Techno economic analysis of efficient and environmentally friendly methods for hydrogen, power, and heat production using chemical looping combustion integrating plastic waste gasification and thermochemical copper chlorine cycles

Abstract

Fossil fuels harm the environment and deplete resources. This study presents eco-friendly systems producing power, hydrogen, and heat with minimal pollution. Non-fossil sources like plastic waste solve waste issues and provide valuable energy. Thermochemical water splitting is another clean method for sustainable hydrogen production. The proposed systems employ chemical looping combustion in conjunction with PWG (plastic waste gasification) and thermochemical cycle of Cu–Cl (copper-chlorine), leveraging thermal integration between the CLC (chemical looping combustion) and subsequent processes. Comprehensive process simulations using Aspen Plus have been conducted for systems. The results indicated that the most desirable operational conditions for CLC occur when the molar ratio of oxygen carrier to fuel is 2.6. Under these conditions, there is no methane present in the fuel reactor products. Additionally, the thermal and exergy efficiencies of the CLC-PWG and CLC-CuCl cycles are determined to be 77.08/67.62 % and 66.11/61.1 % respectively, and the most irreversibility component for both systems is associated with the air reactor, with a value of 375 kW. Moreover, the hydrogen production rate in the CLC-PWG cycle is higher than in the CLC-CuCl cycle, with 105.6 kg/h compared to 34.6 kg/h, and the estimated lower minimum sale price for hydrogen is 2.8 USD/kg for CLC-PWG.