A new semi-closed gas turbine cycle with CO2 separation

In this work, a new Semi-Closed Gas Turbine Cycle (SCGT) configuration is presented, named Semi-Closed Gas Turbine/Regenerative Combined Cycle (SCGT/RCC). The SCGT/RCC is an hybrid combination of the SCGT/CC and SCGT/RE cycle concepts, including both partial regeneration of the gas turbine and coupling to a bottoming steam cycle by a small-size Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG). An energy and exergy analysis is carried out for several configurations and operating conditions. A preliminary analysis of the RHE size, CO₂ absorption potential and related effects on the cycle performance is presented, at several operating conditions and investigating three possible plant operation modes. The performance of the SCGT/RCC is very interesting at optimized operating conditions (specific power exceeding 550 kJ/kg of compressor inlet flow rate, efficiencies close to 50% including a 80% CO₂ removal). This plant is a promising solution that combines the positive features of semi-closed gas turbines, allowing a drastic reduction of size and capital costs for both HRSG and RHE and maintaining high values of performance.     

Integration of gas switching combustion in a humid air turbine cycle for flexible power production from solid fuels with near-zero emissions of CO2 and other pollutants

This work presents a novel plant configuration for power production from solid fuels with integrated CO₂ capture. Specifically, the Gas Switching Combustion (GSC) system is integrated with a Humid Air Turbine (HAT) power cycle and a slurry fed entrained flow (GE-Texaco) gasifier or a dry fed (Shell) gasifier with a partial water quench. The primary novelty of the proposed GSC-HAT plant is that the reduction and oxidation reactor stages of the GSC operation can be decoupled allowing for flexible operation, with the oxygen carrier serving as a chemical and thermal energy storage medium. This can allow the air separation unit, gasifier, gas clean-up, CO₂ compressors and downstream CO₂ transport and storage network to be downsized for operation under steady state conditions, while the reactors and the power cycle operate flexibly to follow load. Such cost-effective flexibility will be highly valued in future energy systems with high shares of variable renewable energy. The GSC-HAT plant achieves 42.5% electrical efficiency with 95.0% CO₂ capture rate with the Shell gasifier, and 41.6% efficiency and 99.2% CO₂ capture with the GE gasifier. An exergy analysis performed for the GE gasifier case revealed that this plant reached 38.9% exergy efficiency, only 1.6%-points below an inflexible GSC-IGCC benchmark configuration, while reaching around 5%-points higher CO₂ capture rate. Near-zero SO_x and NO_x emissions are achieved through pre-combustion gas clean-up and flameless fuel combustion. Overall, this flexible and efficient near-zero emission power plant appears to be a promising alternative in a future carbon constrained world with increasing shares of variable renewables and more stringent pollutant (NO_x, SO_x) regulations.     

Analytical method for evaluation of gas turbine inlet air cooling in combined cycle power plant

Gas turbine inlet air cooling technologies (GTIAC), mainly including chilling with LiBr/water absorption chiller and fogging as well, are being used during hot seasons to augment the power output. To evaluate the general applicability of inlet air cooling for gas–steam combined cycle power plant (GTCCIAC), parameters such as efficiency ratio, profit ratio and relative payback period were defined and analyzed through off-design performances of both gas turbine and inlet air cooling systems. An analytical method for applicability evaluation of GTCCIAC with absorption chiller (inlet chilling) and saturated evaporative cooler (inlet fogging) was presented. The applicability study based on typical off-design performances of the components in GTCCIAC shows that, the applicability of GTCCIAC with chilling and fogging depends on the design economic efficiency of GTCC power plant. In addition, it relies heavily on the climatic data and the design capacity of inlet air cooling systems. Generally, GTCCIAC is preferable in the zones with high ambient air temperature and low humidity. Furthermore, it is more appropriate for those GTCC units with lower design economic efficiency. Comparison of the applicability between chilling and fogging shows that, inlet fogging is superior in power efficiency at t_a = 15–20 °C though it gains smaller profit margin than inlet chilling. GTCC inlet chilling with absorption chiller is preferable in the zones with t_a > 25 °C and RH > 0.4.     

Brayton refrigeration cycle for gas turbine inlet air cooling

In this paper, a new approach to enhance the performance of gas turbines operating in hot climates is investigated. Cooling the intake air at the compressor bell mouth is achieved by an air Brayton refrigerator (reverse Joule Brayton cycle) driven by the gas turbine and uses air as the working fluid. Fraction of the air is extracted from the compressor at an intermediate pressure, cooled and then expands to obtain a cold air stream, which mixes with the ambient intake. Mass and energy balance analysis of the gas turbine and the coupled Brayton refrigerator are performed. Relationships are derived for a simple open gas turbine coupled to Brayton refrigeration cycle, the heat rejected from the cooling cycle can be utilized by an industrial process such as a desalination plant. The performance improvement in terms of power gain ratio (PGR) and thermal efficiency change (TEC) factor is calculated. The results show that for fixed pressure ratio and ambient conditions, power and efficiency improvements are functions of the extraction pressure ratio and the fraction of mass extracted from the air compressor. The performance improvement is calculated for ambient temperature of 45°C and 43.4% relative humidity. The results indicated that the intake temperature could be lowered below the ISO standard with power increase up to 19.58% and appreciable decrease in the thermal efficiency (5.76% of the site value). Additionally, the present approach improved both power gain and thermal efficiency factors if air is extracted at 2 bar which is unlike all other mechanical chilling methods. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of the new investments in combined cycle gas turbine power plants on the Italian electricity price

The paper measures the variation of the electricity price in Italy within the next 10 years due to the recent investment flow in combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants. It starts by investigating the possibility of decoupling gas and oil prices on the basis of hypotheses about the amount of existing resources and plausible technical substitutability assumptions of the latter with the former. In particular, it is supposed that, in the Italian market, natural gas will play a crucial role which oil has had in power generation. The price of electricity stemming from natural gas is then calculated taking into account the role of the power mix restructuring that derives from the CCGT power plants investments. Under reasonable assumptions, it is shown that a net reduction of at least 17% on the electric price is likely to be expected.     

Techno-economic assessment on the fuel flexibility of a commercial scale combined cycle gas turbine integrated with a CO2 capture plant

Post-combustion carbon capture is a valuable technology, capable of being deployed to meet global CO₂ emissions targets. The technology is mature and can be retrofitted easily with existing carbon emitting energy generation sources, such as natural gas combined cycles. This study investigates the effect of operating a natural gas combined cycle plant coupled with carbon capture and storage while using varying fuel compositions, with a strong focus on the influence of the CO₂ concentration in the fuel. The novelty of this study lies in exploring the technical and economic performance of the integrated system, whilst operating with different fuel compositions. The study reports the design of a natural gas combined cycle gas turbine and CO₂ capture plant (with 30 wt% monoethanolamine), which were modelled using the gCCS process modelling application. The fuel compositions analysed were varied, with focus on the CO₂ content increasing from 1% to 5%, 7.5% and 10%. The operation of the CO₂ capture plant is also investigated with focus on the CO₂ capture efficiency, specific reboiler duty and the flooding point. The economic analysis highlights the effect of the varying fuel compositions on the cost of electricity as well as the cost of CO₂ avoided. The study revealed that increased CO₂ concentrations in the fuel cause a decrease in the efficiency of the natural gas combined cycle gas turbine; however, rising the CO₂ concentration and flowrate of the flue gas improves the operation of the capture plant at the risk of an increase in the flooding velocity in the column. The economic analysis shows a slight increase in cost of electricity for fuels with higher CO₂ contents; however, the results also show a reduction in the cost of CO₂ avoided by larger margins.     

CO2应用于燃机进口空气冷却的实验研究

运用CO2作冷却介质建立高低压闭式循环系统是对燃气轮机预冷的一种尝试。针对某自备电厂联合循环机组的实际情况,设计搭建了一套实验系统。本文主要介绍了实验装置的结构尺寸、数据采集控制系统以及实验数据处理方法。通过实验,验证了该套冷却设备对于燃机进口空气的冷却效果,并达到实际燃气轮机压缩机进口空气冷却的工作要求。     

Life cycle CO2 emissions from power generation using hydrogen energy carriers

Hydrogen energy carriers such as liquid hydrogen (LH₂), methylcyclohexane (MCH), and ammonia (NH₃) are promising energy vectors in the clean energy systems currently being developed. However, their effectiveness in mitigating environmental emissions must be assessed by life cycle analyses throughout the supply chain. In this study, while focusing on hydrogen energy carriers, life cycle inventory analyses were conducted to estimate CO₂ emissions from the following types of power generation plants in Japan: a hydrogen (H₂) mono-firing power plant using LH₂ or MCH that originated from overseas renewable electricity; and NH₃ co-firing with fossil fuel and NH₃ mono-firing power plants using hydrogen energy carriers that originated from overseas natural gas or renewable electricity. Parameters related to the supply chains were collected by literature surveys, and the Japanese life cycle inventory database was primarily used to calculate the emissions. From the results, CO₂ hotspots of the target supply chains and potential measures are identified that become necessary to establish low-carbon supply chains.     

Temporal CO2 emissions associated with electricity generation: Case study of Singapore

Studying temporal patterns in emissions associated with electricity generation is increasingly important. On the supply side, there is interest in integrating renewable energy sources (solar, wind), which are known to vary daily and hourly. On the demand side, the concept of demand response is driving a need to better understand the impact of peak versus off-peak loading, with the objective of maximizing efficiency. In this study, we examine the case of electric power generation in Singapore, and aim to assess the half-hourly variation in associated average carbon dioxide emissions. Given the country’s serious push for clean energy solutions and a possibility of adopting carbon trading in the future, we feel the need to address the currently existing gap in research on daily CO₂ emissions patterns. By associating representative electricity generation data with the characterized fleet of power plants, half-hourly emissions are found to range between 415 and 455 kg CO₂ per MW h. Marginal emission factors show a fluctuating daily pattern between 390 and 800 kg CO₂/MW h. Policy makers able to work with real generation data can use this approach to understand the carbon footprint of short-term supply and demand interventions.     

具有空气冷却的中冷回热循环三轴燃气轮机热力学建模和性能优化

建立了考虑涡轮叶片冷却和实际气体性质的中冷回热循环三轴燃气轮机模型,在给定叶片表面耐热温度的条件下通过优化总压比和中间压比分配,得到最优性能。研究表明:分别存在最佳的总压比和中间压比使得燃气轮机循环的比功率和效率达到双重最大值,双重最大比功率随中冷度的增大而增大,随回热度的增大略有减小,双重最大效率随中冷度和回热度的增大而增大。     

MAT, a novel, open cycle gas turbine for power augmentation

A Moisture Air Turbine (MAT) cycle is proposed for improving the characteristics of land-based gas turbines by injecting atomized water through an inlet into a compressor. Compressor work of isentropic compression for moist air mixtures with phase change is theoretically considered, which has revealed that water evaporation may reduce compressor work. An experiment using a 15 MW class axial flow load compressor has also verified the theory. Realistic cycle model calculations predict that a 10% power increment by a ratio of 1% water to compressor intake air is expected and also that the amount of water consumption is much less than that of conventional inlet air cooling systems, used for heat rejection at the cooling tower. In addition, thermal efficiency is anticipated to be improved mainly due to the reduction of compressor work. Contrary to the conventional evaporative cooler, a MAT cycle could provide power output at a desired value within its capability regardless of ambient humidity condition.     

A chemical intercooling gas turbine cycle with chemical-looping combustion

A novel methanol-based power system with Chemical-Looping Combustion (CLC) is proposed in this paper. CLC system is a promising approach to greatly decrease the energy penalty for CO₂ removal, where iron oxides circulate between two reactors and an inherent CO₂ separation occurs. The combustion process of CLC systems mainly include two steps: a reduction reaction of iron oxides, where the fuel is not mixed with air and the thermal energy for the endothermic reaction is supplied by the intercooling heat of the compressor of the gas turbine, and an oxidation reaction of iron oxides, where the compressed air is heated by the iron oxides. On the basis of the system's integration of cascade utilization of chemical energy of methanol and thermal energy, the thermal efficiency of this novel cycle is expected to be 56.8% with 90% of CO₂ recovery, 10.2 percentage points higher than a combined cycle (CC) with the same CO₂ capture. The promising results obtained here indicate that this novel thermal cycle is a promising approach to accomplish the efficient utilization of chemical energy of methanol without a decrease in thermal efficiency for CO₂ removal.     

A novel gas turbine cycle with hydrogen-fueled chemical-looping combustion

In this paper we have proposed a novel gas turbine cycle with hydrogen-fueled chemical-looping combustion, and the system study on two hydrogen-fueled power plants, the new gas turbine cycle and an advanced gas turbine cycle with H₂/O₂ combustion, has been investigated with the aid of exergy principle (EUD methodology). The hydrogen fueled chemical-looping combustion in the new gas turbine cycle consists of two successive reactions: hydrogen fuel is reacted with metal oxide (reduction of metal oxide), and then instead of air or pure oxygen, the reduced metal is successively oxidized by the saturated air. As a result, the new hydrogen-fueled gas turbine cycle has a breakthrough performance, with at least about 12 percentage-point higher efficiency compared to the gas turbine cycle with H₂/O₂ combustion, and will be environmentally superior due to complete elimination of NO_x formation. The promising results obtained here indicated that this novel gas turbine cycle with hydrogen-fueled chemical looping combustion could make a breakthrough in efficient use of hydrogen energy in power plants.     

低碳发展下的大气污染物和CO2排放情景分析-上海案例研究

我国国民经济正在呈现快速增长态势，由于能源技术相对落后，能源加工及利用效率相对较低，使得我国能源供应面临巨大压力。为探索低碳发展对能源环境的影响，以上海为例，利用LEAP模型对“零方案”情景(BAU)和低碳发展情景下的能源消费及大气污染物排放量进行了预测。研究结果表明，实施低碳发展不仅可有效缓解能源供应压力，明显遏止本地大气污染物排放，改善环境空气质量，而且可减缓CO2排放增长速度。上海案例研究结果显示，低碳发展与末端治理相结合，2020年上海市的能源消费总量将比基础情景减少18％，常规大气污染物和碳排放状况也得到改善，CO2、SO2和PM的排放总量分别比基础情景下2020年的排放量减少了20％、72％和78％。低碳发展对我国中长期能源环境建设具有显著的多重正效应。     

Energy and exergy analyses of an externally fired gas turbine (EFGT) cycle integrated with biomass gasifier for distributed power generation

Biomass based decentralized power generation using externally fired gas turbine (EFGT) can be a technically feasible option. In this work, thermal performance and sizing of such plants have been analyzed at different cycle pressure ratio (r_p = 2−8), turbine inlet temperature (TIT = 1050–1350 K) and the heat exchanger cold end temperature difference (CETD = 200–300 K). It is found that the thermal efficiency of the EFGT plant reaches a maximum at an optimum pressure ratio depending upon the TIT and heat exchanger CETD. For a particular pressure ratio, thermal efficiency increases either with the increase in TIT or with the decrease in heat exchanger CETD. The specific air flow, associated with the size of the plant equipment, decreases with the increase in pressure ratio. This decrease is rapid at the lower end of the pressure ratio (r_p < 4) but levels-off at higher r_p values. An increase in the TIT reduces the specific air flow, while a change in the heat exchanger CETD has no influence on it. Based on this comparison, the performance of a 100 kW EFGT plant has been analyzed for three sets of operating parameters and a trade-off in the operating condition is reached.     

Energy,exergy, and sustainability a novel comparison of conventional gas turbine with fuel cell integrated hybrid power cycle

In this paper, six novel modified exergy relations are explored to determine the precise estimation of exergy destruction and to identify which component has the most improvement potential. For this, three power generation cycles are considered, i.e., simple gas turbine (SGT), recuperated gas turbine (RGT), are compared with a novel hybrid system (SOFC-RGT: Solid Oxide Fuel Cell-RGT), which operates with fuel flexibility as well as enhanced work-output and thermal efficiency. For energy, exergy, and sustainability studies, numerical modeling is conducted using MATLAB. At r_p = 4, TIT = 1250 K, an exclusive comparison has been made between proposed configurations based on thermodynamic modeling and exergy-based sustainability index. It is found that with the inclusion of a recuperator and a fuel cell in the proposed cycles, the thermal and sustainability performance tend to increase significantly. Whereas, exergy destruction increases but has minimal impact on comparing thermal performance and sustainability index. In terms of sustainability, RGT is 30.76% more sustainable than SGT, while SOFC-GT is 63.39% more sustainable than RGT.     

风电与燃气轮机互补发电系统发电成本分析

在采用风电场与小型燃气轮机组成的互补系统发电特性参数的基础上,详细分析了互补系统发电成本的构成和各自的计算方法。采用新疆达坂城风电场的风速数据,基于互补系统的发电特性参数和风电场与燃气轮机电站的发电成本构成,应用改进过的等额支付折算法,在当前的技术条件和价格下,计算了风电场子系统和燃气轮机电站子系统各自的折旧成本、燃料成本和运行维护成本,得到了整滚发电系统发电成本的计算方法,为在新疆地区实现这种互补发电系统提供经济分析基础。     

Study on a zero CO2 emission SOFC hybrid power system integrated with OTM using CO2 as sweep gas

A new zero CO₂ emission solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) hybrid power system integrated with the oxygen ion transport membrane using CO₂ as sweep gas is proposed in this paper. The pure oxygen is picked up from the cathode outlet gas by the oxygen ion transport membrane with CO₂ as sweep gas; the oxy‐fuel combustion mode in the afterburner of SOFC is employed. Because the combustion product gas only consists of CO₂ and steam, CO₂ is easily captured with lower energy consumption by the condensation of steam. With the aspen plus soft, this paper builds the simulation model of the overall SOFC hybrids system with CO₂ capture. The exergy loss distributions of the overall system are analyzed, and the effects of the key operation parameters on the overall system performance are also investigated. The research results show that the new system still has a high efficiency after CO₂ recovery. The efficiency of the new system is around 65.03%, only 1.25 percentage points lower than that of the traditional SOFC hybrid power system(66.28%)without CO₂ capture. The research achievements from this paper will provide the valuable reference for further study on zero CO₂ emission SOFC hybrid power system with higher efficiency. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of policy instruments for promoting combined heat and power production with low CO2 emissions in district heating systems

Policy instruments clearly influence the choice of production technologies and fuels in large energy systems, including district heating networks. Current Swedish policy instruments aim at promoting the use of biofuel in district heating systems, and at promoting electric power generation from renewable energy sources. However, there is increasing pressure to harmonize energy policy instruments within the EU. In addition, natural gas based combined cycle technology has emerged as the technology of choice in the power generation sector in the EU. This study aims at exploring the role of policy instruments for promoting the use of low CO₂ emissions fuels in high performance combined heat and power systems in the district heating sector. The paper presents the results of a case study for a Swedish district heating network where new large size natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) combined heat and power (CHP) is being built. Given the aim of current Swedish energy policy, it is assumed that it could be of interest in the future to integrate a biofuel gasifier to the CHP plant and co‐fire the gasified biofuel in the gas turbine unit, thereby reducing usage of fossil fuel. The goals of the study are to evaluate which policy instruments promote construction of the planned NGCC CHP unit, the technical performance of an integrated biofuelled pressurized gasifier with or without dryer on plant site, and which combination of policy instruments promote integration of a biofuel gasifier to the planned CHP unit. The power plant simulation program GateCycle was used for plant performance evaluation. The results show that current Swedish energy policy instruments favour investing in the NGCC CHP unit. The corresponding cost of electricity (COE) from the NGCC CHP unit is estimated at 253 SEK MWh^?1, which is lower than the reference power price of 284 SEK MWh^?1. Investing in the NGCC CHP unit is also shown to be attractive if a CO₂ trading system is implemented. If the value of tradable emission permits (TEP) in such as system is 250 SEK tonne^?1, COE is 353 SEK MWh^?1 compared to the reference power price of 384 SEK MWh^?1. It is possible to integrate a pressurized biofuel gasifier to the NGCC CHP plant without any major re‐design of the combined cycle provided that the maximum degree of co‐firing is limited to 27–38% (energy basis) product gas, depending on the design of the gasifier system. There are many parameters that affect the economic performance of an integrated biofuel gasifier for product gas co‐firing of a NGCC CHP plant. The premium value of the co‐generated renewable electricity and the value of TEPs are very important parameters. Assuming a future CO₂ trading system with a TEP value of 250 SEK tonne^?1 and a premium value of renewable electricity of 200 SEK MWh^?1 COE from a CHP plant with an integrated biofuelled gasifier could be 336 SEK MWh^?1, which is lower than both the reference market electric power price and COE for the plant operating on natural gas alone. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermoeconomic evaluation of CO2 alkali absorption system applied to semi-closed gas turbine combined cycle

A new carbon dioxide separation system based on CO₂ absorption in aqueous solutions of alkaline salts (sodium and potassium carbonate) was studied with reference to semi-closed gas turbine/combined cycle (SCGT/CC), and compared to results obtained with existing technologies. Use of calcium hydroxide for the regeneration of the exhaust solution was studied in order to obtain a tail-end product, calcium carbonate in the form of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) with a wide spread and continuously growing market. The alkali CO₂ absorption process was compared with a conventional amine absorption process (DEA+MDEA), referring to the same SCGT/CC based on the same CO₂ removal efficiency. The comparison allows foregrounding of the possible goals of the CO₂ alkali absorption process with respect to previous amine cycle analyses. The modeling approach focuses on a thermodynamical and economical first comparison of the proposed cycle to previous studies carried out on CO₂ absorption (Energy Convers. Manage. 40 (1999) 1917; Absorption of CO₂ with amines in a semi closed GT cycle: plant performance and operating costs, ASME Paper 98-GT-395, American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME Publishing, New York, 1998; Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference, Interlaken, Switzerland, Pergamon, Oxford, 1999).