Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.59, No.6, 2430-2440, 2020
Techno-Economic Analysis of an Intensified Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) Power Plant Featuring a Combined Membrane Reactor - Adsorptive Reactor (MR-AR) System
In this work, the novel concept of a combined membrane-adsorptive reactor sequence (MR-AR) is developed and implemented in an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant. This novel MR-AR IGCC plant is subsequently analyzed from an economic viewpoint through a techno-economic analysis (TEA) of the proposed plant. This novel design can achieve over 90% carbon capture without the use of a dual-stage Selexol unit. The resultant intensified design is more efficient from both an economic and power production perspective than the traditional IGCC plants with precombustion carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The COMSOL software package is utilized to simulate the MR-AR sequence proposed in this work, and UNISIM software (Honeywell) is used to create an intensified process flowsheet of the proposed MR-AR IGCC plant, which is subsequently heat-integrated. The TEA developed for the MR-AR IGCC power plant will be used to identify the extent of process intensification the proposed design has over the traditional IGCC plants with precombustion CCS. The results demonstrate a reduction in both the cost-of-electricity (COE) and in the capital cost of the proposed design over the baseline case.