Techno-Economic Analysis of a Novel Indirect Coal–Biomass to Liquids Plant Integrated with a Combined Cycle Plant and CO2Capture and Storage

Abstract

The indirect coal to liquids (CTL) plant based on gasification and Fischer–Tropsch (FT) technology is technically feasible, but it is plagued with high CO2 emission in comparison to the petroleum-based fuel production processes. Addition of a moderate amount of biomass to the feed and inclusion of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technology to the indirect CTL process can reduce its environmental footprint, but at the cost of higher capital investment as well as larger operational penalty. In this study, a techno-economic analysis of a novel indirect coal–biomass to liquids (CBTL) plant with CCS is performed using Aspen Process Economic Analyzer based on a process model developed in Aspen Plus. This paper has evaluated the impact of key investment parameters, such as raw material cost, project contingency, and process capacity, on the economic measures, including net present value, internal rate of return, payback period, and break-even oil price. In addition, the impacts of technology choices for product up...