Techno-Economic Comparison of Combined Cycle Power Plants with Pre-Combustion Co2 Capture Via Two Different Reforming Methods: Chemical Looping Reforming and Gas Switching Reforming

Abstract

This paper focuses on the techno-economic comparison of gas-fired combined cycle power plants with CO2 capture and two reforming methods, chemical looping reforming (CLR) and gas-switching reforming (GSR). The overall processes are denoted as CLR-CC and GSR-CC respectively. The net electrical efficiency of the CLR-CC and GSR-CC is 42.1% and 46.2% respectively. Anyhow, with improvements in the gas turbine configuration, the net electrical efficiency improves by 2.5%. GSR-CC has a higher CO2 avoidance (>95%). The levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for CLR-CC is lower than that of GSR-CC for based load operation of the power plant. Anyhow, GSR-CC provides flexibility in terms of output, electricity or pure H2. The capital requirement in the GSR-CC is higher due to the requirement of multiple standalone reactors to maintain a steady flow of the syngas produced from the GSR. The LCOE of both the processes is sensitive to the fuel cost. Further improvements in the GSR-CC process can make the process competitive to post- combustion capture.