Patent ID: 8636500

Claim:
A method of operating an oxy/fuel combustion system during startup to enable enhanced CO2 recovery, comprising: providing a combustion system comprising: a furnace having a first burner group including at least one burner arranged and disposed to combust a fuel to form a combustion fluid; a convective section arranged to receive the combustion fluid from the furnace; and one or more heat exchangers in the convective section arranged and disposed to transfer heat from the combustion fluid to produce and/or superheat steam; initiating circulation of a support gas in the combustion system prior to activating the first burner group; activating the first burner group while continuing circulation of the support gas, to produce a combustion fluid including CO2, such that a level of the CO2 in the combustion fluid increases as a function of time; and continuing production of the combustion fluid to exceed a predetermined level of CO2 in the combustion fluid, for a period of time, the predetermined level being sufficient to permit the CO2 to be purified by a CO2 purification unit.