Building Emissions Treatment and / or Sequestration Systems and Methods - Patent application

Abstract

A system and / or method is provided for capturing carbon dioxide from flue gases produced within a building.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] (CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 840,206, filed April 29, 2019, entitled "Building Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Systems and Methods," and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 977,050, filed February 14, 2020, entitled "Building Emission Processing and / or Sequestration Systems and Methods," each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.

[0002] The field of the invention relates to the treatment of building emissions, which may include carbon dioxide management systems and methods, and more specifically, to buildings with multiple stories and large footprints that utilize large combustion energy sources for building systems, such as steam heating and hot water with by-product generation of emissions. [Background technology]

[0003] Carbon dioxide generation in buildings, especially in metropolitan areas, is a significant contributor to overall carbon dioxide generation. Carbon dioxide is now listed as a global warming compound and its reduction is sought worldwide. Carbon dioxide generation is a necessary part of breathing and life, but it is important to limit carbon dioxide generation to address climate change. The present disclosure provides a building emissions treatment and sequestration system that can address carbon dioxide generation from fossil fuel combustion and its proliferation in metropolitan areas. Summary of the Invention

[0004] A system or method for operating a combustion boiler in a building is provided. The system or method can include the steps of supplying air and fuel to a combustion burner, combusting the air and fuel in the combustion burner, monitoring an amount of free oxygen in the burner, and controlling the amount of air and fuel supplied to the burner to maintain an amount of free oxygen of about 3%. The system or method can include combusting the air and fuel in the burner to produce a flue gas having an oxygen concentration, and restricting air from the flue gas by substantially excluding tramp air in a conduit operatively aligned to convey the flue gas from the burner.

[0005] A system or method is provided for cooling flue gas from a combustion boiler in a building, the system or method may include providing the flue gas to at least one economizer having at least one set of cooling coils carrying boiler feedwater, cooling the flue gas, and heating the boiler feedwater.

[0006] A system or method is provided for separating carbon dioxide from flue gas generated from a combustion boiler in a building. The system or method can include providing a flue gas containing less than about 3% water, compressing the flue gas, cooling the compressor with a heat transfer fluid and providing the heat transfer fluid between a chiller and / or a cooling tower. The system or method can include compressing the flue gas and drying the flue gas using nitrogen recovered during separation of the carbon dioxide recovered from the flue gas. The system or method can include removing at least a portion of the nitrogen from the flue gas using a pressure swing adsorption assembly to produce greater than about 95% carbon dioxide, and removing water from the flue gas using the nitrogen removed from the flue gas before providing the flue gas to the pressure swing adsorption assembly. The system or method can include removing at least a portion of the nitrogen from the flue gas using a pressure swing adsorption assembly to produce greater than about 95% carbon dioxide, and providing at least a portion of the nitrogen removed from the flue gas to a gas expander / generator. The system or method may include removing at least a portion of the nitrogen from the flue gas using a pressure swing adsorption assembly to produce greater than about 95% carbon dioxide, and supplying at least a portion of the nitrogen removed from the flue gas to both the dryer and the expander / generator, or to the dryer and a control valve, which may or may not be equipped with a silencer.

[0007] A system or method is provided for cooling carbon dioxide separated from flue gas generated from a combustion boiler in a building, the system or method including: separating nitrogen from the flue gas using a pressure swing adsorption assembly, expanding the nitrogen with a turbine expander in the presence of a heat exchanger to cool a fluid in the heat exchanger, and transferring the cooled fluid to another heat exchanger in operative alignment with the carbon dioxide product of the pressure swing adsorption assembly to cool the carbon dioxide product.

[0008] A system or method is provided for liquefying carbon dioxide separated from flue gas generated from a combustion boiler in a building, the system or method including providing gaseous carbon dioxide via a sparge assembly into liquid carbon dioxide in a storage vessel.

[0009] A building is provided that utilizes a carbon fuel source and produces carbon emissions upon combustion of the carbon fuel source. The building emissions may be operably coupled to a carbon capture system configured to separate and condense carbon dioxide from the carbon emissions. The system may be configured to process the carbon emissions and return heat to the building. The system may be configured to process the carbon emissions and generate electricity. The system may be configured to process the carbon emissions and store electrical energy. The system may be configured to dynamically control the combustion system and the capture system to reduce carbon combustion and increase carbon capture. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] Embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 illustrates a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a boiler with a free oxygen sensor according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3B] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary boiler configuration operably coupled to a plenum, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. [Figure 3C] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a boiler with a free oxygen sensor according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4A] FIG. 1 illustrates portions of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4B] FIG. 2 illustrates portions of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4C] FIG. 2 illustrates portions of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 5A] FIG. 1 illustrates an example configuration of components of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 5B] FIG. 2 illustrates another example configuration of components of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates portions of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 illustrates portions of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 illustrates an example configuration of components of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 illustrates portions of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 illustrates portions of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 illustrates portions of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 12A] FIG. 1 illustrates portions of a carbon dioxide capture method and / or system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 12B] FIG. 12B illustrates another portion of the carbon dioxide capture method and / or system of FIG. 12A, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] The present disclosure will be described with reference to Figures 1-12B. The systems and methods of the present disclosure may be operated unattended and / or continuously in a building for up to 10 years with only minor routine maintenance. Referring initially to Figure 1, a system 10 is provided that includes a flue gas source, such as a boiler, that combusts air and fuel to produce flue gas. The flue gas 12 may include typical combustion products from a building's heating and / or cooling systems. These buildings may be considered commercial, residential, and / or industrial buildings. The system 10 may rely on the combustion of fossil fuels. These fossil fuels may include oil and / or natural gas. When the fuel is burned, CO2 may be generated as part of the flue gas. In the case of natural gas combustion, the system 10 may produce at least about 10% CO2 and about 18% water. The systems and / or methods of the present disclosure may include a section 14 for separation, a section 16 for liquefaction, a section 18 for storage, and a section 19 for transport of the CO2.

[0013] According to an embodiment, at least about 600 standard cubic feet per minute of the building flue gas may be diverted to a flue gas process stream where CO2 is separated and purified in component 14 of system 10. This separation / purification component may be an adsorption purification system operated under pressure swing (PSA), temperature swing (TSA), or electric swing (ESA) conditions, or any combination thereof. According to an embodiment, it may be a pressure swing adsorption system, which is a multi-component adsorption system including multiple vessels including layered solid-phase adsorbent materials coupled and / or configured to work in concert to provide greater than 85% CO2 capture. These multi-component adsorption systems can remove carbon dioxide from an essentially "dry" flue gas stream to a purity of 95% or more in most cases, and at least 99% in other cases. This purified carbon dioxide gas is then liquefied in successive cooling and compression steps to create a phase change to form liquid carbon dioxide in liquefied component 16, which can then be provided to storage component 18 for planned removal as needed. According to an embodiment, this liquefied carbon dioxide can be transferred into a transfer component 19, which can be provided to another source, such as a storage facility from which the carbon dioxide can be distributed for use in applications such as concrete curing, wastewater treatment, other carbon dioxide sequestration methods, recycling for fire protection systems, consumption in the production of industrial specialty gases, hybrid fuels and organic intermediate chemicals, or for carbonating beverages, as some examples.

[0014] 2, there is shown a building system 30 having a system 32 therein. The flue gas 12 is provided to a series of systems and / or methods 14, 16, 18, 19 and / or a cooling tower 31 for capturing CO2 from the flue gas produced by the building.

[0015] 3A-3C, example boiler configurations are shown as part of the systems and / or methods of the present disclosure.

[0016] Referring initially to Figure 3A, there is shown a boiler 40 generating combustion 42 in the presence of a free oxygen sensor 43. Combustion 42 generates flue gas 44 that is fed to a boiler exhaust 45. Referring to Figure 3B, the boiler exhaust is operatively coupled to a plenum 48. In this illustrated configuration, multiple boilers are shown, each having exhausts 45 and 46, e.g., each exhaust operatively coupled to the plenum 48.

[0017] 3C, a boiler configured with the systems and / or methods of the present disclosure is shown. Thus, air 60 and fuel 62 can be provided to a combustion burner, the mixture thereof, and therefore the combustion thereof, being controlled by a combustion controller 66 operatively connected to the free oxygen sensor 43. Thus, boiler feedwater 52 is received by the combustion boiler and heated to hot water or steam 50, which is used to heat a building and / or building systems, such as a water heater 58. The water heater system 58 can be configured to receive potable water for heating and / or industrial process water for heating.

[0018] According to an exemplary embodiment, the control 66 may utilize the sensor 43 to monitor the amount of free oxygen in the combustion burner and maintain the amount of free oxygen at approximately 3%. Approximately 3% free oxygen may include 3-7% free oxygen. According to an example, the combustion may produce a flue gas 44. The composition of the flue gas 44 may be controlled to include at least approximately 10% carbon dioxide. Approximately 10% carbon dioxide may include 9-12% carbon dioxide of flue gas from the combustion of natural gas. The system 10 may be utilized to combust fuels other than natural gas, which may determine other optimal CO2 flue gas concentrations. Thus, the system 10 may be configured to utilize multiple fuels.

[0019] The systems and / or methods of the disclosure may include separating the carbon dioxide from the flue gas, liquefying the carbon dioxide after separating the carbon dioxide from the flue gas, liquefying the separated carbon dioxide after separating the carbon dioxide from the flue gas, storing the carbon dioxide after liquefying it, and / or transporting the carbon dioxide after storing it.

[0020] With reference to both FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C, a system and / or method for operating a combustion boiler in a building is provided that can include combusting air and fuel in a burner to generate flue gas 44 having an oxygen concentration, and restricting air from the flue gas by substantially excluding tramp air in a conduit operatively aligned to convey the flue gas from the burner. By way of example, in the case of multiple boilers as shown in FIG. 3B, exhausts 45 and 46 can be operatively aligned with a plenum 48. Unused exhausts such as 46 can be a source of tramp air to the plenum. According to an exemplary embodiment, the system and / or method of the disclosure can include providing fluid communication between the operating burners of one boiler and the plenum while restricting fluid communication between the plenum and the idle burners of the other operating boiler. In at least one configuration, a door or partition 47 can be provided and operable to exclude tramp air from the exhaust of the idle burners.

[0021] According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, real-time control of a combustion source or boiler can achieve greater efficiency, for example, to increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in the flue gas while reducing the consumption of natural gas or fuel. This may be considered counterintuitive to increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in the flue gas when the disclosed system and / or method is utilized to reduce carbon emissions from a building. However, increasing the carbon dioxide concentration can provide the benefit of reducing fuel consumption by reducing heat loss through exhaust. Adjusting the combustion to control free oxygen to 3% can provide greater combustion efficiency. According to an embodiment, it is desirable to achieve a carbon dioxide concentration of at least about 10% of the flue gas through combustion control, approaching the 12% concentration value of CO2 when burning natural gas. This is at least one feature of the disclosed building emission treatment system and / or method, which may be utilized as one of the first steps of carbon capture.

[0022] In a building, boiler operation may be dictated by controlling combustion burners to various predetermined firing rates, 1) off, 2) slow firing, and / or 3) fast firing rates to accommodate hot water or steam needs. These rates may have been established in older boilers, for example, via calibrated mechanical linkages. Recognizing that cyclical boiler operation varies greatly from hour to hour, day to day, and season to season, it is desirable to establish automatic control of flame speed continuously across the entire boiler load range while controlling free oxygen as described above. The disclosed systems and / or methods may be configured to reduce on-off cycles by extending boiler operating time at reduced flame speeds, extending boiler life, and providing a more continuous flow of flue gas to separation, liquefaction, storage, and / or transport systems and / or the disclosed methods.

[0023] Thus, the boiler and system controls (eg, FIG. 11) can achieve higher building thermal efficiency while creating optimal conditions for flue gas supply to the systems and methods of the present disclosure.

[0024] 4A-4C, there are shown portions of a system and method for separating water from flue gas and cooling the flue gas. Referring first to FIG. 4A-4C, there are shown three different configurations of a system and / or method for cooling flue gas from a combustion boiler in a building. Referring first to FIG. 4A, the flue gas 44 can go to a combination of non-condensing and condensing economizer 60a. The flue gas 44 goes first to a non-condensing configuration where boiler feed water 52 is fed through a conduit, set of conduits, and / or coils, the flue gas is cooled, and the boiler feed water is heated. Thus, a method is provided for cooling flue gas from a combustion boiler in a building. Heating the boiler feed water can be fed to the boiler, thus lowering the energy required to heat the feed water to hot water and / or steam.

[0025] Additionally, the economizer may be configured for condensation. Thus, the conduit, set of conduits, or coil 54 may be configured to transport, for example, potable or industrial process water received from a utility. This water may have a temperature close to that of groundwater, as it is typically transported through underground pipes. Thus, the water has a substantially different temperature than the flue gas, even after being partially cooled in the non-condensing economizer. By supplying flue gas to these conduits, water may be removed from the flue gas, thus producing a condensate effluent 53. This water traveling through the conduits may be heated and provided to the hot water system 58 (FIG. 3C) as the water heating system intake 54, and may be heated and received through the outlet 56. Thus, the amount of energy required to heat the water in the hot water system 58 is less, at least because the water received for heating does not need to be heated from a lower temperature than that associated with typical tap water, but rather is preheated. According to an alternative configuration, referring to FIG. 4B, one set of coils 52 can be associated with one economizer 60b and another set of coils 54 can be associated with another economizer 65a. In this configuration, the economizer 60b can be a non-condensing economizer and the economizer 65a can be configured as a condensing economizer. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a diverter 64 can be operatively coupled to the economizer as shown in FIG. 4A-FIG. 4C. According to an embodiment, the cooled flue gas can be provided from the diverter 64 using a blower. The system and / or method can control the amount of flue gas that is processed using the diverter. According to an embodiment, the current system according to FIG. 4C is expected to receive 450 standard cubic feet per minute (SCFM) to 500 SCFM of wet flue gas 44. This diverter can be controlled by an overall master system (FIG. 11) that can control a motorized butterfly valve in the diverter. The master system can also collect gas temperature and flow data and operate a blower as shown in Figure 6.

[0026] Thus, if the economizer is downstream of the process stream from the diverter, the blower may precede the economizer. According to an embodiment, the flue gas is at least about 10% carbon dioxide and / or at least about 3% free oxygen before entering the first economizer. Systems and / or methods of the present disclosure may utilize an economizer configured, for example, as shown in Figures 5A and 5B, where the method may include additional separation as well as liquefaction, storage, and transport.

[0027] The moisture content of flue gas from boilers has been determined to be approximately 18% and ranges in temperature up to 350°F. Prior to separating the CO2, this water may be substantially removed from the flue gas. This involves lowering the temperature of the flue gas below its dew point and allowing the water to condense as a liquid. As the moisture content of the flue gas decreases, the dew point also decreases, requiring additional cooling to continue removing the moisture. This cooling may result in condensation of the flue gas.

[0028] Flue gas condensates tend to be slightly acidic (pH<=5), a condition that can be damaging to some building plenums due to construction materials that are not acid resistant (such as carbon steel). In such cases, the gas must be removed from the plenum and condensed in an external heat exchanger with acid resistant stainless steel components. In addition, depending on the condenser design, some small liquid particles may remain in the gas stream. These small liquid particles may be referred to as acid aerosols, which may be present at ppm levels. The present disclosure contemplates the removal of acid aerosols. These systems and / or methods include, for example, wet wall heat exchangers, impingers with inert reticulated carbon foam, and settlers.

[0029] In accordance with the above, a non-condensing economizer can operate above the dew point temperature and prevents any liquid condensate from forming. Without condensation, the economizer can be compatible with most plenum building materials.

[0030] As mentioned above, a condensing economizer may be provided downstream of a diverter (FIG. 4C) that extracts flue gas from the plenum and directs it to the condensing economizer. The condensate from this condensing economizer may be chemically neutralized before proceeding to the building drain.

[0031] 6, drying of the flue gas can continue using a blower 68 to increase the pressure of the flue gas from the diverter. This blower 68 can support flow through a heat exchanger / condenser 70 and can include a water outlet 71 operably coupled to an acid quench assembly 74. The heat exchanger 70 can be configured to cool the gas below the dew point to condense most of the water, leaving less than about 3% water or as little as about 0.2% water.

[0032] Heat exchanger 70 may be of tube and shell configuration, cooled by an external water / glycol loop provided, for example, from a chiller and / or water, for example, from a building's cooling tower. As shown, it is expected that the water removed from the system at heat exchanger 70 may be slightly acidic, and the water may be neutralized before proceeding to a publicly-operated treatment plant (POTW) or sewer system. Additionally, some water will remain in the process stream as small microdroplets, mist, or acid aerosols, but these are minimized or removed by special heat exchanger designs, impingement devices, or possibly precipitators.

[0033] After most of the water has been removed and the acid aerosols have been mitigated, the cooled flue gas 72 can continue to the compressor to increase the pressure of the flue gas to an optimum level of approximately 100 psig or less, as dictated by the PSA system specifications.

[0034] Referring now to FIG. 7, a compressor 74 may receive the flue gas 72. The compressor 74 may be an "oil-free" compressor to eliminate downstream product contamination, and the compressor may be configured with a variable frequency drive (VFD) to respond to variable gas flow rates. Because compression may increase the temperature of the flue gas, a second heat exchanger 76 may be utilized to reduce the temperature of the flue gas to less than 40° C. At this stage, the gas may contain less than about 3% water, which may be present as steam, the gas may be at a temperature of less than 40° C., and the pressure may be about 100 psig.

[0035] With reference to FIG. 7, a system and / or method for separating carbon dioxide from flue gas generated from a combustion boiler in a building includes providing a flue gas 72 containing less than about 3% water, compressing the flue gas, and cooling a compressor 74 with a heat transfer fluid 90 to provide a heat transfer fluid between a chiller and / or a cooling tower. An example of a compressor is shown in FIG. 8. The heat transfer fluid can be, for example, water, and the chiller water can be cooled in a cooling tower of the building before returning the spent heat transfer fluid to the chiller. Thus, the disclosed system and / or method can include additional separation, liquefaction, storage, and / or transportation. This is just one example of a heat generating component of the system that can be cooled with a chiller and / or cooling tower heat transfer fluid. More than 70% of the cooling requirement of the disclosed system and / or method can come from heat generated in the compressor and / or pump, as well as from heat exchangers on the liquefaction skid. Each of these components can be equipped with a water cooling circuit supplied from a local chiller or directly from a central chiller. The local chillers may be water-cooled with a water loop provided by a central chiller or a building cooling tower. The central chiller may be designed to prioritize heat transfer in the following order, for example: a) domestic hot water make-up, b) cooling tower, c) exchange with outside air.

[0036] Referring again to FIG. 7, after compression, the flue gas may be fed to a dryer 78, such as a desiccant dryer. The dryer 78 may be operatively engaged with a nitrogen feed, such as a sweep feed, configured to regenerate the spent desiccant. Typically, the dryer is a two-chamber cycling device, where one chamber is dried and the other chamber is regenerated for drying, and these cycles continue. Nitrogen may be fed to the spent desiccant in one chamber while the other chamber is drying the flue gas. Thus, a system and / or method for separating carbon dioxide from flue gas originating from a combustion boiler in a building is provided, which may include using the recovered nitrogen to dry the flue gas during the separation of the recovered carbon dioxide from the flue gas. This recovered nitrogen may be conveyed from the pressure swing adsorption assembly 80 via a conduit 92 to the dryer 78 and then vented through a stack 86. According to an embodiment, the dried flue gas may be fed for further separation, liquefaction, storage, and / or transportation.

[0037] From the dryer, flue gas 79 containing less than 10 ppm water can proceed to a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) assembly 80. This pressure swing adsorption assembly can provide greater than 85% CO2 capture at greater than 95% purity, 1 psig, 100°C. The maximum CO2 output flow at this point can be about 40 SCFM. The remaining portion of the flue gas, primarily nitrogen, can continue under pressure and / or be split with a portion returning to the dryer 78. Another portion of the nitrogen can proceed to a turbine expander 82 / generator 93, which can provide electrical energy 94 and a low temperature output gas at near ambient pressure. Additionally, a control valve 84 with a silencer can be operatively aligned in parallel with the expander 82 / generator 93.

[0038] Thus, there is provided a method of separating carbon dioxide from flue gas generated from a combustion boiler in a building, the method including removing at least a portion of the nitrogen from the flue gas to produce greater than about 95% carbon dioxide 78 using a pressure swing adsorption assembly 80. The nitrogen removed from the flue gas can be used to remove water from the flue gas, for example in a dryer 78, prior to providing the flue gas to the pressure swing adsorption assembly. Alternatively or additionally, at least a portion of the nitrogen removed from the flue gas can be provided to a gas expander / generator. Alternatively or additionally, a portion of the nitrogen from the PSA can be provided to a control valve with a silencer and another portion can be provided to the expander / generator. According to an exemplary embodiment, the disclosed system and / or method can include separating the nitrogen into portions and providing a portion to the dryer and another portion to the expander / generator. In one example, the portion is about one-third of the nitrogen from the pressure swing adsorption assembly.

[0039] A system and / or method is also provided for cooling carbon dioxide separated from flue gas generated from a combustion boiler in a building using the nitrogen exhaust of the PSA. The system and / or method can include separating nitrogen from the flue gas using a pressure swing adsorption assembly 80, expanding the nitrogen through a turbine in the presence of a heat exchanger 92 to cool a fluid in the heat exchanger 92, and transferring the cooled fluid to another heat exchanger 100 operatively aligned with the carbon dioxide product of the pressure swing adsorption assembly to cool the carbon dioxide product 78. The turbine can be part of a generator 93, for example, or can be provided to cool the exchanger 92.

[0040] Typically, the nitrogen gas exiting the PSA may be at least 85 psig with a flow rate greater than 65% of the rated system flow rate. According to an embodiment, the nitrogen may be processed and stored as a marketable product. For power generation, grid-compatible power conversion will be required. The output of the turbogenerator is 500Hz, which is not compatible with a 60Hz grid. Therefore, it is envisioned that a suitable power conversion will be specified. This may be rectification followed by a DC-AC polyphase inverter with appropriate safety features in the event of a building power outage. After use in the turbogenerator and CO2 heat exchanger, the nitrogen waste gas may be returned to the exhaust stack or plenum.

[0041] Referring now to FIG. 9, in another series of components of the present disclosure, CO2 78 with purity greater than 95% may be cooled and compressed in successive steps as shown in heat exchanger 104, compressors 106 and 108, and heat exchanger 110 with the compressor operatively engaged with the cooling transfer fluid 90 to approach a phase change state for liquefaction. According to an embodiment, CO2 with purity greater than 95% may have a temperature resulting from the PSA as high as 100° C. As described, a heat exchanger may be provided to reduce the temperature of the gas to a sufficient temperature and then compress the gas to a higher pressure. According to an embodiment, the heat removed from this CO2 stream may be transferred back to the thermal management system supporting the pre-heating of the make-up water as shown in FIG. 9A via an external water / glycol cooling loop. It may also be provided to increase the temperature of the nitrogen gas exiting the PSA before expanding through the turbine. This may improve turbine efficiency by maximizing the nitrogen flow before exceeding low temperature power limits. This is just one of several examples to utilize heat from system components in other parts of the system to obtain a more efficient overall system. Per Figure 9, there is a series of stepwise cooling and / or compression of the CO2 gas, driving it towards a final condition of 311 psig and 0°F, at which point a phase change occurs and the CO2 becomes a liquid.

[0042] 10, a CO2 liquefaction and storage system and / or method is shown in which CO2 gas 112 is sparged inside a vessel 113, such as an insulated vessel. Examples of insulated vessels include, but are not limited to, vacuum jacketed liquid storage tanks. Within the vessel, the gas 112 may be converted to a liquid 114. According to an embodiment, the gas 112 may be provided to a sparge assembly 118, where the gas 112 is provided as sparge gas 120 that liquefies upon sparging into the liquid 114.

[0043] The vapor 116 at the top of the vessel 113 is managed by a refrigeration system 122 that cools the vapor 116 and condenses it back into liquid 114 that is returned into the vessel 113. According to an exemplary configuration, the system 122 can be configured as a loop in fluid communication with the vessel 113, where the vapor CO2 116 enters the system 122 and returns to the vessel 113 as liquid CO2 114. In at least one configuration, the system 122 is configured as a low temperature condenser with an evaporator.

[0044] In the event of a building power loss, for example, the excellent insulation of the vacuum jacketed tank allows liquid CO2 to be maintained for at least 30 days. According to an embodiment, the building itself could potentially be vented into the vessel 113 to provide CO2 for extinguishing a fire, such as a fire associated with electronics that requires a CO2 extinguishing method.

[0045] With reference to Figures 1, 11, 12A, and 12B, in accordance with another embodiment, a CO2 removal and / or delivery system is provided that may include off-take management using one or more vehicles provided in coordination with the CO2 removal and / or delivery needs as provided by the system control. For example, a removal and / or delivery truck 200 may be provided that transfers CO2 directly from the container 113 to a liquid CO2 tank mounted on the truck 200 via a transfer pump 202. The system may be configured to generate CO2 pickup times based on a number of parameters, such as the capacity of the container 113, the CO2 generation of the system 10, legal date / time pick-up windows, and / or the need for CO2 delivery. With respect to the need for CO2 delivery, it is contemplated that such high purity CO2 may be delivered directly to a user without being warehoused or requiring additional purification. An example of a direct delivery may be delivery to a wastewater treatment plant.

[0046] Referring now to FIG. 11, the plant, process, and field level components of the control system are shown. In accordance with an embodiment, an exemplary overall control system is provided showing combustion emissions and control, MASTER PLC controller, diverter, compression, dryer, separation, cooling and compression, refrigeration / storage, and food grade CO2 delivery. These systems are also coupled to electric, natural gas, and water utility systems. These control systems illustrate a basic network architecture diagram. The MASTER PLC controls the entire plant with an Ethernet loop connection and Internet IP protocol communication to local package controllers, as well as direct connection and control to the digital and analog I / O field instrumentation level. The HMI server collects data from the MASTER PLC, manages real-time displays of the plant, runs logging, data management applications, and communicates with external users through a secure firewall. Also included is an engineering development workstation that maintains all operational software and updates that are periodically downloaded to the MASTER PLC.

[0047] With reference to Figures 12A and 12B, an embodiment of a system and / or method is disclosed that details the sequence of the different components and processes described herein, as well as additional thermal management components associated with a building. As seen throughout the figures and accompanying description, there are multiple locations for heat to be transferred from the different components of the disclosed system to the existing building system. For example, as shown, chillers may be located within the building, as well as within existing cooling towers. These active cooling components may be operatively coupled with heat removed from the process components via individual cooling loops. According to an embodiment, heat, sometimes referred to as waste heat, may be transferred to building systems that can operate more efficiently using the excess heat. Thus, with regard to the waste heat from the disclosed system, the design choice is to transfer the waste heat first to the building's steam and hot water make-up system, then to the building's cooling tower, and finally to a suitable chiller that includes heat exchange with air.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B, the thermal management system (see, e.g., MASTER PLC, controller, etc.) can optimize combustion using a combustion controller to conserve the use of fuels such as natural gas in the boiler, control the removal of moisture from the flue gas with a front-end controller, perform additional separation with a dryer, perform PSA with a separation controller, liquefy and store CO2 with a liquefaction / storage controller, and direct offtake to pickup and / or delivery trucks with an offtake controller. These and additional controllers can function to control boiler feed water, potable and / or industrial water, chiller water, and / or cooling tower water, as well as nitrogen expansion cooling to reduce and / or eliminate heat load in the system. Thus, flue gas can be cooled for water knockout, and heat-generating electrical components such as compressors, blowers, pumps, fans, etc. can also be cooled.

[0049] According to an embodiment, the systems and / or methods of the present disclosure can include an energy storage system that can be configured to include power conversion components and / or battery or battery bank components. As an example, energy can be generated via turbine expansion of nitrogen, which can be transformed and stored within the building. The energy can be transformed and provided directly to a system component, such as a compressor, and / or provided to a system component after storage, thereby lowering the energy demand of the building. Additionally, the energy can be provided to a power grid associated with the building itself.

[0050] According to an embodiment, using the MASTER PLC, energy generated by the system may be utilized during "peak demand" times (e.g., when electricity prices are high) and / or when the building is utilizing "peak" amounts of power. During these times, the MASTER PLC monitors the building's demand and then alters system parameters to efficiently use energy storage and / or alter carbon dioxide separation, liquefaction, storage, and / or transportation to lower energy consumption during "peak demand," thereby providing energy cost savings.

[0051] Examples of the disclosed systems and / or methods can provide not only a carbon capture system but also improvements in the energy efficiency (both thermal and electrical) of the entire building while reducing CO2 emissions. Examples can include reducing carbon fuel consumption through optimization of boiler firing, providing warmer boiler feedwater thereby requiring less energy to heat the boiler feedwater, warming potable or process water thereby requiring less energy to heat the potable or process water, generating electrical energy and using the same to power system components, and / or using a building's cooling tower to reduce the building's heat load, etc., which individually and / or collectively can be part of a system that dramatically improves the efficiency of the building. (Additional Note) The present invention can have the following configurations based on the embodiments described in the specification. [Configuration 1] 1. A method for operating a combustion boiler in a building, comprising: supplying air and fuel to a combustion burner; combusting air and fuel in the combustion burner; monitoring the amount of free oxygen in the burner; controlling the amount of air and fuel supplied to the burner to maintain a free oxygen content of about 3%; The method includes: [Configuration 2] 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the combustion produces a flue gas, the method further comprising producing at least about 10% carbon dioxide in the flue gas. [Configuration 3] 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising separating carbon dioxide from the flue gas. [Configuration 4] 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of liquefying the carbon dioxide after separating the carbon dioxide from the flue gas. [Configuration 5] 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising storing the carbon dioxide after separating the carbon dioxide from the flue gas. [Configuration 6] 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising transporting the carbon dioxide after storing the carbon dioxide. [Configuration 7] 1. A method for operating a combustion boiler in a building, comprising: combusting air and fuel in a burner to produce a flue gas having a free oxygen concentration; restricting air from the flue gas by substantially excluding tramp air in a conduit operatively aligned to convey the flue gas from the burner. [Configuration 8] 8. The method of configuration 7, wherein there are at least two boilers operably coupled to a shared plenum, the method including providing fluid communication between an operating burner of one of the boilers and the plenum while simultaneously restricting fluid communication between the plenum and an idle burner of the other operating boiler. [Configuration 9] 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising separating carbon dioxide from the flue gas. [Configuration 10] 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of liquefying the carbon dioxide after separating the carbon dioxide from the flue gas. [Configuration 11] 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising combusting the air and fuel to produce the flue gas having at least about 10% carbon dioxide. [Configuration 12] 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising combusting the air and fuel to produce the flue gas having about 3% free oxygen. [Configuration 13] 1. A method for cooling flue gas from a combustion boiler in a building, the method comprising the steps of: supplying the flue gas to at least one economizer having at least one set of cooling coils carrying the boiler feedwater; the supplying step cooling the flue gas and heating the boiler feedwater. [Configuration 14] 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of supplying the heated boiler feedwater to the combustion boiler. [Configuration 15] 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the steps of: after supplying the flue gas to the one set of coils, supplying the flue gas to another set of coils carrying potable or industrial process water; and wherein the supplying step further cools the flue gas and heats the potable or industrial process water. [Configuration 16] 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising supplying the heated potable or industrial process water to a hot water system. [Configuration 17] 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising heating the hot water system with steam from the combustion boiler. [Configuration 18] 16. The method of claim 15, wherein one set of cooling coils are components of one economizer and the other set of cooling coils are components of another economizer. [Configuration 19] 19. The method of claim 18, wherein one economizer is a non-condensing economizer and the other economizer is a condensing economizer. [Configuration 20] 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising, after supplying the flue gas to the one economizer, supplying the cooled flue gas through a diverter to bypass at least a portion of the cooled flue gas to the other economizer. [Configuration 21] 21. The method of claim 20, further comprising: delivering the cooled flue gas from the diverter to the other economizer with a blower. [Configuration 22] 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the flue gas is at least about 10% carbon dioxide prior to entering the one economizer. [Configuration 23] 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the flue gas is about 3% free oxygen before entering the one economizer. [Configuration 24] 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising liquefying the carbon dioxide after cooling the flue gas. [Configuration 25] 1. A method for separating carbon dioxide from flue gas generated by a combustion boiler in a building, comprising: providing a flue gas containing less than about 3% water; compressing the flue gas; cooling the compressor with a heat transfer fluid and supplying the heat transfer fluid between the compressor and the chiller and / or the cooling tower. [Configuration 26] 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising cooling the heat transfer fluid of the chiller in a cooling tower of the building prior to returning spent heat transfer fluid to the chiller. [Configuration 27] 26. The method of embodiment 25, further comprising recovering water from the heat exchanger and treating the recovered water prior to discharging the recovered water. [Configuration 28] 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of liquefying carbon dioxide from within the flue gas after separating the carbon dioxide from the flue gas. [Configuration 29] 1. A method for separating carbon dioxide from flue gas generated by a combustion boiler in a building, comprising: compressing the flue gas; drying the flue gas using nitrogen recovered during separation of carbon dioxide recovered from the flue gas. [Configuration 30] 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the flue gas before compression is less than about 3% water. [Configuration 31] 30. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of supplying the nitrogen to an exhaust stack after using the nitrogen in the dryer. [Configuration 32] 30. The method of embodiment 29, further comprising the step of supplying the nitrogen from a pressure swing adsorption assembly. [Configuration 33] 33. The method of claim 32, further comprising the step of, after the flue gas is supplied to the dryer, supplying the flue gas having less than about 10 ppm water to the pressure swing adsorption assembly. [Configuration 34] 33. The method of claim 32, further comprising the step of supplying the nitrogen from the pressure swing adsorption assembly to both a dryer and a control valve. [Configuration 35] 1. A method for separating carbon dioxide from flue gas generated by a combustion boiler in a building, comprising: removing at least a portion of the nitrogen from the flue gas using a pressure swing adsorption assembly to produce greater than about 95% carbon dioxide; using the nitrogen removed from the flue gas to remove water from the flue gas prior to providing the flue gas to the pressure swing adsorption assembly. [Configuration 36] 36. The method of claim 35, wherein the flue gas is less than 10 ppm water before being fed to the pressure swing adsorption assembly. [Configuration 37] 36. The method of claim 35, further comprising supplying the nitrogen to an exhaust stack of the building after drying the flue gas. [Configuration 38] 1. A method for separating carbon dioxide from flue gas generated by a combustion boiler in a building, comprising: removing at least a portion of the nitrogen from the flue gas using a pressure swing adsorption assembly to produce greater than about 95% carbon dioxide; and providing at least a portion of the nitrogen removed from the flue gas to a gas expander / generator. [Configuration 39] 39. The method of embodiment 38, further comprising supplying electricity from the expander / generator to a building and / or a grid. [Configuration 40] 39. The method of claim 38, further comprising supplying the nitrogen to an exhaust stack of the building. [Configuration 41] 39. The method of claim 38, further comprising separating the nitrogen from the pressure swing adsorption assembly, supplying a portion of the nitrogen to a control valve, and supplying another portion to the expander / generator. [Configuration 42] 39. The method of embodiment 38, wherein the control valve and the expander / generator are aligned in parallel. [Configuration 43] 1. A method for separating carbon dioxide from flue gas generated by a combustion boiler in a building, comprising: removing at least a portion of the nitrogen from the flue gas using a pressure swing adsorption assembly to produce greater than 95% carbon dioxide; and supplying at least a portion of the nitrogen removed from the flue gas to both a dryer and a gas expander / generator. [Configuration 44] 44. The method of claim 43, further comprising using the nitrogen to dry a flue gas to less than 10 ppm water prior to supplying the nitrogen to the pressure swing adsorption assembly. [Configuration 45] 45. The method of claim 44, further comprising the step of supplying the nitrogen to an exhaust stack of the building after the nitrogen is used to dry the flue gas. [Configuration 46] 44. The method of claim 43, further comprising separating the nitrogen into portions and feeding one portion to the dryer and another portion to the expander / generator. [Configuration 47] 47. The method of claim 46, wherein the portion is about one-third of the nitrogen from the pressure swing adsorption assembly. [Configuration 48] 44. The method of claim 43, further comprising generating electricity using the expander / generator. [Configuration 49] 49. The method of embodiment 48, further comprising the step of supplying the nitrogen to an exhaust stack of the building after the nitrogen has been used in the expander / generator. [Configuration 50] 1. A method for cooling carbon dioxide separated from flue gas generated by a combustion boiler in a building, comprising the steps of: separating nitrogen from the flue gas using a pressure swing adsorption assembly; expanding the nitrogen in the presence of a heat exchanger to cool a fluid in the heat exchanger; transferring the cooled fluid to another heat exchanger in operative alignment with the carbon dioxide product of the pressure swing adsorption assembly to cool the carbon dioxide product. [Configuration 51] 51. The method of embodiment 50, wherein the flue gas received by the pressure swing adsorption assembly has less than 10 ppm water. [Configuration 52] 51. The method of embodiment 50, further comprising using an expander / generator to expand the nitrogen in the presence of a heat exchanger. [Configuration 53] 53. The method of claim 52, further comprising supplying electricity from the expander / generator to the building grid. [Configuration 54] 53. The method of claim 52, further comprising the step of supplying the expanded nitrogen to an exhaust stack of the building. [Configuration 55] 51. The method of embodiment 50, wherein the carbon dioxide product is greater than about 95% carbon dioxide and is at least about 100°C. [Configuration 56] 56. The method of embodiment 55, further comprising reducing the temperature of the carbon dioxide product to less than about 100° C. [Configuration 57] 1. A method for liquefying carbon dioxide separated from flue gas generated from a combustion boiler in a building, the method comprising the steps of: supplying the gaseous carbon dioxide through a sparge assembly to sparge the carbon dioxide into liquid carbon dioxide in a vessel. [Configuration 58] 58. The method of claim 57, wherein the gaseous carbon dioxide is at least 95% carbon dioxide. [Configuration 59] 58. The method of embodiment 57, further comprising bubbling the gaseous dioxide from the sparge assembly. [Configuration 60] 58. The method of embodiment 57, further comprising establishing a carbon dioxide liquid / vapor barrier within the tank. [Configuration 61] 61. The method of embodiment 60, further comprising cooling the vapor carbon dioxide to produce liquid carbon dioxide. [Configuration 62] 62. The method of embodiment 61, further comprising operably engaging a refrigeration unit with the tank to receive the vapor carbon dioxide and liquefy carbon dioxide. [Configuration 63] 63. The method of claim 62, further comprising returning the liquefied carbon dioxide to the tank. [Configuration 64] A building that utilizes a carbonaceous fuel source to produce carbon emissions upon combustion of said carbonaceous fuel source, wherein the building emissions are operably coupled to a carbon capture system, said system configured to separate and condense carbon dioxide from said carbonaceous emissions. [Configuration 65] A building that utilizes a carbon fuel source to generate carbon emissions upon combustion of the carbon fuel source, the building emissions being operably coupled to a carbon capture system, said system being configured to process the carbon emissions and return heat to the building. [Configuration 66] A building that utilizes a carbon fuel source and produces carbon emissions upon combustion of the carbon fuel source, the building emissions being operably coupled to a carbon capture system, said system being configured to process the carbon emissions and produce electricity. [Configuration 67] A building that utilizes a carbonaceous fuel source to generate carbon emissions upon combustion of the carbonaceous fuel source, the building emissions being operably coupled to a carbon capture system, the system being configured to process the carbon emissions and store electricity. [Configuration 68] A building that utilizes a carbonaceous fuel source to generate carbon emissions upon combustion of said carbonaceous fuel source, wherein the building emissions are operably coupled to a carbon capture system, said system configured to dynamically control said combustion and capture system to reduce carbon combustion and increase carbon capture. [Configuration 69] A building that utilizes a carbonaceous fuel source to produce carbon emissions upon combustion of said carbonaceous fuel source, the building emissions being operably coupled to a carbon capture and removal system.

Claims

1. A method for operating a combustion boiler in a residential or commercial building to optimize removal of CO2 from combustion flue gas, comprising: supplying air and natural gas to a combustion burner; monitoring the amount of free oxygen in the combustion burner; controlling the amount of air and natural gas supplied to the combustion burner to maintain a free oxygen content in the combustion burner greater than 3%, and combusting the air and natural gas in the combustion burner to produce a flue gas having a CO2 concentration of at least about 10% and a moisture concentration of about 18%; removing moisture from the flue gas to achieve a moisture concentration of 10 ppm or less before separating CO2, and liquefying the CO2 separated from the flue gas; The method includes:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein CO2 is separated from N2.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the CO2 after separating the CO2 from the flue gas.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising a step of transporting the CO2 after storing the CO2.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the amount of free oxygen is 3 to 7%.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the CO2 concentration in the flue gas is less than 12%.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the CO2 concentration in the flue gas is 10-12%.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein removing moisture from the flue gas includes increasing a CO2 concentration in the flue gas.

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