Lignite‐fired air‐blown IGCC systems with pre‐combustion CO2 capture

Detailed analyses based on mass and energy balances of lignite‐fired air‐blown gasification‐based combined cycles with CO₂ pre‐combustion capture are presented and discussed in this work. The thermodynamic assessment is carried out with a proprietary code integrated with Aspen Plus^® to carefully simulate the selective removal of both H₂S and CO₂ in the acid gas removal station. The work focuses on power plants with two combustion turbines, with lower and higher turbine inlet temperatures, respectively, as topping cycle. A high‐moisture lignite, partially dried before feeding the air‐blown gasification system, is used as fuel input. Because the raw lignite presents a very low amount of sulfur, a particular technique consisting of an acid gas recycle to the absorber, is adopted to fulfill the requirements related to the presence of H₂S in the stream to the Claus plant and in the CO₂‐rich stream to storage. Despite the operation of the H₂S removal section representing a significant issue, the impact on the performance of the power plant is limited. The calculations show that a significant lignite pre‐drying is necessary to achieve higher efficiency in case of CO₂ capture. In particular, considering a wide range (10–30 wt.%) of residual moisture in the dried lignite, higher heating value (HHV) efficiency presents a decreasing trend, with maximum values of 35.15% and 37.12% depending on the type of the combustion turbine, even though the higher the residual moisture in the dried coal, the lower the extraction of steam from the heat recovery steam cycle. On the other hand, introducing the specific primary energy consumption for CO₂ avoided (SPECCA) as a measure of the energy cost related to CO₂ capture, lower values were predicted when gasifying dried lignite with higher residual moisture content. In particular, a SPECCA value as low as 2.69 MJ/kg_CO2 was calculated when gasifying lignite with the highest (30 wt.%) residual moisture content in a power plant with the advanced combustion turbine. Ultimately, focusing on the power plants with the advanced combustion turbine, air‐blown gasification of lignite brings about a reduction in HHV efficiency equal to almost 1.5 to 2.8 percentage points, depending on the residual moisture in the dried lignite, if compared with similar cases where bituminous coal is used as fuel input. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The lignite electricity‐generating sector in Greece: Current status and future prospects

Lignite plays an important role in Greece's energy sector as it satisfies over 70% of country's needs in electric power. The extraction of lignite takes place mainly in three regions of Greece, namely Ptolemais‐Amyndeon, Megalopolis and Florina. The annual production of lignite is around 60 million tons, out of which 48 million tons derive from the coal fields of northern Greece (Ptolemais‐Amyndeon and Florina). Almost the entire lignite production is consumed for electricity generation, while small amounts of lignite are used for briquettes and other applications. The Greek coal‐fired power plants, which are about 4500 MW, use conventional technology and they are old (an average of 30 years). In the coming years new coal fields will be exploited in Florina—another 2.5 million tons of coal—in order to satisfy the currently under construction 365 MW plant located at Meliti, Florina, Northern Greece. Even though the lignite reserves are widespread in Greece and other areas such as Elassona and Drama could possibly host power plants, it is expected that the Florina power plant will be the last coal‐fired plant to be build in the country. Lignite has to compete with natural gas—the construction of the main gas pipeline network has been completed—imported oil and renewable energy sources. The new EU regulations on power plant emissions raise obstacles for the firing of lignite, although it is low in sulphur. It must be shown that lignite produces low cost electricity in a environmentally friendly manner. The utilization of fly ash and land reclamation can improve the situation in lignite mining. In particular, specific attention was paid to further research and potential use of fly ash in road construction, the production of bricks and concrete, and the production of zeolites from lignitic fly ash. The use of clean coal technologies in power plants can solve many emission problems. Specific measures to increase the efficiency of lignite‐fired power units might include: identification of the loss sources of every unit, improvement of the cold end of the steam turbines, optimization of the beater wheel mills operation, and the combination of natural gas‐fired turbines with the existing boilers. The liberalization of the electricity market needs to be considered seriously from the lignite industry, since the potential electricity producers can freely choose from all kinds of fuels, such as imported coal, oil, gas and renewables. However, Greek lignite meets the requirements for the security of supply, as indicated in the EU's Green Paper. It needs only to be competitive in the new energy sector by improving mining and combustion conditions. Further research on these topics, through the European Commission's ECSC and Framework Programmes, as well as the national programmes, is required. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermodynamic evaluation of integrated gasification combined cycle: Comparison between high‐ash and low‐ash coals

In the present study, a coal‐integrated gasification combined cycle power plant is simulated. A high‐ash coal and low‐ash coal are considered to compare the performance of the plant. The combined cycle is in typical commercial size with 450 MW capacity. The feeds are Tabas and Illinois #6 coals which approximately contain more than 30% and 10% ash and have higher heating values of 22.7 MJ/kg and 26.8 MJ/kg, respectively. Energy and exergy analyses are done by aspen plus ^® and ees , respectively. Energy analysis shows that the overall efficiencies of power plants using high‐ash and low‐ash coals are 33% and 28%, respectively. The result shows that in high‐ash case, 52 kg/s coal, 10 kg/s water, and 1050 kg/s air and in low‐ash case, 48 kg/s coal and 820 kg/s air are required for providing mentioned power, approximately. Exergy analysis shows that maximum exergy destruction is in heat recovery steam generator unit. Investigating the emissions shows that high percent of ash in the coal composition has slight effects on the IGCC pollution. Finally, from thermodynamic viewpoint, it is concluded that the high‐ash coal, like the conventional one, can be used as thermally efficient and environmentally compatible feed of IGCCs. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

褐煤干燥提质技术比较与水分回收及余热利用方案

针对褐煤的高水分、低热值、易风化自燃、难以洗选、储存和运输等缺点,总结研究目前褐煤干燥脱水技术,并提出一套针对燃煤电站的褐煤干燥及其高水分烟气水分回收与余热来利用的方案,从而提高褐煤使用范围和经济性以适应当前能源紧缺及节能环保的能源局面。     

Mathematical modeling of gasification of high‐ash Indian coals in moving bed gasification system

Simulation of gasification of high‐ash Indian coal in an updraft moving bed gasification system is presented in this paper. A steady one‐dimensional numerical model, which takes into account of drying, devolatilization, combustion and gasification processes, is used to solve the mass and energy balances in the gasification system. The results from the model have been validated against the experimental data available in literature for various types of coals. The predicted product gas composition, its calorific value and the exit temperature are in agreement with the reported results. The validated model is used to study the effect of input parameters such as oxygen content in air stream, steam flow rates and the pressure of the gasification system. Results indicate that the value of oxygen mole fraction around 0.42 in the oxidizer stream can provide optimum performance in oxygen‐based gasification systems. There is a range of steam‐to‐coal ratio that is dependent on the oxygen content in oxidizer stream. For air‐based systems, this value is around 0.4 and for oxygen‐based systems it is 1.5. The gasification performance improves with operating pressure significantly. An operating pressure of around 8 bar and higher, based on the application, can be used for achieving the required performance with high‐ash coals. The model is useful for predicting the performance of high‐ash Indian coals in a moving bed gasification system under different operating parameters. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

我国煤炭清洁利用战略探讨

中国在一定时期内能源结构仍将以煤为主,而煤炭的清洁利用将是我国未来能源战略的关键问题。目前煤炭清洁利用单元技术主要有整体煤气化联合循环(IGCC)、煤炭地下气化技术(UCG)以及以煤气化为龙头,以碳一化工技术为基础,合成、制取化工产品和燃料油的现代煤化工。现代煤化工包括煤制油、煤制天然气、煤制烯烃、煤制乙二醇、煤制乙炔等,其产品大多属于石油化工产品的替代品。现代煤化工在世界范围内还没有完全成熟的技术和成功的工业化经验可借鉴,尚处在探索、验证阶段,发展前景仍存在不确定性。为此有学者提出,煤化工项目应与IGCC发电等一起发展多联产系统,从而实现经济效益最大化、环境污染最小化。煤基多联产比单纯的IGCC发电具有更好的经济性、更高的能量效率以及更加灵活的操作性,而作为先进的洁净煤技术,IGCC将成为未来能源系统的核心技术和重要基础之一。煤气化是IGCC的核心技术,煤炭地下气化技术开辟了煤炭高效、清洁、低碳开发利用的新途径,是从根本上解决传统开采方法存在的一系列技术和环境问题的重要途径。近年来,我国现代煤化工产业发展迅速,但同时也呈现出过热和无序发展态势。目前煤化工的经济性并没有得到充分论证和认可,国内当前正在运营的项目较大部分仍处于试点阶段。以煤气化为龙头的IGCC多联产是我国煤炭清洁利用的战略方向。目前我国IGCC和多项现代煤化工技术已具备技术推广的条件,国家应该从管理体制、政策法规、融资等方面给予大力扶持。     

高水分褐煤燃烧发电的集成干燥技术

高水分褐煤直接燃烧发电效率低,褐煤的集成干燥发电技术是提高其竞争力的有力手段.介绍了国外几种先进的集成干燥技术,如:管式干燥技术,流化床蒸汽干燥、蒸汽空气联合干燥,床混式干燥(BMD)、热机械脱水(MTE)等,并分析了各自的特点.最后,探讨了我国可以借鉴的褐煤燃烧发电预干燥技术.     

A proposed scheme for coal fired combined cycle and its concise performance

For IGCC, the primary investment is too high due to the demand of high gasification efficiency. For PFBCC, the thermal efficiency is too low due to the relatively low turbine inlet temperature and the hot working medium of the gas turbine is not easy to clean. A new scheme is proposed for coal fired combined cycle to overcome the main drawbacks of IGCC and PFBCC. The research targets are developing a new cycle construction of coal fired combines cycle to raise the efficiency and reduce the primary investment. Actually, the new scheme is a synthesis of some existing proposals. It adopts partial gasification to reduce the primary investment of the gasification equipment. The un-gasified surplus solid is then feed to a pressurized fluidized bed boiler, but adopting Curtiss Wright type external combustion to lower the ash content in the working medium. The gas fuel from the partial gasifier is combusted in a top combustor to further increase the working medium temperature. An extremely concise performance estimation method for the new scheme and its equations is proposed in order to easily understand the basic physical meaning of the new system. Some typical calculations based on this concise method are given. Then, a more detailed computation is accomplished with Aspen Plus code. The basic feasibility of this scheme is proven to be favorable. The efficiency is higher than the existing coal fired IGCC plants. The advantage of the new scheme comes from the better utilization of coal energy. Almost all the energy of coal is first utilized in the top cycle, and then the bottom cycle, just like the gas fueled combined cycle does. The primary investment is lower than the ordinary IGCC due to the lack of air separation unit and the adoption of partial gasification. The ash content is much lower than that of the existing PFBCC plants. If no any harmful ash in working medium is required, the atmospheric fluidized bed can be applied rather than the pressurized fluidized bed. A similar proposal with atmospheric fluidized bed and its performance estimation are also given. However, its efficiency will be lower than the pressurized fluidized bed scheme.     

褐煤改质的基础研究

煤炭是我国最主要的一次能源。在未来相当长的时期内我国以煤为主的能源供应和消费格局难以改变。褐煤的储量大,但是利用率底。为了解决这个问题我们引进了热水干燥技术以更好的利用我国的褐煤资源。     

Co‐gasification performance of coal and petroleum coke blends in a pilot‐scale pressurized entrained‐flow gasifier

Co‐gasification performance of coal and petroleum coke (petcoke) blends in a pilot‐scale pressurized entrained‐flow gasifier was studied experimentally. Two different coals, including a subbituminous coal (Coal A) and a bituminous coal (Coal B), individually blended with a petcoke in the gasifier were considered. The experimental results suggested that, when the petcoke was mixed with Coal A over 70%, the slagging problem, which could shorten the operational period due to high ash content in the coal, was improved. It was found that increasing O₂/C tended to decrease the syngas concentration and better operational conditions of O₂/C were between 0.6 and 0.65 Nm³ kg^?1. For the blends of Coal B and the petcoke, the slagging problem was encountered no more, as a result of low ash content in both Coal B and the petcoke. The better co‐gasification performance could be achieved if the blending ratio of the two fuels was 50%, perhaps resulting from the synergistic effect of the blends. With the aforementioned blending ratio, the optimal condition of O₂/C was located at around 0.65 Nm³ kg^?1. The co‐gasification was also simulated using Aspen Plus. It revealed that the simulation could provide a useful insight into the practical operation of co‐gasification. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

褐煤干燥过程对流传热特性的数值模拟

以干燥器内对流传热问题为研究对象,建立了褐煤干燥过程气-固对流传热模型。通过流-固界面传热耦合,利用CFD仿真技术进行模拟,对褐煤在不同粒径、风速及温度下的干燥过程进行了数值模拟,得到不同工况下的温度场分布及对流传热系数。根据模拟结果拟合得到气-固传热关联式,结果表明该关联式与褐煤干燥过程较吻合,可为工程实践提供理论指导。     

Direct production of hydrogen-enriched syngas by calcium-catalyzed steam gasification of Shengli lignite/chars: Structural evolution

Calcium has been proved to be efficient for the catalytic steam gasification of lignite. In this study, we studied the steam gasification of lignite with Ca(OH)₂ added by wet impregnation for to produce hydrogen. The effect of calcium on the microstructural evolution and char gasification behavior in the presence of steam were studied. The distribution of the gaseous products was examined by using fixed-bed micro reactor equipment for steam gasification. Partially gasified chars obtained at different temperatures (400, 500, 600, and 700 °C) in the gasification process were characterized by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy, ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The results suggested that a “Ca-carboxylate-like structure” was formed due to the addition of calcium to lignite. This Ca-carboxylate-like structure increased the thermal stability of the original carboxylic structure in lignite. As a result, the calcium-added coal retained more oxygen-containing structures, formed more defects, and possessed significantly lower aromatic structures due to the formed Ca-complexes during steam gasification. Therefore, it can be inferred that the Ca-complexes in the lignite char increased the gasification reactivity of char.     

600 MW超超临界塔式褐煤锅炉设计方案

主要介绍褐煤的特性,论述了褐煤锅炉的设计要点及塔式锅炉的特点,说明了对于高水分褐煤锅炉采用塔式炉配风扇磨的优势.风扇磨制粉系统具有很强的干燥能力,对原煤水分有较大的适应性,对于塔式锅炉,可以选取相对较大的容积和炉膛断面和低的屏底烟温,降低炉膛的结渣风险,并且没有转弯烟室,炉内烟温偏差小、磨损低、燃尽率高.最后详细介绍了600 MW超超临界塔式褐煤锅炉设计方案和能达到的关键性能指标.     

Integrated gasification combined cycle based hydrogen electricity plants

Abstract

Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) systems may become the coal technology of choice, because of their superior environmental performance and efficiency. Moreover, the compatibility of IGCC systems with carbon capture and the potential to produce hydrogen and electricity from the same plant opens a broad range of future possibilities. The key technical features of such a plant are reviewed and contrasted with those of more standard forms of IGCC.     

多联产配置是推进我国IGCC系统发展的重要途径

分析了IGCC电站在我国及世界的发展形势,并从经济和技术角度分析了影响其发展的主要因素,重点对多联产系统相对IGCC电站具有更好的经济性和操作灵活性进行分析。提出通过多联产系统来推进IGCC这种清洁煤发电技术发展的观点。     

煤制天然气产业发展前景分析

我国天然气供不应求的局面将长期存在,而利用煤炭资源相对丰富的特点发展煤制天然气产业,是缓解我国天然气供求矛盾的一条有效途径。煤制天然气产品的低热值比国家天然气质量标准规定的低热值高17.8%～21%,能量转化效率高。当石油价格为80美元/bbl时,与进口天然气、进口LNG相比,煤制天然气价格具有竞争力。固定床鲁奇炉加压气化技术是煤制天然气较好的选择,而耐硫变换、低温甲醇洗、硫回收、丙烯制冷、压缩干燥等工艺单元不存在技术问题。如果我国企业开发的低温甲烷化技术获得成功,那么煤制天然气项目就可以完全实现国产化,使我国煤制天然气技术居于世界前列。利用低品质的褐煤、采用碎煤固定床鲁奇炉加压气化技术,粗煤气中含有8%～12%的甲烷,气化单元投资仅为气流床气化技术的一半,电耗低,同时可实现焦油、轻油、酚、硫磺、硫酸铵等多联产。但对于排出的"黑水"问题,应采取积极措施尽快予以解决。煤制天然气项目最好在示范装置取得圆满成果之后,特别是环境保护问题解决之后,再进行项目的研究和建设。厂址最好设在坑口或煤炭产地附近,并且要考虑输送问题。     

Effect of supplementary firing options on cycle performance and CO2 emissions of an IGCC power generation system

Supplementary firing is adopted in combined‐cycle power plants to reheat low‐temperature gas turbine exhaust before entering into the heat recovery steam generator. In an effort to identify suitable supplementary firing options in an integrated gasification combined‐cycle (IGCC) power plant configuration, so as to use coal effectively, the performance is compared for three different supplementary firing options. The comparison identifies the better of the supplementary firing options based on higher efficiency and work output per unit mass of coal and lower CO₂ emissions. The three supplementary firing options with the corresponding fuel used for the supplementary firing are: (i) partial gasification with char, (ii) full gasification with coal and (iii) full gasification with syngas. The performance of the IGCC system with these three options is compared with an option of the IGCC system without supplementary firing. Each supplementary firing option also involves pre‐heating of the air entering the gas turbine combustion chamber in the gas cycle and reheating of the low‐pressure steam in the steam cycle. The effects on coal consumption and CO₂ emissions are analysed by varying the operating conditions such as pressure ratio, gas turbine inlet temperature, air pre‐heat and supplementary firing temperature. The results indicate that more work output is produced per unit mass of coal when there is no supplementary firing. Among the supplementary firing options, the full gasification with syngas option produces the highest work output per unit mass of coal, and the partial gasification with char option emits the lowest amount of CO₂ per unit mass of coal. Based on the analysis, the most advantageous option for low specific coal consumption and CO₂ emissions is the supplementary firing case having full gasification with syngas as the fuel. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

整体煤气化联合循环(IGCC)发电技术发展与前景

文中对整体煤气化联合循环发电(IGCC)技术的概念、工艺流程、特点及环保效益等方面进行了分析,总结了目前世界上IGCC的发展水平和其未来的发展趋势,以揭示IGCC这种洁净煤发电技术是一种适宜于电站锅炉的新技术,有待于我们做进一步的探讨及应用。     

Movable injection point–based syngas production in the context of underground coal gasification

Underground coal gasification (UCG) has been proven as a viable technology for the generation of high calorific value syngas using deep mine coal seams. The use of multiple injection points/movable injection point method could be an alternate technique for efficient gasification of high ash Indian coals. In this context, the present study is focused on evaluating the heating value of syngas using a variety of gasifying agents such as pure O₂, air, humidified O₂, and CO₂-O₂ dual-stage gasification under movable injection method for high ash coals. It is found that the use of movable injection point method had significantly increased the heating value of the product gas, compared with the fixed point injection method. For high and low ash coal under pure O₂ gasification, the calorific value of syngas obtained using movable injection point is 123.2 and 153.9 kJ/mol, which are 33.5% and 24.3% higher than the syngas calorific value obtained using fixed injection point, respectively. Further, the air as a gasification agent for high ash coals had increased the gross calorific value of the syngas by 24%, using this technology. The results of high ash coal gasification using humidified oxygen at optimum conditions (0.027-kg moisture/kg dry O₂) and CO₂-O₂ gas had enhanced the syngas calorific value by 12.6% and 5%, respectively. Humidified O₂ and CO₂-O₂ gasifying agents produced a high-quality syngas with the calorific value of 190 kJ/mol, among the gasifying agents used. The experimental results had shown that the movable injection point method is found to be a better alternative for the generation of calorific value-enriched syngas using high ash-based Indian coals.     

The development of advanced energy technologies in Japan: IGCC: A key technology for the 21st century

Integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants have been looked to as a key technology for the 21st century in order to realize high efficiency and good environmental performance for electricity generation, replacing existing coal fired power plants.Following successful completion of a 200 ton/d pilot project in Nakoso, IGCC technology development in Japan is moving from the stage of a feasibility study to a detailed study to allow final decisions for demonstration plant construction. The feasibility study, jointly conducted by the domestic electric power companies, found MHI's IGCC technology to have several advantages in efficiency and reliability. In parallel with the study, a number of R&D tests have been executed as a national project to facilitate scaling up from the pilot plant to the demonstration plant. This paper introduces the current status of the MHI's IGCC technological development.