4-E analyses of chemical looping combustion based subcritical, supercritical and ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants

Abstract Carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere are accelerated due to increased demand for energy. Coal-fired power plants are still the major sources of power generation in many countries and have become the major sources of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Chemical looping combustion is one of the most promising “next generation” carbon dioxide capture technologies. The present work investigates steady-state simulations of three chemical looping combustion based power plants: (i) subcritical, (ii) supercritical and (iii) ultra-supercritical using high-ash coal. The overall performances of these chemical looping combustion based plants are evaluated in terms of 4-E (energy, exergy, ecological and economic) analyses. For power production with complete carbon dioxide capture, the present study demonstrates a net energy efficiency penalty of 0.92%, 1.49% and 3.86% for chemical looping combustion based subcritical, supercritical and ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants, respectively, when compared with the corresponding conventional plants. The 4-E analyses revealed that the chemical looping combustion based supercritical and ultra-supercritical power plants are energetically, exergetically, environmentally, and economically favoured plants for power generation compared to the other variants.