An integrated system combining chemical looping hydrogen generation process and solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine cycle for power production with CO2 capture

Abstract

In this paper, the solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine (SOFC/GT) cycle is integrated with coal gasification and chemical looping hydrogen generation (CLHG) for electric power production with CO2 capture. The CLHG-SOFC/GT plant is configurated and the schematic process is modeled using Aspen Plus® software. Syngas, produced by coal gasification, is converted to hydrogen with CO2 separation through a three-reactors CLHG process. Hydrogen is then fueled to SOFC for power generation. The unreacted hydrogen from SOFC burns in a combustor and drives gas turbine. The heat of the gas turbine exhaust stream is recovered in HRSG for steam bottoming cycle. At a system pressure of 20 bar and a cell temperature of 900 °C, the CLHG-SOFC/GT plant has a net power efficiency of 43.53% with no CO2 emissions. The hybrid power plant performance is attractive because of high energy conversion efficiency and zero-CO2-emission. Key parameters that influence the system performance are also discussed, including system operating pressure, cell temperature, fuel utilization factor, steam reactor temperature, CO2 expander exhaust pressure and inlet gas preheating.