Coal-fired Power Generation Plant Research Articles

Ultrasonic measurement of temperature distributions in extreme environments: Electrical power plants testing in utility-scale steam generators

Thermal heterogeneities within energy conversion and storage, material processing, nuclear processes, aerospace, and military applications are often inaccessible to characterization by insertion sensors. When sensor deployment is possible, conventional pointwise temperature probes quickly degrade when inserted into harsh environments typical of such processes. We developed spatially-resolved ultrasonic thermometry to noninvasively measure the spatial distributions of thermal properties in such applications, even when sizable thermal gradients are present. Our method divides the path of ultrasonic propagation into segments bound by echogenic features, which create echoes in pulse-echo mode, encoding the information about interior temperature distributions. We use the acquired ultrasonic responses to estimate the internal temperature distributions by solving an inverse problem or concatenating segmental estimates. This work describes the implementation and industrial testing of the developed method at a coal-fired electrical power generation plant. We inserted an echogenically segmented Inconel 625 waveguide into the combustion zone of the utility-scale boiler and continuously acquired ultrasonic data while keeping sensitive components away from the damaging combustion environment. The accuracy of the time-dependent temperature distributions reconstructed from the ultrasonic measurements was comparable to that of thermocouples. The resiliency of ultrasonic thermometry to harsh combustion conditions was far superior to conventional insertion sensors. The measurements obtained during plant operation captured daily steam generation cycles in response to changing customer demand and intermittent contributions of renewable power sources to the power grid. These measurements have revealed new insights into the relationship between the dynamic power generation load and the conditions inside the steam generator. The successful industrial testing of spatially-resolved ultrasonic thermometry in solids indicates that the developed technology has matured to become an attractive alternative to conventional sensing in solving challenging problems of long-term thermal characterizations in extreme environments.

Technical-economic-environmental analysis of biomass direct and indirect co-firing in pulverized coal boiler in China

An analysis was conducted on two integrated models involving direct co-firing and pyrolysis co-firing systems within a typical 600 MW coal-fired power generation plant. The study assessed the performance of various biomass sources (sawdust, corn straw, and rice husk) using distinct co-firing ratios (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) across technological, environmental, and economic dimensions. The findings revealed that in terms of thermal and exergy efficiency, the pyrolysis co-firing approach exhibited lower results compared to direct co-firing. Notably, among the biomasses tested, sawdust demonstrated the least impact on boiler efficiency. The CO2 emission was estimated by the Life Cycle Assessment method. The emission of the conventional boiler, along with direct and pyrolysis co-firing of corn straw at a 20% ratio, resulted in CO2 emissions of 1.075 kg, 0.954 kg, and 0.942 kg per 1kWh of electricity, respectively. The different feeding methods were also discussed, providing technically and economically rational options for coal-fired power plants. The economic feasibility of both co-firing systems was also proposed. At carbon tax rates of 410 CNY/t and 464 CNY/t for the direct co-firing and pyrolysis co-firing models respectively, the operational cost of the co-firing systems becomes comparable to that of a coal-fired boiler. However, when the by-product price exceeds 3700 CNY/t, the pyrolysis co-firing model becomes the more economically favorable option. This study primarily concentrates on investigating the real-world application and effective utilization of biomass co-firing systems within the specific framework of China's energy scenario.

Sustainability assessment of the oxy-combustion coal-fired power plant using low-grade fuel

In line with global efforts to reduce emissions, the integration of coal-fired power generation plants with carbon capture technologies has been investigated. Low-rank coal is gaining interest as coal price is on an increasing trend in recent years, however, an air-combustion of low-rank coal without CO2 capture shows a high specific CO2 emission of 869 kgCO2/MWh. This work presents a comparative assessment of post-combustion CO2 capture and oxy-combustion retrofitted to a low-rank coal-based power plant from the viewpoints of economics and sustainability. Post-combustion CO2 capture leads to an 82.7 % reduction in the specific CO2 emission (of 151 kgCO2/MWh) with a CO2 avoidance cost of 47.5 USD/tonCO2. Oxy-combustion is shown to be more competitive for CO2 capture applications, achieving a 97.3 % reduction in the specific CO2 emission (of 23.8 kgCO2/MWh) with a CO2 avoidance cost of 37.7 USD/tonCO2. As results of sensitivity analysis, the low-rank coal-based oxy-combustion power plant is more economically and environmentally attractive.

NO2 emissions from oil refineries in the Mississippi Delta

Of the >17,943 thousand barrels per calendar day (bbl/d) of oil refining capacity located in the US, the Petroleum Administration for Defense District 3 (PADD-3) region has the largest number of refineries and accounts for >53 % (or 9607 tbbl/d) of all US oil refining capacity. Processing facilities in this area are mainly located on the Gulf of Mexico coast in Texas and Louisiana. This study selected a sub-region for analysis within the Mississippi River delta in the state of Louisiana between the cities of New Orleans and Baton Rouge. This region is characterized by intensive industrial activity connected with oil refining and related activities. The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) detected highly localized NO2 vertical column densities (VCDs) over the two largest US refineries in Baton Rouge (503,000 bbl/d) and Garyville (578,000 bbl/d). TROPOMI NO2 VCD over these stations were 100 μmol/m2 and 80 μmol/m2, respectively. A high correlation coefficient (r = 0.65, p < 0.05) was also found between TROPOMI NO2 and population density. Data from the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) showed high NOx emissions from refineries and other industries including coal-fired power generation, chemical, and aluminum processing plants. The results of the NO2 analysis are of practical interest for a comparative assessment of air pollution, as well as for the exchange of best practices in the field of low-waste fuel combustion technologies.

A baseline characterization of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration and releases in Nova Scotia, Canada

Three industrial facilities (a kraft pulp mill, a tire manufacturing, and a coal-fired power generation plant), have operated in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Canada for more than 50 years. The local population, including an Indigenous community, has raised concerns for several decades about the environmental and human health impacts of local air and effluent pollution. Numerous studies have reported negative air, water, sediment, and ecological and human health impacts in the region. However, previous studies mainly focused on wastewater effluent discharge from the kraft pulp mill, with only a few studies focused on air pollution. These limited air pollution studies pointed out the pulp mill as the primarily responsible for local emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), but with high levels of uncertainty. This study analyzed hourly and daily PM2.5 concentrations measured at an air quality monitoring station in Pictou (part of the National Air Pollution Surveillance [NAPS] network) between 2004 and 2021. For events of high PM2.5 concentrations (which occurred predominantly in April and May in 2014 and 2015), air masses were tracked using the HYSPLIT model to evaluate if long-range transboundary pollution could have contributed to PM2.5 concentration. Results suggest that the pulp mill was likely the primary source of high PM2.5 concentrations recorded at the Pictou NAPS station. Measured PM2.5 concentrations only met the desirable air quality management concentrations after the pulp mill installed a recovery boiler electrostatic precipitator in October 2015 to reduce PM2.5 emissions.

Mechanochemical Characterisation of Calcined Impure Kaolinitic Clay as a Composite Binder in Cementitious Mortars

The availability of some supplementary cementitious materials, especially fly ash, is of imminent concern in Europe due to the projected closure of several coal-fired power generation plants. Pure kaolinitic clays, which arguably have the potential to replace fly ash, are also scarce and expensive due to their use in other industrial applications. This paper examines the potential utilisation of low-grade kaolinitic clays for construction purposes. The clay sample was heat-treated at a temperature of 800 °C and evenly blended with Portland cement in substitutions of 10–30% by weight. The physical, chemical, mineralogical and mechanical characteristics of the blended calcined clay cement were determined. The Frattini test proved the pozzolanic potential of the calcined impure clay, as a plot of its CaO and OH− was found below the lime solubility curve. The 28 days compressive strengths trailed the reference cement by 5.1%, 12.3% and 21.7%, respectively, at all replacement levels. The optimum replacement level between the three blends was found to be 20 wt.%.

Modelling of dew point operating conditions in a rotary regenerative air heater

Dew point related fouling of regenerative rotary air heaters contributes to efficiency reduction of coal-fired boilers. This fouling commonly causes high pressure differences over the air heater steel matrix, along with elevated leakage rates, resulting in increased loading of draught group fans. These increases also conduce to excessive erosion rates, introducing premature failure of element packs and draught group components. The research problem aimed to develop, and validate, a modelling tool to predict the onset of dew point related fouling for regenerative rotary air heaters (VBA RAH model). A modelling tool equip system engineers with the knowledge to enhance operating conditions and maintenance strategies, to prevent the onset of dew point related fouling. The results yielded that the cold end of the air heater packs experience sulphuric acid dew point related fouling for at 670MW(90% MCR), at 544MW(80% MCR) and at 468MW(68% MCR) of the exposure time to the flue gas stream. Different operating and design change configurations were simulated to find potential solutions to minimize dew point related fouling and improving boiler efficiency. The tool provides a platform for identifying methods to reduce maintenance costs and production losses, which will contribute to improved and sustainable operating of coal fired power generation plants.

Cost analysis of environmental protection price of coal-fired plants in China.

In the paper, the achievements obtained from carrying out the policy of environmental protection price for promoting air pollution control in coal-fired power plants in China during more than a decade were summarized. Based on the situation of current electricity market reform, the role and effectiveness of environmental protection price for controlling the normal air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and dust in China's coal-fired power generation plants, were investigated, including the price structure of electricity environmental protection for coal-fired power generation enterprises in different regions, generating units, and power demands. The policy suggestions were proposed, namely, the reform of electricity environmental protection price would be carried out gradually, the relationship between electricity environmental protection price policy and other environmental protection policies would be matched under the relative overcapacity condition, and the environmental protection price regulation would be integrated into other environmental policies.

Sustainable cultivation of Nannochloropsis gaditana microalgae in outdoor raceways using flue gases for a complete 2-year cycle: a Circular Economy challenge

This research was undertaken in the framework of the Circular Economy. Its aim is to assess the technical feasibility and sustainability of a semi-industrial process for the outdoor cultivation of Nannochloropsis gaditana, using flue gases, on demand, from a coal-fired power generation plant. Within this main aim, three secondary objectives were defined: (i) to produce an accurate forecast of the annual average biomass production; (ii) to assess how the production rate and the biochemical composition of the biomass vary with the weather conditions over the course of a year; and (iii) to identify suitable markets for the biomass produced, in accordance with Spanish legislation. The study was carried out over 2 years, and an extra year was taken to analyze the results. The importance of this research is that it covers the lack of current knowledge, based on the available literature, regarding experimentation with microalgae culture outdoors, on a semi-industrial scale of 10,000 L, for a period of two full years. Our results show that, firstly, productivity changes from 0.025 ± 0.010 g (dry weight) L−1 day−1 (g d.wt L−1 day−1) to 0.160 ± 0.030 g d.wt L−1 day−1, as irradiation increases, and secondly, that the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids decreases, from 4.770 ± 0.770% dry weight (% d.wt) to 3.220 ± 0.535% d.wt, as irradiation increases. The maintenance of the culture during a complete cycle of 2 years, under the stated conditions, demonstrates the technical feasibility and sustainability of the process. In accordance with current Spanish regulations, the results of biochemical analysis of the harvested biomass confirm that it is suitable for use as animal feed.

Integrated life cycle assessment of improving saline-sodic soil with flue gas desulfurization gypsum

A large quantity of flue gas desulfurization gypsum (FGDG), a by-product of removing sulfur from combustion gases in coal-fired power generation plants, was produced in the world. Improving saline-sodic soils with FGDG is one of the effective ways to utilize FGDG. However, the use of FGDG has severe impacts on the environment. With growing application of FGDG for improving soils, there is an increasing necessity to analyze the environmental impact on the entire agricultural application process. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is useful for comparing the potential risks of different environmental impact categories and stages. Traditional LCA methods have some limits in comparing various schemes, while the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) has its unique advantages in multi-objective decision-making. Therefore, this study identified and compared the environmental impacts of four alternative schemes in three stages using LCA combined with TOPSIS. In this study, the environmental impact of improving 1 ha saline-sodic soil was assessed, and a sensitivity analysis was conducted to analyze the effects of the changes in heavy metals in FGDG and in irrigation. The highest impact category was water consumption, with a weighted environmental impact value of 2.20 × 10−1 and a contribution rate of 42.216%. The second-highest environmental impact category was soil toxicity, with a weighted environmental impact potential value of 8.04 × 10−2 and a contribution rate of 15.429%. The soil toxicity was mostly from the application stage, while the water and energy consumption were mainly from the irrigation of planting stage. Acidification and eutrophication were mainly from fertilizer applications. Effective measures, including scientific use of fertilizers and pesticide, reasonable irrigation and strict control of heavy metals in FGDG should be employed to mitigate environmental risks during the agricultural application of FGDG. This study constructed a framework for the environmental impacts of improving saline-sodic soils with FGDG integrated with TOPSIS, and can be considered as an effort to advance the application of LCA.

Life cycle carbon emission modelling of coal-fired power: Chinese case

Carbon footprints are usually more conducive to doing comparative analysis or carbon management between different enterprises or different countries. Regarding how to accurately estimate the carbon footprint per kWh of coal-fired electricity, different studies can give different answers since there are no uniform system boundaries (e.g. the direct and indirect emission) or data sources, which hinders the carbon reduction management of the coal-fired power industry. Addressing this issue would improve the level of carbon management and carbon control in the coal-electricity industry. This paper develops a life cycle accounting model to analyze the carbon emissions of China's coal-fired power generation plants. We calculated the direct and embodied carbon emission of CO2 and CH4 from carbon emission and carbon reduction. Results reveal that the life cycle coal-fired carbon emissions are in line with the trend of coal consumption and electricity generation, and carbon emission of the life cycle is higher than direct emission of coal-fired power generation by 10%–13%, resulting in a net increase of 332 MtCO2e in 2016. Based on the systematic uncertainty analysis, we believe the estimates could be more accurate than the past researches. Finally, the paper provides three tiered approaches to improve the carbon management.

Optimization of solar aided coal-fired power plant layouts using multi-criteria assessment

This paper presents an integration methodology for medium and high temperature solar aided coal-fired power generation systems. A set of preferred integration methods is proposed using analysis of pinch point, exergy and solar share and the application of system simulation methods. These methods can be used for hybrid (solar/fossil) systems screening, pre-assessment and decision-making. Power plant annual performance is analyzed to confirm the validity of the abovementioned methods. The presented methodology has been applied into a 100 + 1000 MWe grade solar tower aided coal-fired power generation plant (STAPG). According to the proposed methodology, the best integration scheme is found for a scenario where high-temperature solar thermal energy is used for steam reheating, while the remaining solar thermal energy is used for feedwater heating providing the maximum utilization of solar energy. The analysis reveals that as much as 214.7 MWe could be generated using solar thermal energy under the best integration scheme. This accounts for 21.3% of total electricity produced, while representing more than twice as much the power produced by an equivalent stand-alone solar tower power plant of the same solar field size. Furthermore, solar-to-electricity efficiency of the hybrid system may reach 36.8%, with power block efficiency of 43.3%, and the coal consumption rate is 203.5 g/kW h. All these parameters are representative of the best scenario amongst the seven integration schemes studied in this paper.

Water use and demand forecasting model for coal-fired power generation plant in China

China is planning to expand its coal power generation to meet its energy demand and support the economic development. The current level of water use for thermal power generation is 8% of total water use, China is a water-stressed country which is facing many new challenges including climate change and population growth. China’s future coal power industry will add further pressures on already stressed water resources. This raised the key question on how the limited water resources can be managed to meet the demand of planned coal power expansion. A great level of understanding on the present status of water use and forecasting future demand in coal power plant is very important to answer this question. However, knowledge gap, data availability and accessibility are the major challenge in this regard. This paper attempts to improve the knowledge of the water demand in the coal power generation plant in China by using a simple water use model. Furthermore, a method is proposed to forecast future water demand in coal power plant. The proposed method is applied for forecasting water demand in Shaanxi coal power bases in Northern China under four scenarios. The results showed that the future water demand for Shaanxi coal power base will increase by 102–161% compared to current use under different scenarios in order to increase the production capacity by 206%. Adopting the optimum level of current status of water use, it is possible to limit the increase in water demand by 102% or 47.119 million-m3. It is expected that the finding of the study would help decision-making processes in water resources management in Chinese coal power generation.

Effect of carbonization temperature on composition of carbonized woody biomass

Co-firing coal and carbonized woody biomass is an effective method for reducing $$\hbox {CO}_\mathrm{2}$$ emission from coal-fired power generation plants because biomass absorbs $$\hbox {CO}_\mathrm{2}$$ when growing. In this study, we used thermogravimetry along with mass spectrometry and with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to analyze the effects of carbonization temperature on the composition of carbonized woody biomass prepared from Douglas fir, spruce and pine feedstocks. The obtained carbonized biomass contained both holocellulose and lignin when the feedstocks were carbonized below $$400\,^\circ \hbox {C}$$ and contained mainly lignin when the feedstocks were carbonized above $$400\,^\circ \hbox {C}$$ , because almost all the holocellulose in the biomass feedstocks decomposed at around $$400\,^\circ \hbox {C}$$ .

Internal curing effect of high volume furnace bottom ash (FBA) incorporation on lightweight aggregate concrete

Furnace Bottom Ash (FBA) is a by-product of coal-fired power generation plants. Few studies have focused on assessing the impact of using high volumes of FBA on lightweight aggregate concrete, especially on its dimensional stability and thermal insulation properties. In this study, normal weight coarse aggregate concrete (NAC) and lightweight coarse aggregate concrete (LWC) have been prepared. High volumes of FBA were used to replace natural fine aggregates to prepare the concrete mixes. Silica fume was used to mitigate the high permeability of concrete induced by porous aggregates incorporation. The compressive strength test results show that high strength LWC can be prepared with high volume FBA incorporation. The dimensional stability evaluation shows the linear relationship between FBA replacement ratio and autogenous shrinkage reduction. The internal curing effect of FBA aggregate has been investigated. The increased use of FBA in both NAC and LWC resulted in improved thermal insulation properties. The results indicate the potential of producing high performance lightweight aggregate concrete with high volume industrial by-products.

Performance analysis of a solar-aided power generation (SAPG) plant using specific consumption theory

In contrast to a traditional coal-fired power generation plant where steam extracted from a turbine is used to preheat the feedwater in all preheating stages, a solar-aided power generation (SAPG) plant uses solar heat to replace a part or all of the extracted steam in one or more preheating stages. The performance of an SAPG plant with different replacements is investigated in this study by using specific consumption theory (SCT). Fuel-specific and cost-specific consumption models for SAPG plants are built based on the SCT. A typical 330 MW coal-fired power plant is used as the study case. The performance of the SAPG plant in terms of specific consumption, with steam obtained from the first through the eighth (except for the fourth) stages of extraction replaced by solar heat, is compared with that of the reference coal-fired power plant. The fuel-specific consumption of the SAPG plant is determined to be lower than that of the reference coal-fired power plant. The fuel-specific consumption accrual distribution in SAPG plants is used to assess the effect of each individual replacement. Effective strategies to reduce the specific costs of the SAPG and coal-fired power plants are proposed based on the results of this study.

Environmental and economic assessment of municipal sewage sludge management – a case study in Beijing, China

A case study was conducted in Beijing to identify municipal sewage sludge (SS) management systems appropriate for a sound material-cycle society. The environmental and economic impacts of four realistic SS-handling scenarios were investigated: stabilization by thermal drying, increased inclusion of SS in cement manufacture, and using either dried or carbonized SS as substitute fuel for coal-fired power generation plants. The results showed that the current sludge management system had the lowest operating cost but higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a low recycling rate. The case with the use of carbonized SS reused in coal-fired power plants had higher energy consumption and almost the same GHG emissions as the current system. On the other hand, the case including more SS in cement manufacture had the same level of energy consumption with much lower GHG emissions. The case with the use of dried SS in coal-fired power plants also resulted in lower energy consumption and lower GHG emissions than at present. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis showed that drying SS with surplus heat from cement plants used less energy and emitted less GHG compared to the other two drying methods.

Direct Nyquist array design of PID controllers for boiler-turbine units based on gain and phase margins

In this paper, a direct Nyquist array (DNA) method for the design of PID controllers for multivariable boiler-turbine units with specifications of gain and phase margins is proposed. The essential objective is to propose a method for the design and auto-tuning of both straightforward and robust PID controllers that can be more easily implemented for the boiler-turbine units in coal-fired power generation plants in the same framework. For this purpose, the model of the original multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system is first converted into a diagonal/diagonal dominance matrix after the system is appropriately compensated. Then, various PID controller design methods for single-input single-output (SISO) systems can be easily extended to decoupled or quasi-decoupled MIMO systems. In particular, the proposed method allows the user to specify the robustness and other key performances of the system through the gain and phase margins specifications. Illustrative example is given to show the design procedure and to compare our method with other existing tuning rules.

Numerical Prediction of Unsteady Flows through Whole Nozzle-Rotor Cascade Channels with Partial Admission

Abstract This paper presents a numerical study for unsteady flows in a high-pressure steam turbine with a partial admission stage. Compressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved by the high-order high-resolution finite-difference method based on the fourth-order compact MUSCL TVD scheme, Roe's approximate Riemann solver, and the LU-SGS scheme. The SST-model is also solved for evaluating the eddy-viscosity. The unsteady two-dimensional flows through whole nozzle-rotor cascade channels considering a partial admission are numerically investigated. 108 nozzle passages with two blockages and 60 rotor passages are simultaneously calculated. The influence of the flange in the nozzle box to the lift of rotors is predicted. Also the efficiency of the partial admission stage changing the number of blockages and the number of nozzles is parametrically predicted. Keywords: Numerical Study, Steam Turbine, Unsteady Flow, Partial Admission, Nozzle-rotor Cascade Channels 1. Introduction Steam turbines are used in most of the thermal power plants and the nuclear power plants. The improvement of the steam-turbine performance certainly results in the reduction of the greenhouse gas. Large-scale steam turbines with a nozzle governing system have separated nozzle-blade groups (usually four groups with inlet control valves respectively) for the high pressure first stage (admission stage). For the design condition, valves of the three groups are almost fully opened and one valve of the remaining nozzle group is nearly closed to control the mass flow rate of the turbine system. Also super-critical pressure steam turbines, which were introduced into a number of current coal-fired power generation plants, require a high stiffness design for their admission stage nozzles (nozzle box structure). In these nozzles, some nozzle-blade spacings especially near the horizontal joint flanges are blocked to reinforce their structural stiffness against high pressure and high temperature steam conditions. In these admission stages, since the nozzle-blade spacings are partially opened, the flows into the rotor cascade channels are fluctuated in the circumstantial direction. Generally, internal flows through this kind of partially-opened admission stages cause the loss of the performance. It is also known that this structure causes unsteady and disturbed flows affecting the following rotor blades. The rotor cascade channels occasionally lose flows due to the blocking of the flow at the flange and it results in a relatively lower performance at the admission stage. This loss is called the partial admission loss. Although the prediction of the loss is important, the experimental studies are hard to conduct because of the difficulty of the measurement in actual steam conditions. Therefore, the numerical prediction is quite valuable. But it is suggested that the whole flow fields including nozzles, rotors, and the blocks of the flange and the closed nozzle group should be calculated simultaneously to predict the actual performance. Only a few numerical studies for this flow problem have been reported, because they also require a large-scale computation. A performance prediction for a partial admission has been presented by Cho[1]. He [2] and Sakai [3] have reported the numerical studies solving the quasi three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations and compared with the experimental r esults. However, no massive computations such assuming whole noz zle-rotor cascade channels have been reported yet. Recently our research group has developed computational codes for unsteady flows of wet-steam through 2-D and 3-D multi-stage cascade channels in a steam turbine using the high-order high-resolution finite-difference method [4][5]. In this paper, the 2-D code is applied to unsteady flows in whole nozzle-rotor cascade channels of a partial admission stage. As numerical examples, the unsteady 2-D flows with a partial admission stage in a middle class coal-fired steam turbine are calculated assuming 108 nozzle passages with two blockages and 60 rotor passages. The effect of the blockage to the unsteady force of rotors is numerically predicted. The performance affected by the change of the number of blockages and the number of nozzles is also parametrically predicted.

Role for carbon capture and storage in China

Abstract Coal is China’s primary fuel for power generation and will almost certainly remain so for the foreseeable future. China had an installed power generation capacity of a little over 700GWe in 2007, which is projected to nearly double within the next 20 years. NZEC (Near Zero Emission Coal) is a major Sino-British initiative on carbon capture and storage. One of its key aims is to complete the work required to construct a coal-fired power generation plant in China with CCS. The first phase of NZEC is a feasibility study, due to complete in late 2009, in which options for CCS in China are being explored. As part of the feasibility study, an energy systems analysis using the China MARKAL model is being undertaken to provide a perspective on the energy technologies that may be deployed in China to meet its energy needs. The energy situation in China is being analysed, with a detailed investigation undertaken of the various technologies and fuels employed at present. Based on growth forecasts and national plans for China, predictions will be made of the technologies and fuels that may be deployed to meet its future needs. The role of coal and the various technology options for utilising that coal will be identified. An estimate of the CO2 emissions arising from the utilisation of coal and the potential impact of their release to the atmosphere will be made. The potential for CCS to reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, and the cost and impact of deploying CCS will be examined. In this paper, the authors will provide a progress review of this analysis and present provisional results.