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Air Products’ green technology wins Rushlight carbon capture award

12^th February 2009 —A team led by Air Products and including Imperial College London and Doosan Babcock Energy Ltd. were presented the Rushlight Carbon Capture and Storage Award 2008 for work addressing impurity removal in carbon dioxide (CO₂) waste streams from coal-fired power plants.  CO₂ purification is an essential requirement for the compression, transport and potentially sequestration of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.  The Rushlight Awards promote and celebrate the leading environmental technologies and innovations by organisations throughout the UK and Ireland.  The award, received in a London ceremony in late January, was presented by Professor Gordon MacKerron of the University of Sussex. 

Ian Brass, Air Products’ marketing manager for Tonnage Gases in Europe, Middle-East & Africa, accepted the award at the event: “We are very proud to have received this award on behalf of the project team. It is a true recognition that technology can play an important part in making carbon capture and storage a real option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and is an important and practical approach to the issue of CO₂ purification. It also rewards technology that demonstrates novel advancement and shows evidence of progress in energy efficiency.”

Air Products is currently working on a number of carbon capture and storage demonstration projects across the world.  Air Products’ oxyfuel technology can reduce the cost of capturing CO₂ for the power industry.  The company has specifically focused on the purification of the resulting oxyfuel combustion flue gas, developing a robust process for the efficient removal of trace impurities. Air Products' proprietary sour compression technology uses a staged compression process to optimize pressure, hold-up and residence time, allowing removal of impurities during the compression process. This technology can allow cost savings in the oxyfuel combustion process and minimizes the content of these components in the sequestered CO₂. 

Air Products' oxyfuel sour compression technology has been demonstrated in experimental work carried out by Imperial College London with actual flue gas from a 160kW coal-fired rig at Doosan Babcock in Renfrew, Scotland, as part of the Oxycoal-UK Project. Air Products has also announced another CO₂ capture study for gasification in collaboration with the Alberta Energy Research Institute. The study, focused on advanced carbon dioxide capture technology for use with gasification, is entitled ‘Advanced Hydrogen and CO₂ Capture Technology for Sour Syngas’ and is expected to be completed by October 2010.

Notes to the editors

For more information on Air Products' CO₂ and purification technologies please visit www.airproducts.com/CO2_capture

The “Oxycoal 2” project is supported by the UK’s Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) under its Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Carbon Abatement Technologies (HFCCAT) Demonstration Program. The lead company for the project is Doosan Babcock Energy Limited. Scottish and Southern Energy is the prime sponsor of the effort, with other sponsors and participants including: Air Products Plc, DONG Energy Generation, Drax Power Limited, EDF Energy, E.ON UK PLC, and Scottish Power, as well as Imperial College, London and University of Nottingham.

For more information on the project: http://www.airproducts.com/PressRoom/CompanyNews/Archived/2008/13Oct2008.htm  
http://www.airproducts.com/PressRoom/CompanyNews/Archived/2008/17Nov2008.htm

About Air Products

Air Products (NYSE:APD) serves customers in industrial, energy, technology and healthcare markets worldwide with a unique portfolio of atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, and equipment and services. Founded in 1940, Air Products has built leading positions in key growth markets such as semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, home healthcare services, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. The company is recognized for its innovative culture, operational excellence and commitment to safety and the environment. Air Products has annual revenues of over $10 billion, operations in more than 40 countries, and 21,000 employees around the globe. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com.