Thermal energy storage integration for increased flexibility of a power plant with post-combustion CO2 capture

Abstract

Flexible operation of thermal power plants will become increasingly relevant in the coming years. This work evaluates the effect of integrating a steam accumulator into a 598 MW supercritical coal-fired power plant with moving bed temperature-swing adsorption CO2 capture. Charging the accumulator with reheat steam from the turbine train can reduce the net power output by up to 1.4 % (8.2 MW) for around 200 min. Small charging flow rates are recommended to maximize the final pressure of the accumulator. Covering the sorbent regeneration duty and meeting the demand of two feedwater heaters were considered as alternatives for discharging of the accumulator. Thermal storage discharging was found to give relative power plant load increases between 1.7 and 11.2 % (10.2–66.9 MW) for up to 37.5 min, which exceeds the requirement for primary reserve. Increases in the electrical energy output of 10.5–11 MWh were achieved. The flexibility modes studied in this work are compatible with high CO2 recovery rates.