Water Requirements for Fossil-Based
Electricity Plants with and without
Carbon Capture
Erik Shuster / Jeff Hoffmann
National Energy Technology Laboratory
Office of Systems, Analyses, and Planning
9/15/2009
Generation
Generation 2030
Generation 2007
5,055 Billion kWhr
4,159 Billion kWhr
Renewables
8%
Other
1%
Renewables
16%
+22%
Nuclear
19%
Natural Gas
21%
Coal
49%
Total
Nuclear
18%
Other
<1%
Coal
46%
Natural Gas
19%
Petroleum
2%
Coal 2007
2,021 Billion kWhr
Petroleum
1%
+14%
Coal
2
Sources: US Energy Information Agency Annual Energy Outlook 2009, ARRA
Coal 2030
2,311 Billion kWhr
Competing Water Demands
•2000 Thermoelectric water
requirements:
U.S. Freshwater Withdrawal1
– Withdrawal: ~ 136 BGD
Domestic, 1%
Public Supply, 13%
– Consumption: ~ 4 BGD
Irrigation, 40%
Thermoelectric, 39%
U.S. Freshwater Consumption2
Mining, 1%
Thermoelectric, 3%
Livestock, 1%
Mining, 1%
Industrial, 3%
Industrial, 5%
Commercial, 1%
Domestic, 6%
Aquaculture, 1% Livestock, 3%
• Thermoelectric power plants compete with
other sectors.
3
Sources: 1USGS, Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000, USGS Circular 1268, March 2004
2USGS, Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 1995, USGS Circular 1200, 1998
Irrigation, 81%
Water Flow Schematic
Coal Power Plant
4
Water Flow Schematic
IGCC Power Plant
5
Water Flow Schematic
Coal Power Plant w/ Carbon Capture
6
Water Balances
• Ambient conditions typical of a Generic
Midwestern site
• Greenfield Plants w/ and w/out CO2
Capture
– PC w/ wet FGD
– IGCC
• Slurry Feed
• Dry Feed
• Wet Cooling Systems
Cost and Performance Baseline for Fossil Energy Power Plants study,
Volume 1: Bituminous Coal and Natural Gas to Electricity Rev 1 8/2007
7
http://www.netl.doe.gov/energy-analyses/pubs/Bituminous%20Baseline_Final%20Report.pdf
Water Withdrawal
Water Withdrawal, gal/MWhr
Fossil-Based Plants
90% increase
1,400
87% increase
1,200
1,000
41% increase
59% increase
72% increase
800
600
400
200
0
w/o Carbon Capture and Compression
w Carbon Capture and Compression
8
96% increase
Pulverized Coal Plant
9
Pulverized Coal Plant with CO2 Capture
~89%
Increase in
Withdrawal
10
Slurry-Feed IGCC
11
Slurry-Feed IGCC w/ CO2 Capture
41% Increase
in Withdrawal
12
Dry-Feed IGCC
13
Dry Feed IGCC w/CO2 Capture
72% Increase
in Withdrawal
14
NETL’s Water Needs Report
Thermoelectric Power Generation
coal steam, combined cycle, other
fossil steam, and nuclear
Projected national and regional
freshwater withdrawal and
consumption through 2030
Examined water use of deployed
coal-fired power plants with
carbon capture technologies
15
www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/coalpower/ewr/pubs/2008_Water_Needs_Analysis-Final_10-2-2008.pdf - 2008-10-03
% Increase Freshwater Withdrawal for CoalFired Power Generation (2030)
9%
8%
7%
6%
5%
Make-Up
Retrofits
New Builds
4%
3%
2%
1%
0%
Scenario 1 - No
Make-up
Scenario 2 - New
IGCC
Scenario 3 - New
Supercritical
Base: 66 BGD Coal-fired generation fleet with no capture
16
% Increase Freshwater Consumption for CoalFired Power Generation (2030)
130%
120%
110%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Make-Up
Retrofits
New Builds
Scenario 1 - No
Make-up
Scenario 2 - New
IGCC
Scenario 3 - New
Supercritical
Base: 3.2 BGD Coal-fired generation fleet with no capture
17
http://www.netl.doe.gov/energy-analyses
18