The Effect of Advanced Steam Parameter-Based Coal-Fired Power Plants With Co2 Capture on the Indian Energy Scenario

Abstract

This study deals with the performance analysis of 500 MWe pulverized coal-fired power plants based on subcritical (SubC), supercritical (SupC), and ultrasupercritical (USC) steam parameters with postcombustion CO2 capture using high ash (HA) Indian coal. The performance of power plants is evaluated in terms of plant energy efficiency and CO2 avoided. Furthermore, the effect of an imported low ash (LA) coal on power plant performance parameters is also determined compared with the HA Indian coal. SupC and USC power plants result in an increase of about 0.8% and 6.4% points, respectively, in the plant energy efficiency compared with the SubC power plant. Consequently, a reduction of about 3% and 16.5% in CO2 emission is observed for the same plants using both HA and LA coals that, in turn, will aid in significant gain in carbon credits for a developing country such as India. However, incorporation of postcombustion CO2 capture unit in the proposed power plant configurations result in a significant drop of about 8%--13% points in the plant energy efficiency.