With the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), there is now significant incentive to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2). These incentives can drive new and hybrid technologies to market. One such market is for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) where CO2 is injected into nearly depleted oil reservoirs as an effective method of producing more oil before the reservoirs are retired. A large fraction of the injected CO2 remains in the reservoir and is permanently sequestered. 

Babcock & Wilcox has developed an oxy-fired package boiler technology that burns natural gas to make low-carbon intensity electricity. In the oxygen combustion process, boiler combustion air is replaced with nearly pure oxygen while excluding the nitrogen normally conveyed with air in conventional air-fuel firing. Oxy-combustion creates a flue gas that is primarily CO2. A portion of the CO2-rich flue gas is recirculated back to the boiler, substituting CO2 for the nitrogen in the furnace. The non-recirculated flue gas leaving the boiler is cleaned using conventional particulate and sulfur removal systems and sent to a compression purification unit (CPU) where a high-purity CO2 stream is produced which is suitable for transportation or other uses.