The conference has also provided invaluable opportunity to learn new technologies and has been a good networking opportunity with the highly knowledgeable experts from the CCT and CCS domain.
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The Background, Relevance and Focus of the EU project…India being the third largest coal mining nation globally and also owing to the expected fivefold increase in the energy requirements in the next 20 years, India has the most compelling case for coal dependence for power generation. On the other hand, Indian coal with 45% or even higher ash content, poses challenges in efficiency improvements and also in reducing environmental footprints particularly when used for power generation. Several Clean Coal Technologies have been developed and deployed worldwide to improve the efficiency of the coal fired power plants and thereby to reduce the carbon emissions. The National Action Plan on Climate Change of India, for dealing with the climate change challenges incorporated a National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency of the industries. The national mission has also emphasized the efficiency improvements of the Indian coal fired power plants through clean coal technologies.
In line with this, the Government of India has also taken-up many important activities to increase the efficiency of the Indian coal fired power plants and thereby also reducing carbon footprints. Already, in the Twelfth Plan, about 50% of the coal based power plant capacity addition is expected to be based on super critical technology. For the Thirteenth Plan, it has been emphasized that all the coal fired power plants will be using super critical technology. The Government has also initiated several research and demonstration initiatives currently taken-up in Advanced Ultra Super Critical technology and Integrated Gasification Combines Cycle, etc. In line with these initiatives, this project with its comprehensive activity spectrum had organized a series of awareness build-up and capability development programmes, internships, study tours, demonstration and deployment projects, studies, innovation development and dissemination activities, creating an upsurge for CCT and CCS initiatives in India.
The project aims to develop and deploy a dedicated technology cluster for CCT and CCS, inclusive of main players in thermal power industry, policymakers, academic, international expert networks, etc, shall emerge as one of the beacons for the future for the CCT- CCS technology initiatives of the Indian thermal power industries. The Activity spectrum implemented so far includes:
Launch of the Cluster with major the Thermal power sector players, Academia and Industries. Established Enabling linkages with several international and national institutions in the CCT CCS Domain.
Four Capacity Leverage Programmes; both at awareness levels and also at skill leverage levels have been organized for 262 power sector participants.
Benchmarking and Learning study visits for 14 member team, visiting 15 EU centres of excellence in CCT CCS areas and also Internships for a 3 member team have been organized as great knowledge transfer and vision building initiatives for new developments in CCT CCS domain
Developed a comprehensive web platform and organized three studies for knowledge generation and dissemination.
By bringing together the power majors, including decision making bodies and policy makers, with a focused set of cluster development actions, aiming at awareness, training, benchmarking, international network development, the proposed project endeavors to support the development and deployment of clean coal initiatives in the country. Thus, the cluster and the actions of this project shall add new dimensions and momentum to CCT and CCS initiatives in India, through developing capacities, networks, dissemination, awareness, support and sustainability of the actions.
The project ‘Developing a Cluster for Clean Coal Technologies (CCT) and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Technologies for the Indian Thermal Power Sector’ is financed upto 60.24 % by the European Union (EU) through the European Commission, under the Thematic Programme for Environment and sustainable management of natural resources, including energy - Cooperation on clean coal technology (CCT) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the balance 39.76% is jointly funded by TREC-STEP through the Seed Fund and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Trichy. This project is being implemented by Tiruchirappalli Regional Engineering College – Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park (TREC-STEP), Tiruchirappalli, as the Implementing agency and in partnership with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Trichy.
As an important convergence activity under the European Union supported project, this Leverage Conference has been implemented, to disseminate new skills, technologies and techniques to the Indian Thermal Power Industry, in order to take-up effective CCT-CCS deployment actions in the near future . The main aims of the convergence conference were:
• To disseminate the state-of-the-art clean coal and carbon capture and storage technologies among the Indian Thermal Power Players,
• To provide a networking platform for the Indian Power Sector Players, Academia, Industry and others, for enabling knowledge linkages with national and also with international experts and eventually,
• To facilitate CCT CCS deployment and demonstration projects, in the near future.
The conference was mainly focused on the needs of Engineers from the Indian Power Plants, other Thermal Power Players, Policy Makers, Entrepreneurs and Innovators, Academicians, etc.
Conference Structure - Knowledge Exchange Platforms :-This Conference on Clean Coal and Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies has been organized for two days during 2nd and 3rd December, 2013, to provide the participants a very comprehensive exposure to new developments as well as tried and tested technologies in Clean Coal Technologies (CCT) and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Technologies successfully implemented,
• Clean Coal Technologies Developments and the Move Towards CO2 Capture,
• European Union – India bilateral energy cooperation – policies and strategies related to the use of coal
• Modern design and upgrading of coal power plants in India
• Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology for Indian and other coals
• Co-utilization of Coal and Bio-mass, Experience in Europe,
• Clean Coal Initiatives of BHEL,
• Developing a Cluster for Clean Coal and Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies for the Indian Thermal Power Sector Project
• IGCC: Towards zero emissions power plants,
• Carbon Capture and Storage: Developments, Potential and Challenges in the Global Context,
• IGCC power plants with carbon capture and storage
• Carbonate and Chemical Looping for Coal Fired Power Plants,
• Minimizing CO2 removal penalty in oxy-combustion plants Combustion
• Post Combustion CO2 Capture Technology: Current Status and Future Directions,
• BHEL’s Oxy-fuel combustion and Bio-mass Co-firing Projects
• Holistic Approach to Clean Coal Energy and Mining Management,
• The fate of injected CO2 and the potential for Geological storage of CO2 in India and
• Gasification of Indian Coal – Challenges and Opportunities
The international Experts participated have been specially identified from countries like the UK, Germany, Italy, US, etc. These experts are professionals working in the
• The European Commission, Belgium,
• International Energy Agency (IEA) Coal Research Ltd, UK,
• IEA Green House Gas R & D Programme, UK
• Foster Wheeler, Italy
• ThyssenKrupp Uhde GmbH, Germany,
• Doosan Power Systems India,
• British Geological Survey, UK,
• University of Stuttgart, Germany,
• University of Darmstardt, Germany and
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
These organizations / institutions have rich experience in CCT and CCS Technologies and have been able to provide valuable knowledge inputs for the Programme participants.
1. Dr. John Topper, CEO, International Energy Agency(IEA) Coal Research Ltd and CEO, IEA Environmental Projects, UK:
Dr. Topper, a Fellow of the Energy Institute and the Institution of Chemical Engineering, UK, is also a Chartered Engineer. He has over 4 decade expertise leading several clean coal projects in India, China and former Soviet countries. He delivered the first keynote presentation on Clean Coal Technology Developments and move towards CO2 Capture. The IEA roadmap for High Efficiency Low Emissions (HELE) has been presented for the Indian audience. His second presentation on Circulating Fluidised Bed Technology for Indian and other coals, presented the steady growth in the CFBC unit size and performance in other countries with a comparison of experiences in India.
Dr. Wilde with over 2 decades of rich expertise in the coal sector, has been actively involved in the development of all major initiatives taken in the coal policy domain, more specifically in the implementation of the EU strategy for technology development and innovation in the coal area in the European Commission from 2008. Dr. Wilde’s keynote presentation on European Union India bilateral energy cooperation: policies and strategies related to the use of coal, has elaborated on EU India efforts on the development and deployment strategies for clean coal technologies and advanced coal mining. European Business and Technology Centre EBTC’s activities were also presented in the session. Learnings from the EBTC’s recent publication on Clean Coal Technology Potential in India: An SME perspective has been disseminated during the session.
Mr. Padmanabhan’s over 2 decades of rich expertise in Boiler performance and process, Equipment Engineering of Boiler Auxiliaries has been succinctly encapsulated in his session on Modern design and upgrading of coal power plants in India. His parallel session on Efficiency improvement through advanced coal fired power plant technologies for Indian coal discussed in detail the Doosan Power system India’s recent successful projects on providing energy efficient enhanced R and M solutions for the Indian power plants. This session has provided invaluable and unique insights in the R and M area for the participants.
Prof. Dr. Klaus Hein has rich experience of over 4 decades in reputed firms and institution in specific areas such as power station technology for cycle efficiency, environmental performance and international cooperation. He has received several awards for the outstanding contribution to the scientific / technological achievements in power plant efficiency projects in Europe, China and the USA. This rich experience was particularly beneficial and well presented to the Indian audience in his 2 sessions on Co-utilization of Coal and Bio-mass Experience in Europe and a separate parallel session on Bio-mass utilization in Europe. Both the sessions provided the participants with an in-depth knowledge on Bio-mass utilization and co-combustion with essential lessons learned from the successful projects at Europe.
Mr. M. Muthukrishna, with his intensive, over 3 decades of experience in fluidized Bed boilers, Heat Recovery Steam Generators and Industrial boilers and also in currently leading the BHEL Coal Research team on Advanced Ultra Super Critical Technology, IGCC, FBC boiler development, etc. has succinctly brought his experience into his session on the Clean Coal Initiatives of BHEL. His session covered the improved technologies for enhancing the overall efficiency of Thermal Power plants and the CCT projects taken up by BHEL such as the IGCC, CFBC development, Ultra super critical and also on the research project on Advanced Ultra super critical, etc..
Mr. Jawahar, has rich and rewarding development experience spanning more than 2 decades in innovation development, incubation of knowledge led ventures and technology skills. He has lead the TREC-STEP team in successful implementation of several EU, World Bank, UNDP, UNIDO, British Council Division projects. He has elaborated on the Project actions successfully implemented under the EU supported Developing a cluster of Clean Coal and Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies project.
7. Dr. Prachi Singh, Project Officer, IEA Green House Gas R & D Programme (IEAGHG), UK:
Dr. Prachi Singh is a Post doctoral fellow with specialization in Post combustion capture areas on Solvent Development for CO2 Absorption Process. She is actively involved in several IEAGHG’s post combustion projects in UK. In her first session of Carbon Capture and Storage: Developments, Potential and Challenges in the Global Context, the current state of several CCS projects around the world were discussed. Her second session on Post Combustion CO2 Capture Technology: Current Status and Future Directions elaborated on many successful post combustion CO2 capture projects, potential improvement areas, 2nd and 3rd generation post combustion capture technologies such as enzymes based solvent, biphasic/phase separation solvents, solid sorbent adsorbent process and membrane separation.
Prof. Dr. Ing. Bernd Epple has extensive experience in design, construction and processing of modern power plants in reputed industries. He has successfully erected and operated a 1MW test field for more than 2000 hrs for chemical and carbonate looping technology at the Technische Universitat Darmstadt. His experience has been well presented in his session on Carbonate and Chemical Looping for coal fired power plants elaborating on the processes, developments, challenges, benefits in comparison with other CCS technologies, etc. for the benefit of the conference participant.
Mr. Mancuso has extensive experience with many reputed companies in the design of fossil based power and chemical generation plants, also in feasibility study, basic design and detailed engineering phases of several power projects across the world. His comprehensive sessions on Developments of Oxy-fuel CFB Technology for Power Generation and Minimizing CO2 removal penalty in oxy-combustion plants have discussed in detail the most recent technology advances, focusing on the integration of the capture unit with the power plants, mainly in the area of thermal heat recovery, pollutant control and quality of the CO2 produced.
Dr. Seepana is a post doctoral fellow with the specialization in the area of oxy-fuel combustion. His session on BHEL’s oxy-fuel combustion and Bio-mass Co-firing projects discussed in detail the processes and developments in the above two demonstration projects taken-up by BHEL under the EU supported project. The study results from projects were also elaborated in the session.
Dr. Shen-En Chen has practical experience in workings in the project which has already injected 7500 tons of CO2 in the Rodessa Formation in Alabama, US. He is also currently working with the China University of Mining Technology in carbon sequestration in coal mines using mineral sequestration technique. His interesting session on Holistic Approach to Clean Coal Energy and Mining Management has elaborated on the holistic approach of using coal wastes and mine voids utilization in land management, carbon control, seismic and disaster protection and energy storage for off-peak and long term utilities.
12. Mr. John Williams, Geoscientist, British Geological Survey, UK
Mr. Williams has extensively worked in the IEAGHG R &D Programme’s research project on assessing the regional potential for geological storage of CO2 in India. He has also contributed to other CO2 storage capacity projects focused on UK, Europe, China and South Africa. His session on the fate of injected CO2 and the potential for geological storage of CO2 in India, elaborated on the different CO2 trapping mechanisms and the fate of CO2 in each case. The CO2 storage capacity and potential areas in India, such as oil and gas fields, coal seams and saline water bearing reservoir rocks were discussed in detail.
Dr. Toporov has rich experience in the Gasification Technology and oxy-coal combustion technology. He has led many important projects in the gasification area in his company. His session of Gasification of Indian Coal – Challenges and Opportunities described the two technology options for coal gasification based on entrained flow and bubbling fluidized bed. He also elaborated on the necessary technological steps for choosing the best gasification technology for particular coal quality. He also contributed sessions on the IGCC – Towards zero emission power plants and also IGCC power plants with CCS for the benefit of the conference participants.
This programme was conceptualized and designed, keeping in mind the specific requirements of the Professionals working in Thermal Power Plants, Policymakers, Entrepreneurs, Innovators, Academicians, etc. involved in Clean Coal Technologies and Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies.
300 + senior professionals from BHEL Trichy and other units of BHEL, National Thermal Power Corporation NTPC, Central Power Research Institute CPRI, Neyveli Lignite Corporation NLC, Tamilnadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited TANGEDCO, Mettur Thermal Power Station, Tuticorin Thermal Power Station, North Chennai Thermal Power Station, Dr.Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station, Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Ltd MAHAGENCO - Nashik Thermal Power Station, other power sector players, CCT CCS and climate technology enthusiasts and academicians have also participated in the conference. At the end of the conference, the participants provided feedback of the conference sessions and rated them as excellent. The participants remarked that it is an eye opener conference brining in new technologies in coal based power generation. The participants remarked that it was an eye opener conference brining in latest technologies in coal based power generation. They felt that the programme was well structured and covered almost all important areas in the CCT and CCS. The conference has also provided invaluable opportunity to learn new technologies and has been a good networking opportunity with the highly knowledgeable experts from the CCT and CCS domain.
TREC-STEP organized Inaugural event for this Conference on Clean Coal and Carbon Capture and Storage Technology to provide effective visibility for the project and its actions.
The Inaugural Event:
Mr. A. V. Krishnan, Executive Director, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Trichy, Dr Marion Wilde, Policy Officer, European Commission (EC) Directorate General for Energy, Belgium and Dr. John Topper, CEO, IEA Coal Research Ltd IEA Environmental Projects Ltd, UK, graced the Inaugural event held on 2nd December, 2013 at 10 am. All the special guests delivered encouraging and informative addresses during the Inaugural event and Mr. RMP. Jawahar, Executive Director, TREC-STEP has delivered the Project Briefing Address in the Inaugural Event. The event has received good media coverage. Three English dailies and 6 Tamil dailies have covered the Inaugural event. The event was also covered by 10 TV channels from the state.