Patent ID: 8626450

Claim:
A method comprising: measuring a first energy of feedwater entering into a steam generation system; where the steam generation system is a boiler; measuring a second energy of steam or water exiting the steam generation system; subtracting a difference between the first energy and the second energy to determine a total energy absorbed by the steam generation system; dividing the total energy absorbed by the steam generation system by an efficiency of the steam generation system to determine a heat input to the steam generation system; determining the carbon emissions from the heat input to the steam generation system; where the heat input is obtained from the combustion of carbon based fuels; and controlling the carbon emissions by adjusting a flow of feedwater or steam; where the first energy and the second energy are both heat energies related to the mass and enthalpy of the feedwater entering into the steam generation system and the steam of water exiting the steam generation system respectively; and where the carbon emissions can be determined from the Equations below: Mq ⁢ ⁢ C ⁢ ⁢ O 2 = MFrCF HHV × MW C ⁢ ⁢ O 2 MW C × 10 6 ⁢ ⁢ pounds ⁢ ⁢ of ⁢ ⁢ carbon ⁢ ⁢ dioxide ⁢ ⁢ per ⁢ ⁢ million ⁢ ⁢ BTU , Me ⁢ ⁢ C ⁢ ⁢ O 2 = Mq ⁢ ⁢ C ⁢ ⁢ O 2 kW × Q FIRED ⁢ ⁢ pounds ⁢ ⁢ of ⁢ ⁢ carbon ⁢ ⁢ dioxide ⁢ ⁢ per ⁢ ⁢ kilowatt , ⁢ and Mte ⁢ ⁢ C ⁢ ⁢ O 2 = Mq ⁢ ⁢ C ⁢ ⁢ O 2 2000 × Q FIRED ⁢ ⁢ tons ⁢ ⁢ of ⁢ ⁢ carbon ⁢ ⁢ dioxide ⁢ ⁢ per ⁢ ⁢ hour , MqCO 2 , MeCO 2 and MteCO 2 are masses in pounds per BTU of carbon dioxide, mass of carbon dioxide emissions on a per kW basis and mass of carbon dioxide emissions on a ton per hour basis respectively, MFrCF is the mass fraction of carbon in the fuel, MqCO 2 is a mass in pounds per BTU of carbon dioxide, MW CO2 is the molecular weight of carbon dioxide respectively, MW c is the molecular weight of carbon and Q FIRED is the heat input to the steam generation system.