THORCLEANPOWER.COM
ABOUT US
Imagine a future where coal and biomass can be used to fuel power plants that have no smoke stacks because there are no emissions.  THOR CleanPower has imagined this future and can help make it a reality. The effort has been underway for years and now is the time to begin work directly with governments and power companies to begin realizing the benefits. The world needs this and we are responding.
THOR
THOR is a proprietary new technology that represents a totally different thermodynamic approach in power plant design. Based on high-pressure oxy-fuel chemistry, THOR (an acronym for THermodynamic Oxycombustion Reaction system), combines the combustion of any carbonaceous fuel, including coal, oil, natural gas, and biomass with near-zero air emissions and no smoke stack. It effectively captures carbon dioxide in clean, pressurized liquid form ready for sequestration or beneficial reuse. THOR promises to achieve carbon capture with superior power plant thermal efficiency due to its novel process design and is projected to produce significant economic and environmental advantages over competing carbon capture technologies.
CLEAN AIR & WATER
Clean air and water are paramount to protecting the health of national populations. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms that air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk claiming over 7 million lives annually. In order to protect its citizens, governments and industry must chart new pathways to reduce or eliminate contributing factors to this serious problem. Clearly, burning fossil fuels to generate electricity is a major source of both air and water pollution.
Global water pollution is an equally serious issue. Water pollution is one of the leading worldwide causes of deaths and diseases, accounting for the deaths of more than 14,000 people daily. An estimated 580 people in India die of water pollution related illness every day.
THOR CleanPower's process addresses both issues by eliminating virtually all air emissions as well as cleaning and detoxifying all water discharged from the facility.
IMPROVED PLANT EFFICIENCY
Oxycombustion of coal produces a flue gas of CO2 and H2O or water vapor. THOR's high pressure allows this vapor to be condensed at a much higher temperature than would occur under conventional atmospheric operating conditions. As a result, the thermodynamic quality of the condensing heat can be used for high value purposes such as feedwater heating to improve power plant cycle efficiency. Further, condensation at elevated pressure allows the removal and capture of all air pollutants, including CO2, NOX, SO2, SO3, Hg and particulates. As a result, the recovery of the heat of condensation of water vapor at useful temperatures, integrated pollution control and CO2 condensation at ambient temperature enable the THOR system to mitigate the energy demands associated with carbon capture.
Pressurized combustion also leads to a significant reduction in furnace volume and heat exchanger sizes compared to ambient air or non-pressurized oxygen fired systems. In addition to lower specific gas volumes, we have found significantly enhanced convective heat transfer rates due to pressure. In short, a THOR power plant can be up to 10 times smaller than a conventional power plant of equal thermal output, significantly reducing plant construction costs.
THOR can be utilized for new fossil-fired generation facilities with advanced steam parameters, including supercritical and ultra-supercritical specifications, and incorporates unique technical and cost advantages for repowering existing power fleets.
REPOWERING VS. NEW PLANT CONSTRUCTION
The decision of whether to repower existing power plant facilities (i.e. convert them into more efficient, less polluting and more fuel-flexible plants) or build new power plants is predicated on several factors.
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Repowering is less costly than building new plants since typically only the plant's power island (combustion system) is replaced. Virtually all of the plants remaining infrastructure is retained for future use. In most cases it is cheaper to repower an existing coal plant than to build a new gas-fired power plant.
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Repowering with the proprietary THOR combustion technology allows the plant owner/operator to convert the older, conventional power plant into a zero air emission, CO2 capture facility immune to future air emission regulatory issues. It will be a more efficient facility, use less water (even produce water in many instances) and be totally fuel flexible. In addition, the THOR system can be designed to match existing plant process flow and turbine metrics.
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A brand new THOR facility will cost appreciably more than a THOR repower but much less than the construction of a new conventional fossil-fuel plant. New construction should be considered if 1) the existing power plant and associated infrastructure is close to the end of its projected life, or 2) there is no existing power to service the energy needs of a new or rapidly expanding geographical market.
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In short, repowering with THOR is the cheapest and most expedient method of attaining regulatory compliance, including CO2 capture as well as the elimination of other toxic emissions associated with the combustion of fossil fuels (e.g. mercury, particulates, NOX, and SOX).
THOR ENHANCED MICROGRID
For the past century, affordable electrification has been based on economies of scale, with large generating plants producing hundreds or thousands of megawatts of power, which is sent to distant users through a transmission and distribution grid. Today, many issues are complicating that simple model, including critical issues associated with protecting human health and the environment.
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These issues, along with the economic limits of this model, has given rise to the "microgrid" concept. Microgrids, also known as Distributed Energy Resources ("DER"), are small decentralized power generation facilities - typically less than 20Mw - that provide electricity to existing grids (especially those that are subject to intermittent disruptions) and/or independent, stand alone facilities providing electricity to small rural or isolated geographical areas where large-scale power plants are not economically viable.
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Because they are technically intelligent, microgrids can optimize when and how they combine the use of central grid and local distributed energy resources. Should the main grid go down they are designed to allow decoupling from main grid to continue to supply power to local customers.
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Recent microgrid designs are typically built around emission-free, renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar, making them ideal green energy resources. However, as with most renewable energy technologies, they are subject to power supply disruptions due to the nature of their energy sources - the sun doesn't always shine nor does the wind always blow.
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Incorporating a zero-emission THOR power plant would provide an element of reliability that renewable energy cannot achieve alone. THOR's small footprint vs. output ratio, along with its zero air emission design, fuel flexibility, and ability to dispatch power on a 24/7 basis, results in a reliable and environmentally sustainable microgrid facility.
A THOR enhanced microgrid facility could play a key role in bringing emission-free, sustainable electricity to the over 1 billion people around the world that currently are without power. The International Energy Agency ("IEA") estimates that to achieve its goal of universal access to electricity, "70% of rural areas that lack access will need to be connected using microgrids or off-grid solutions." This is especially true for countries with large scattered rural populations such as India and China.
CO2 CAPTURE
Design follows intention. From the beginning, THOR was developed as a zero-air emission technology, especially designed to capture toxic air emissions including CO2 – a leading greenhouse gas ("GHG") and major contributor to Climate Change. There are two primary methods of capturing CO2 – at the combustion stage or at the exhaust stage (i.e. the flue gas from the smoke stack). THOR captures CO2 during the combustion stage (along with other toxic materials including particulates, mercury, SOX and NOX) thereby eliminating the need of a smoke stack altogether. Not only is this approach less costly to operate, but creates numerous ancillary economic benefits and process efficiencies.
Although scientists are working to develop creative uses for captured CO2, the two options currently being most pursued are (1) sequestration, i.e. injection in certain geological strata for long-term storage, or (2) used for enhanced oil recovery ("EOR"), i.e. the CO2 is pumped into oil reservoirs to extract residual oil unable to be recovered through conventional drilling methods.
Whatever CO2 capture method is used there are two things that need to be addressed:
* CO2 needs to be pressurized and ready for transport and sequestration
* Acid gasses, water and inert gasses and total pressure must meet tight pipeline specifications
THOR's CO2 condensation process enables distillation to meet these specifications.
APPROACH
THOR CleanPower stands ready to provide its clients with an expert engineering team equipped with the in-depth knowledge and diverse skills necessary to meet various challenges across industries. Through power plant operation, we draw on our expertise and experience to reduce technical risks and promote the highest level of process performance. We're constantly looking for innovative new advancements and technologies to ensure the smartest and most optimal solutions. THOR CleanPower's underlying business strategy is to expedite market penetration by leveraging its technical advantages over conventional power generation process methods.
DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE
Over the past decade, THOR CleanPower, in conjunction with key energy industry entities, has successfully completed extensive research and development associated with pressurized oxycombustion. The next step in commercialization of this unique and timely technology is the design, construction and operation of a pilot plant which will provide the final technical data necessary to design, construct and operate a large-scale commercial THOR facility.
PRODUCTION & OPERATION
Operation of the pilot plant is vital to finalizing the economics and technical design for a large-scale THOR commercial facility – whether as a greenfield project or retrofit of an existing power plant. This includes providing overall system analysis and compatibility testing vital to system reliability, operational safety, optimizing life-cycle performance and the validation of environmental benefits. – all of which are key elements in securing necessary regulatory permits as well as project funding.
Each stage of plant operation is scrutinized in order to meet THOR CleanPower's certification for a safe, stable and built-to-last THOR power generation facility that contributes to reducing the effects of climate change while maximizing the plant's return on investment (ROI).
BENEFITS
At THOR CleanPower, everything we do is driven by our goals of providing best-in-class engineering services for all clients. This means acting with social and environmental responsibility and integrity. It also entails producing high-quality results that are long-lasting and sustainable.
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The proposed technology is extremely valuable because it is expected to deliver the following specific benefits:
A totally different approach for power generation from fossil fuels that eliminates all air emissions, including SOX, NOX, CO2, Hg, and Particulates
Permanent solution for future regulatory risks
Significant CAPEX reduction (THOR plants can be up to 10 times smaller than atmospheric systems of equal power output)
Utilizes full range of combustion resources including coal, pet coke, lignite, natural gas, oil, and biomass (as well as many carbon-based industrial waste products)
Significant improvement in operating efficiencies due to:
9 times greater heat transfer rate
latent heat recovery
increased steam temperature, pressure and reheats
ability to operate across all pressure ranges
Achieves supercritical and ultra-supercritical steam conditions
Can be designed to accommodate existing plant turbines and infrastructure
Provides option to include Brayton Cycle
Captured CO2 is pipeline ready for transport and sale to industrial users (i.e. oil and gas industry, others)
Processed water from coal or natural gas combustion can be used as a water supply for further plant operations or for agricultural use
Existing fossil fuel-fired power plants can be repowered to meet all current and future air emission regulations at significantly less than the cost of total replacement
Provide opportunity to create new manufacturing base for entire process train for host country including export of products and technology