Energy, exergy, economic and environmental (4-E) analyses of plasma gasification steam cycle integrated molten carbonate fuel cell for hydrogen and power co-generation based on residual waste feedstocks

Abstract

Two newly emerging technologies: (a) plasma gasification and (b) molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) are integrated for hydrogen and power production for various system configurations. Due to the emission concerns of fossil fuels, wastes such as refused derived fuel (RDF) is chosen as feedstock. The simulation of the power plants is performed using Aspen plus and consequently, 4-E (energy, exergy, economic and environmental) analyses are executed. The highest energy and exergy efficiencies attained are 54.12% and 52.02% for the system Syngas:CH4 [PSA: MCFC], respectively. Moreover, the cost of electricity considering all the configurations is ranged between 77.48 and 107.93 $/MWh while the LCOH is between 1.01 and 3.94 $/kg. Likewise, introduction of MCFC for 0:100 [PSA: MCFC] case reduced the annual CO2 emissions ∼5 times than of 100:0. Therefore, the 4-E analyses reported that integrated plasma gasification with MCFC introducing waste as feed could possibly favour H2 and power co-generation and a cleaner environment.