Energy efficiency analysis of pressurized oxy-coal combustion system utilizing circulating fluidized bed

Supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) Brayton power cycle is a competitive technology to achieve high efficiency in a variety of applications. However, in coal power applications, the CO2 generated from coal combustion still discharges into the atmosphere causing a series of environment problems. In this work, an 300 MWe S-CO2 power cycle with circulating fluidized bed (CFB) oxy-coal combustion was established including air separation unit (ASU), CFB boiler, recuperator system and carbon dioxide compression and purification unit (CPU). Based on the material and energy conservation, the cycle efficiency of S-CO2 (620°C, 25 MPa) Brayton power cycle with CFB oxy-coal combustion is evaluated compared to the oxy-coal combustion steam Rankine cycle and S-CO2 Brayton power cycle with the 31.65 kg/s coal supply. After that, the influence of several factors, e.g., exhaust flue gas temperature, split ratio in recuperator system and the oxygen supply on the cycle efficiency was investigated and analyzed. The results show that the net efficiency of S-CO2 power cycle with CFB oxy-coal combustion (32.67%) is much higher than the steam Rankine cycle utilizing CFB with 17.5 Mpa, 540°C steam (27.3%), and 25 Mpa, 620°C steam (30.15%) under the same exhaust flue gas temperature. In addition, lower exhaust flue gas temperature and higher split ratio are preferred to achieve higher cycle efficiency. Lower oxygen supply can reduce the energy consumption of ASU and CPU, further increasing the system net efficiency. However, the energy losses of ASU and CPU are still very large in oxy-coal combustion and need to be improved in further work.

Energy efficiency analysis and optimization of a pressurized oxy-fuel circulating fluidized bed combustion system

CO2 Balance in a Compression and Purification Unit (CPU)

Growing concerns about global climate change have focused effortss on identifying approaches to stabilizing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. One approach utilizes oxy-fuel combustion to produce a concentrated flue gas that will enable economical CO{sub 2} capture by direct methods. Oxy-fuel combustion rewuires an Air Separation Unit (ASU) to provide a high-purity stream of oxygen as well as a Compression and Purification Unit (CPU) to clean and compress the CO{sub 2} for long term storage. Overall plant efficiency will suffer from the parasitic load of both the ASU and CPU and researchers are investigating techniques to enhance other aspects of the combustion and gas cleanup proceses to improve the benefit-to-cost ratio. This work examines the influence of oxy-fuel combustion and non-carbon based sorbents on the formation and fate of multiple combustion pollutants both numerically and experimentally.

In this paper, a 600 MW supercritical oxyfuel fluidized bed combustion power plant is integrated with an air separation unit (ASU) and a flue gas compression and purification unit (CPU). The plant performance is investigated, and two flue gas recirculation modes (i.e., wet and dry modes) are compared under different operating conditions. In the initial analysis, the dry-mode plant has a net power efficiency of 31.6%, while the wet-mode plant has a net power efficiency of 31.5%. In the sensitivity analysis, the air ingress has the most significant influence on the net power efficiency of the plant. The furnace combustion temperature also affects the net power efficiency. The plant is optimized by recovering heat from the ASU, CPU, and acid condenser and utilizing the heat to preheat the feedwater. Although the dry-mode plant has a higher efficiency before optimization, the wet-mode plant has a higher efficiency after optimization; that is, the net power efficiency increases by 2.7% for the wet mode compare...

Modelling and Dynamic Simulation of the 2nd Generation Oxy Fired Power Plant – Oxidant Fan Failure Case

The comparative performance study is carried out for 500 MW Supercritical (SupC) Oxy-Coal Combustion (OCC) and Air-Coal Combustion (ACC) power plants with membrane-based CO2 capture at the fixed furnace temperature. The proposed configurations are modelled using a computer-based analysis software 'Cycle-Tempo' at different operating conditions, and the detailed thermodynamic study is done by considering Energy, Exergy, and Environmental (3-E) analysis. The result shows that the net energy and exergy efficiencies of ACC power plants with CO2 capture are about 35.07 % and 30.88 %, respectively, which are about 6.44 % and 5.77 % points, respectively higher than that of OCC power plant. Auxiliary power consumption of OCC based power plant is almost 1.97 times more than that of the ACC based plant due to huge energy utilization in the Air Separation Unit (ASU) of OCC plant which leads to performance reduction in OCC plant. However, environmental benefit of OCC based power plant is more than that of ACC based power plant with respect to CO2 emission. OCC plant emits about 0.164 kg/kWh of CO2 which is approximately 16.75 times lower than the CO2 emission in ACC based power plant. It is also analyzed that the performance of the CO2 Capture Unit (CCU) for the OCC based plant is about 3.65 times higher than the ACC based power plant due to higher concentration of CO2 (nearly 80.63%) in the flue gas emitting from OCC plant. The study also reveals that the auxiliary power consumption per kg of CO2 capture of the OCC based plant is about 0.142 kWh/kg, which is approximately 0.06 times lower than the ACC based plant. The higher performance of the OCC based power plant is found at lower value of flue gas recirculation due to the fact that reduction in exergy destruction at the mixing zone of the combustor is higher than the increase in exergy destruction of the heat exchangers at higher furnace exit temperature. But the metallurgical temperature limit of boiler tube materials restricts the use of the higher value of furnace temperature. OCC based power plant with CO2 capture can be preferred over ACC based plant with CO2 capture due to higher environmental benefits towards mitigating CO2, the key greenhouse gas on earth in spite of exhibiting lesser energy and exergy efficiencies.

Energy and exergy analysis of oxy-fuel combustion based on circulating fluidized bed power plant firing coal, lignite and biomass

Carbon attrition during the circulating fluidized bed combustion of a packaging-derived fuel

With the pollutant emission standards becoming increasingly stringent and considering the pressure of carbon neutral by 2060, the low pollutant emission potential of circulating fluidized bed (CFB) combustion technology needs to be further exploited, thus to promote the market competitiveness of CFB boilers; this is critical for the clean and efficient utilization of coal as well as for the energy transformation in China. In this article, we summarize the pollutant emission characteristics of CFB combustion, and review the development of major technologies for CFB boiler emission control. Based on the energy development strategies and corresponding policies in China, development suggestions are proposed for reducing pollutant emission of the CFB combustion technology. The most significant approach is to push the limits of original pollutant emission for CFB combustion by re-specifying the fluidization state and through in-furnace combustion adjustment, while the boiler thermal efficiency should be ensured. For the long-term development of coal energy, the new-generation CFB combustion technology with ultra-low emission should be researched and developed while combining with technologies such as supercritical/ultra-supercritical, intelligent operation, carbon capture, utilization, and storage, and energy storage technologies. The existing CFB boilers with small or medium capacity should also be upgraded. Considering the fuel flexibility of CFB combustion, biomass power generation should be promoted to realize low-cost and high-efficiency consumption of low-heat value fuels, urban refuse, industrial wastes, etc. The peak load regulation capacity and low pollutant emission property of the CFB boilers should be promoted to improve operation flexibility and renewable energy consumption. Moreover, the desulphurization ash produced in CFB combustion should be comprehensively utilized, and the N2O emission problem is also significant. The pollutant emission standards and related policies need to be formulated from an overall perspective to guide the healthy development of the energy industry.

Circulating fluidized bed (CFB), due to its unique advantages such as high fuel flexibility and low pollutant emission, has become a competitive technology for coal combustion. With the fast development of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology, the numerical simulation has become a significant method to study the complicated characteristics of the CFB system. On the basis of a pilot-scale 50 kWth CFB combustor, this Article develops a comprehensive three-dimensional CFB coal combustion model under the air atmosphere by the Eulerian–Eulerian approach. Good agreement is observed for the general behaviors of the CFB combustor between simulated results and experimental data. A full-physics picture including flow structure, temperature, and gas composition in a three-dimensional space of the pilot-scale CFB combustor is provided. The simulation in this Article helps in a better understanding of the CFB combustion.

Optimization and control for CO2 compression and purification unit in oxy-combustion power plants

An operational approach for the designing of an energy integrated oxy-fuel CFB power plant

ASPEN Plus® reassessment of efficiency penalties associated with a pulverised coal oxy-combustion power plant-A case study

Performance assessment of first generation oxy-coal power plants through an exergy-based process integration methodology