Environmental assessment and extended exergy analysis of a “zero CO2 emission”, high-efficiency steam power plant

Aim of this paper is to analyze the performance of an innovative high-efficiency steam power plant by means of two “life cycle approach” methodologies, the life cycle assessment (LCA) and the “extended exergy analysis” (EEA).

The plant object of the analysis is a hydrogen-fed steam power plant in which the H₂ is produced by a “zero CO₂ emission” coal gasification process (the ZECOTECH^© cycle). The CO₂ capture system is a standard humid-CaO absorbing process and produces CaCO₃ as a by-product, which is then regenerated to CaO releasing the CO₂ for a downstream mineral sequestration process.

The steam power plant is based on an innovative combined-cycle process: the hydrogen is used as a fuel to produce high-temperature, medium-pressure steam that powers the steam turbine in the topping section, whose exhaust is used in a heat recovery boiler to feed a traditional steam power plant.

The environmental performance of the ZECOTECH^© cycle is assessed by comparison with four different processes: power plant fed by H₂ from natural gas steam reforming, two conventional coal- and natural gas power plants and a wind power plant.     

Combustion technology developments in power generation in response to environmental challenges

Combustion system development in power generation is discussed ranging from the pre-environmental era in which the objectives were complete combustion with a minimum of excess air and the capability of scale up to increased boiler unit performances, through the environmental era (1970–), in which reduction of combustion generated pollution was gaining increasing importance, to the present and near future in which a combination of clean combustion and high thermodynamic efficiency is considered to be necessary to satisfy demands for CO₂ emissions mitigation.

From the 1970s on, attention has increasingly turned towards emission control technologies for the reduction of oxides of nitrogen and sulfur, the so-called acid rain precursors. By a better understanding of the NO_x formation and destruction mechanisms in flames, it has become possible to reduce significantly their emissions via combustion process modifications, e.g. by maintaining sequentially fuel-rich and fuel-lean combustion zones in a burner flame or in the combustion chamber, or by injecting a hydrocarbon rich fuel into the NO_x bearing combustion products of a primary fuel such as coal.

Sulfur capture in the combustion process proved to be more difficult because calcium sulfate, the reaction product of SO₂ and additive lime, is unstable at the high temperature of pulverized coal combustion. It is possible to retain sulfur by the application of fluidized combustion in which coal burns at much reduced combustion temperatures. Fluidized bed combustion is, however, primarily intended for the utilization of low grade, low volatile coals in smaller capacity units, which leaves the task of sulfur capture for the majority of coal fired boilers to flue gas desulfurization.

During the last decade, several new factors emerged which influenced the development of combustion for power generation. CO₂ emission control is gaining increasing acceptance as a result of the international greenhouse gas debate. This is adding the task of raising the thermodynamic efficiency of the power generating cycle to the existing demands for reduced pollutant emission. Reassessments of the long-term availability of natural gas, and the development of low NO_x and highly efficient gas turbine–steam combined cycles made this mode of power generation greatly attractive also for base load operation.

However, the real prize and challenge of power generation R&D remains to be the development of highly efficient and clean coal-fired systems. The most promising of these include pulverized coal combustion in a supercritical steam boiler, pressurized fluid bed combustion without or with topping combustion, air heater gas turbine-steam combined cycle, and integrated gasification combined cycle. In the longer term, catalytic combustion in gas turbines and coal gasification-fuel cell systems hold out promise for even lower emissions and higher thermodynamic cycle efficiency. The present state of these advanced power-generating cycles together with their potential for application in the near future is discussed, and the key role of combustion science and technology as a guide in their continuing development highlighted.     

Thermoeconomic evaluation of the SCGT cycle

The analysis of the SCGT (Semi-Closed Gas Turbine cycle) is extended to the treatment of acid condensation (sulphur compounds) at the exit of the separator (SEP), with reference to different possible configurations already studied from the thermodynamic and environmental points of view. This detailed analysis was considered necessary because the natural gas fuel can contain a small amount of H₂S which, reacting with air, can form SO₂ and finally sulphuric acid. This can represent a problem (mainly from the economic point of view) because of the possibility of sulphuric acid condensation at the exit of the separator, where the temperature can reach values below the acid dew point of the mixture.

The data obtained from ENI publications were used for the natural gas composition, and a 0.005% H₂S molar fraction was additionally hypothesized. With these assumptions, about 0.1% SO₂ can be found in the exhaust gases at the separator inlet.

Aspen Plus was used in order to evaluate the chemical effects of the acidity of the condensate produced in the separator. An evaluation about costs of the devices to be used for condensation of the recirculated flue gas humidity has been performed, considering use of the special materials necessary for reducing the aggressive effects of acid water condensation.

A final evaluation of the overall conversion system plant is also produced, showing the economic balance in terms of resulting cost of the unit of electrical energy produced and of inlet power in terms of fuel.

The results are also evaluated in terms of CO₂ emissions, considering the ratio between the global cost of the power generation plant and the global carbon dioxide emissions, compared to other types of energy conversion open cycle solutions.     

燃气-超临界CO2联合循环发电系统

  [目的]  燃气轮机排气温度高,可增加底循环,利用排气的余热发电,从而提高燃料总的能量利用率。鉴于超临界CO₂循环热效率高,并且具有系统简单、结构紧凑、运行灵活等潜在优势,可与燃气轮机组成新型的燃气-超临界CO₂联合循环。  [方法]  为了充分利用燃气轮机排气余热,提出在简单回热超临界CO₂循环的基础上,再嵌套一个简单回热循环的布置方式,并以PG9351(FA)型燃气轮机为例,对其热效率进行了计算分析。同时,在系统中增加余热利用装置,可将剩余热量用于供热、转换为冷量或发电。  [结果]  结果表明:对于选定的燃气轮机,超临界CO₂循环最高温度可达约600 ℃,循环发电效率约32%,获得余热温度为170 ℃以上,余热热量占燃气轮机排气热量9%,联合循环发电效率约54%。  [结论]  燃气-超临界CO₂联合循环发电系统具有较高的热效率,并且保留部分较高品位的余热,可进一步用于电厂运行。     

天然气联合循环电厂燃烧后CO2捕集一体化技术经济评价

  目的  近年来,天然气发电在我国构建清洁能源体系中扮演着重要角色,预计到2025年“十四五”规划期结束时,中国气电装机容量将会突破150 GW。二氧化碳捕集利用是气电实现“双碳”目标的关键路径之一。  方法  为此,设立1个600 MW等级天然气联合循环发电（NGCC）、1个CO₂捕集和压缩（PCC）的综合工厂作为模拟对象。  结果  模拟研究表明:设计CO₂全烟气量捕集、90%效率、CO₂压缩提纯率为99.5%,燃气发电总出力输出下降了约16.05%,厂用电率增加5.55%,循环冷却水需求增加了约50.52%。  结论  通过经济分析显示,综合工厂的静态投资成本比单一发电厂的成本高54.28%,电力均等化运营成本（LCOE）增加了15.96%,给二氧化碳捕集的部署和发展带来了非常大的困难。但其中天然气价格仍然是影响电厂运营成本的最主要因素。     

A critical assessment of thermo‐economic analyses of different air bottoming cycles for waste heat recovery

Steam turbine cycle's low operating temperature makes it suitable for waste heat recovery applications. Even though conventional combined cycles, ie, topping gas turbine and bottoming steam turbine cycles, are thermodynamically efficient, they are not the most economical alternatives for power generation with capacities less than 50 MWe. A recently proposed alternative is to utilize a bottoming gas turbine cycle in form of an air bottoming cycle. In this study, an overview of air bottoming cycle is presented. Based on the discussed studies, it is decided to further evaluate the merits of water injection in the bottoming cycle air stream by using either a humidifier or an air saturator. Thermo‐economic analysis and optimization are performed to evaluate simple and water injected air bottoming cycles against steam bottoming cycles. Results indicate that conventional combined cycles can achieve the highest thermal efficiency of about 48%. While water injected air bottoming cycle with air saturator is the most cost effective combined cycle configuration and most efficient air bottoming cycle with levelized cost of electricity and energy efficiency of 64.41 US$/MWh and 39%–40%, respectively, followed by the water injected air bottoming cycle with humidifier and simple air bottoming cycle with reported levelized cost of electricity of 65.75 US$/MWh, 66.36 US$/MWh, respectively. Steam bottoming cycle has the highest levelized cost of electricity of 68.88 US$/MWh.     

Parametric analysis of a coal based combined cycle power plant

In the present paper thermodynamic analyses, i.e. both energy and exergy analyses have been conducted for a coal based combined cycle power plant, which consists of pressurized circulating fluidized bed (PCFB) partial gasification unit and an atmospheric circulating fluidized bed (ACFB) char combustion unit. Dual pressure steam cycle is considered for the bottoming cycle to reduce irreversibilities during heat transfer from gas to water/steam. The effect of operating variables such as pressure ratio, gas turbine inlet temperature on the performance of combined cycle power plant has been investigated. The pressure ratio and maximum temperature (gas turbine inlet temperature) are identified as the dominant parameters having impact on the combined cycle plant performance. The work output of the topping cycle is found to increase with pressure ratio, while for the bottoming cycle it decreases. However, for the same gas turbine inlet temperature the overall work output of the combined cycle plant increases up to a certain pressure ratio, and thereafter not much increase is observed. The entropy generation, the irreversibilities in each component of the combined cycle and the exergy destruction/losses are also estimated. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance modelling of a carbon dioxide removal system for power plants

In this paper, a carbon dioxide removal and liquefaction system, which separates carbon dioxide from the flue gases of conventional power plants, was modelled. The system is based on an amine chemical absorption stripping system, followed by a liquefaction unit to treat the removed CO₂ for transportation and storage. The effect of the main parameters on the absorption and stripping columns is presented. The main constraints set for the model are a capture efficiency of 90% and the use of an aqueous solution with a maximum 30% amine content by weight. The goal of this study is to remove the CO₂ with minimum energy requirements for the process when it is integrated in a fossil fuel fired power plant. Results of the simulation are compared to experimental and literature data from feasibility studies and existing plants.

The power plant to which the removal system is connected is a 320 MW steam power plant with steam reheat and 8 feedwater heaters. Two different fossil fuels were considered: coal and natural gas. The effect of the modifications necessary to integrate the CO₂ removal system in the power plant is also studied.

The capital cost of the removal and liquefaction system is estimated, and its influence on the cost of generated electricity is calculated.     

Multi-objective optimization of an advanced combined cycle power plant including CO2 separation options

This paper illustrates a methodology developed to facilitate the analysis of complex systems characterized by a large number of technical, economical and environmental parameters. Thermo-economic modeling of a natural gas combined cycle including CO₂ separation options has been coupled within a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm to characterize the economic and environmental performances of such complex systems within various contexts.

The method has been applied to a case of power generation in Germany. The optimum options for system integration under different boundary conditions are revealed by the Pareto Optimal Frontiers. Results show the influence of the configuration and technical parameters on the electrical efficiencies of the Pareto optimal plants and their sub-systems. The results provide information on the relationship between power generation cost and CO₂ emissions, and allow sensitivity analyses of important economical parameters like natural gas and electricity prices. Such a tool is of interest for power generation technology suppliers, for utility owners or for project investors, and for policy makers in the context of CO₂ mitigation schemes including emission trading.     

Mitigation assessment results and priorities for China''s energy sector

Energy-related CO₂ emission projections of China up to 2030 are given. CO₂ mitigation potential and technology options in main fields of energy conservation and energy substitution are analyzed. CO₂ reduction costs of main mitigation technologies are estimated and the multi-criteria approach is used for assessment of priority technologies.

The results of this study show (1) Given population expansion and high GDP growth, energy-related CO₂ emissions will increase in China. (2) There exists a large energy conservation potential in China. (3) Adjustment of industry structure and increase of shares of products with high added value have and will play a very important role in reducing energy intensity of GDP. (4) Energy conservation and substitution of coal by natural gas, nuclear power, hydropower and renewable energy will be the key technological measures in a long-term strategy to reduce GHG emission. (5) Identification and implementation of GHG mitigation technologies is consistent with China's targets of sustainable development and environmental protection. (6) Energy efficiency improvement is a “no-regret” option for CO₂ reduction, whereas an incremental cost is needed to develop hydropower and renewable energy.     

The long-term life cycle private and external costs of high coal usage in the US

Using four times as much coal in 2050 for electricity production need not degrade air quality or increase greenhouse gas emissions. Current SO_x and NO_x emissions from the power sector could be reduced from 12 to less than 1 and from 5 to 2 million tons annually, respectively, using advanced technology. While direct CO₂ emissions from new power plants could be reduced by over 87%, life cycle emissions could increase by over 25% due to the additional coal that is required to be mined and transported to compensate for the energy penalty of the carbon capture and storage technology. Strict environmental controls push capital costs of pulverized coal (PC) and integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants to $1500–1700/kW and $1600–2000/kW, respectively. Adding carbon capture and storage (CCS) increases costs to $2400–2700/kW and $2100–3000/kW (2005 dollars), respectively. Adding CCS reduces the 40–43% efficiency of the ultra-supercritical PC plant to 31–34%; adding CCS reduces the 32–38% efficiency of the GE IGCC plant to 27–33%. For IGCC, PC, and natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) plants, the carbon dioxide tax would have to be $53, $74, and $61, respectively, to make electricity from a plant with CCS cheaper. Capturing and storing 90% of the CO₂ emissions increases life cycle costs from 5.4 to 11.6 cents/kWh. This analysis shows that 90% CCS removal efficiency, although being a large improvement over current electricity generation emissions, results in life cycle emissions that are large enough that additional effort is required to achieve significant economy-wide reductions in the US for this large increase in electricity generation using either coal or natural gas.     

Baseload wind energy: modeling the competition between gas turbines and compressed air energy storage for supplemental generation

The economic viability of producing baseload wind energy was explored using a cost-optimization model to simulate two competing systems: wind energy supplemented by simple- and combined cycle natural gas turbines (“wind+gas”), and wind energy supplemented by compressed air energy storage (“wind+CAES”). Pure combined cycle natural gas turbines (“gas”) were used as a proxy for conventional baseload generation. Long-distance electric transmission was integral to the analysis. Given the future uncertainty in both natural gas price and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions price, we introduced an effective fuel price, p_NGeff, being the sum of the real natural gas price and the GHG price. Under the assumption of p_NGeff=$5/GJ (lower heating value), 650 W/m² wind resource, 750 km transmission line, and a fixed 90% capacity factor, wind+CAES was the most expensive system at ¢6.0/kWh, and did not break even with the next most expensive wind+gas system until p_NGeff=$9.0/GJ. However, under real market conditions, the system with the least dispatch cost (short-run marginal cost) is dispatched first, attaining the highest capacity factor and diminishing the capacity factors of competitors, raising their total cost. We estimate that the wind+CAES system, with a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rate that is one-fourth of that for natural gas combined cycle plants and about one-tenth of that for pulverized coal plants, has the lowest dispatch cost of the alternatives considered (lower even than for coal power plants) above a GHG emissions price of $35/tC_equiv., with good prospects for realizing a higher capacity factor and a lower total cost of energy than all the competing technologies over a wide range of effective fuel costs. This ability to compete in economic dispatch greatly boosts the market penetration potential of wind energy and suggests a substantial growth opportunity for natural gas in providing baseload power via wind+CAES, even at high natural gas prices.     

Boiling coal in water: Hydrogen production and power generation system with zero net CO2 emission based on coal and supercritical water gasification

Coal is the single most important fuel for power generation today. Nowadays, most coal is consumed by means of “burning coal in air” and pollutants such as NO_x, SO_x, CO₂, PM2.5 etc. are inevitably formed and mixed with excessive amount of inner gases, so the pollutant emission reduction system is complicated and the cost is high. IGCC is promising because coal is gasified before utilization. However, the coal gasifier mostly operates in gas environments, so special equipments are needed for the purification of the raw gas and CO₂ emission reduction. Coal and supercritical water gasification process is another promising way to convert coal efficiently and cleanly to H₂ and pure CO₂. The gasification process is referred to as “boiling coal in water” and pollutants containing S and N deposit as solid residual and can be discharged from the gasifier. A novel thermodynamics cycle power generation system was proposed by us in State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering (SKLMFPE) of Xi'an jiaotong University (XJTU), which is based on coal and supercritical water gasification and multi-staged steam turbine reheated by hydrogen combustion. It is characterized by its high coal-electricity efficiency, zero net CO₂ emission and no pollutants. A series of experimental devices from quartz tube system to a pilot scale have been established to realize the complete gasification of coal in SKLMFPE. It proved the prospects of coal and supercritical water gasification process and the novel thermodynamics cycle power generation system.     

高气价下联合循环机组建设类型探讨

本文对具有代表性发电工程造价和电价进行对比分析,燃气机组燃料费相比燃煤机组和核电机组占电价的比例处于较高水平,燃料价格变化对电价的影响较大.在高气价且价格又不稳定的情况下,新建哪种类型的联合循环机组才有竞争力,文中对几种类型的燃气联合循环机组进行探讨,并对天然气发电政策提出几点建议.     

Thermodynamic analysis of an LNG fuelled combined cycle power plant with waste heat recovery and utilization system

This paper has proposed an improved liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuelled combined cycle power plant with a waste heat recovery and utilization system. The proposed combined cycle, which provides power outputs and thermal energy, consists of the gas/steam combined cycle, the subsystem utilizing the latent heat of spent steam from the steam turbine to vaporize LNG, the subsystem that recovers both the sensible heat and the latent heat of water vapour in the exhaust gas from the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) by installing a condensing heat exchanger, and the HRSG waste heat utilization subsystem. The conventional combined cycle and the proposed combined cycle are modelled, considering mass, energy and exergy balances for every component and both energy and exergy analyses are conducted. Parametric analyses are performed for the proposed combined cycle to evaluate the effects of several factors, such as the gas turbine inlet temperature (TIT), the condenser pressure, the pinch point temperature difference of the condensing heat exchanger and the fuel gas heating temperature on the performance of the proposed combined cycle through simulation calculations. The results show that the net electrical efficiency and the exergy efficiency of the proposed combined cycle can be increased by 1.6 and 2.84% than those of the conventional combined cycle, respectively. The heat recovery per kg of flue gas is equal to 86.27 kJ s^?1. One MW of electric power for operating sea water pumps can be saved. The net electrical efficiency and the heat recovery ratio increase as the condenser pressure decreases. The higher heat recovery from the HRSG exit flue gas is achieved at higher gas TIT and at lower pinch point temperature of the condensing heat exchanger. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

超临界二氧化碳循环应用于火力发电的研究现状

超临界二氧化碳动力循环(sCO₂循环)系统简单、结构紧凑、效率高,可与采用化石燃料燃烧方式的热源结合,形成先进的火力发电系统。sCO₂循环有间接加热和直燃加热两种方式,前者可采用燃煤锅炉间接加热获得热能,后者可采用燃气直接燃烧获得热能。基于对当前国内外的研究现状的文献调研,可以得出结论:sCO₂循环可应用于火力发电,并有望开发大型的清洁、高效火力发电系统,突破传统火力发电技术发展瓶颈。     

Thermodynamic Analysis and Conceptual Design for Partial Coal Gasification Air Preheating Coal-fired Combined Cycle

The partial coal gasification air pre-heating coal-fired combined cycle (PGACC) is a cleaning coal power system, which integrates the coal gasification technology, circulating fluidized bed technology, and combined cycle technology. It has high efficiency and simple construction, and is a new selection of the cleaning coal power systems. A thermodynamic analysis of the PGACC is carried out. The effects of coal gasifying rate, pre-heating air temperature, and coal gas temperature on the performances of the power system are studied. In order to repower the power plant rated 100 MW by using the PGACC, a conceptual design is suggested. The computational results show that the PGACC is feasible for modernizing the old steam power plants and building the new cleaning power plants.     

Elimination of circumferential cracking in reactor''s internal jacket

In many petrochemical plants reactors are subjected to cyclic random fluctuation of temperatures over the internal shell surface. The fluctuations cause premature failures of several patterns due to thermal fatigue. In the synfuels production business reactors that are subjected to thermal and mechanical loads are used. These reactors are continuously cooled by means of internal water jackets.

The jackets have been subjected to structural failures in the following order of appearance: Cracking on the manholes necks, patches of cracks resembling “elephant skin” on the parent plates inner surface, circumferential cracks, mainly but not solely along the heat affected zones of the horizontal weld joints, growing permanent bulges. These structural failures have shortened the operating life of the reactors and required periodical replacements. Relatively frequent occurrence of the failures resulted in high costs due to production losses, materials, fabrication and installation costs.

A comprehensive systematic development programme was launched in order to understand the phenomena, direct prioritised solutions evaluate all the possible alternatives. Shortly after start it was realised that the highest cost savings can result from the minimisation of the circumferential cracking and reduction in jacket replacement time. The programme focused on four improvement avenues: Reduction of thermal stresses; elimination of discontinuities; improve material properties; develop alternative structure. This multi-year development program resulted in a new design that incorporated thinning of the jacket, minimising geometrical and material discontinuities combined with simplified installation.

The improved design was installed in all the reactors and after ±6 years of operation it was proved that the installed jackets exceeded the performance of the original ones both in life cycle and reduction in installation. Moreover, no circumferential go through crack occurred for the last 8 years.     

用资源的观点评价能源利用项目

在评价能源动力工程项目时应该采用综合的评价方法，考虑技术、经济和环境等因素。叙述了一种基于总资源系统的综合评价方法，将生产中消耗的(包括污染掉的)空气、水和燃料等都折算成资源，并从社会平均边际削减成本的角度计算了利用资源对社会造成的外部成本。指出，计算资源的价值时必须包括其外部成本，并计入最终的总成本。文中还陈述了综合评价方法的原理，并以某燃天然气的燃气轮机联合循环热电联产系统为例子，与燃煤热电联产系统进行了比较。     

The cost of integration of zero emission power plants—A case study for the island of Cyprus

In this work, a technical, economic and environmental analysis is carried out for the estimation of the optimal option scenario for the Cyprus's future power generation system. A range of power generation technologies integrated with carbon capture and storage (CCS) were examined as candidate options and compared with the business as usual scenario. Based on the input data and the assumptions made, the simulations indicated that the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology with pre-combustion CCS integration is the least cost option for the future expansion of the power generation system. In particular, the results showed that for a natural gas price of 7.9US$/GJ the IGCC technology with pre-combustion CCS integration is the most economical choice, closely followed by the pulverized coal technology with post-combustion CCS integration. The combined cycle technology can, also, be considered as alternative competitive technology. The combined cycle technologies with pre- or post-combustion CCS integration yield more expensive electricity unit cost. In addition, a sensitivity analysis has been also carried out in order to examine the effect of the natural gas price on the optimum planning. For natural gas prices greater than 6.4US$/GJ the least cost option is the use of IGCC technology with CCS integration. It can be concluded that the Cyprus's power generation system can be shifted slowly towards the utilization of CCS technologies in favor of the existing steam power plants in order not only to lower the environmental emissions and fulfilling the recent European Union Energy Package requirements but also to reduce the associated electricity unit cost.