Integrated Environmental Control Model Research Articles

An integrated framework to assess climate change impacts on water use for thermoelectric power plants

Climate variability and change impact both water demand and water availability for power generation because of the interconnected relationship between water and thermoelectric power generation. To assess the impacts of climate change on water demand by thermoelectric power plants, this study developed a framework that integrates the characteristics of power plants and the results of the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) and the General Circulation Model (GCM) to simulate the water demand. This study contributed a novel tool to assess climate change impacts on water demand based on local climate conditions. This framework was applied to thermoelectric power plants in Illinois to explore the water demand at daily, monthly, and annual temporal resolutions. The results demonstrated that water use is more sensitive at shorter timescales. Thus, it is important to examine the water-energy nexus at a finer temporal resolution. Results also indicated that water consumption is more sensitive to climate change than withdrawal; power plants with a wet cooling tower are more sensitive than ones with a once-through cooling system; and natural gas-fired power plants are more sensitive than coal-fired plants. The case study demonstrated the novel framework is capable to assess climate change impact on water demand of thermoelectric power plants at varying temporal resolutions and the framework is easily applicable to other parts of the world.

Technical and economic analysis of amine-based carbon capture and sequestration at coal-fired power plants

This study assesses the overall cost of a typical 600 MW supercritical coal-fired power plant using amine adsorption Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), which is a relatively mature CCS technology. Both newly constructed and existing power plants are considered in this analysis. The existing power plants, which are the most representative coal-fired power plants in China, are grouped into three scenarios based on whether they perform desulfurization and their desulfurization rates. An Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) is used to conduct the simulation and calculations for the three scenarios. This study reveals that the CO2 capture cost for a newly constructed power plant is 150 yuan/t, whereas, for an existing CCS retrofitted power plant, this cost ranges from 162 to 185 yuan/t. Furthermore, the avoided CO2 cost ranges from 258 to 350 yuan/t for the three scenarios considered in this analysis. The simulation results also reveal that the sulfur concentration in the exhaust gases of a power plant has an especially critical impact on the capture and electricity generation costs. Controlling the sulfur concentration in the exhaust gases is therefore an important measure for reducing the CCS capture cost. As CCS requires large initial capital investments, the influences of some financial parameters are assessed. The uncertainty analysis shows that as depreciation increases from 0.12 to 0.20, the average cost of avoided CO2 increases from 214 yuan/t to 517 yuan/t, which shows that the depreciation rate plays an important role in the economic assessment of carbon costs.

Cost analysis of carbon capture and storage for current gas‐fired power plants in Nigeria

AbstractThis study examined the cost of adopting carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a technology when retrofitting current gas‐fired plants in Nigeria to reduce CO2 emissions. Studies show that Nigeria has abandoned or depleted oil fields; it has large coal reserves that are potential sites for CO2 storage. Five power plants with capacities of 1074, 675, 624, 480, and 191 MW were studied using the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) 9.5. The IECM 9.5 was calibrated using available data and some default values to model the performance and cost of retrofitting the power plants. The transport and storage system chosen was pipeline and enhance oil recovery (EOR). The results show that net plant efficiency, CO2 emission rate, quantity of CO2 captured, and CCS energy penalty are 35.78 ± 1.69%, 0.0668 ± 0.0138 kg MWh−1, 0.4478 ± 0.0274 kg MWh−1, and 0.2588 ± 0.0386%, respectively. The results also show that total capital requirement, cost of electricity, and percentage increase in cost of electricity were 1888.2 ± 336.9 $ kW−1, 114.44 ± 10.15 $ MWh−1, and 52.04 ± 3.58%, respectively. In the same manner, the cost of CO2 avoided, cost of capture, and added cost of CCS were 84.442 ± 27.73 $ MWh−1, 60.02 ± 22.51 $ tonne−1, and 28.44 ± 10.16 $ MWh−1, respectively. Further analysis shows that it would be advantageous to retrofit 1074 MW plants because this has a 46.51% increase in cost, which is lower than the cost for the other retrofitted plants. The total CO2 emission rate dropped from 0.4282 ± 0.014 to 0.0668 ± 0.0138 kg MWh−1; this drop is significant as it shows that CCS can reduce the amount of CO2 emitted from Nigeria. The study recommends that CCS is a viable CO2 emission‐reduction alternative but incentives must be put in place to cushion the high cost of electricity. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Impact of Coal Quality on Post-Combustion CO2 Capture in Indian Coal Power Plants

Coal is an abundantly available source for power generation in India, contributing about 77% in the total electricity generation in the country. India has substantial reserves of low sulphur, low grade (high ash) coal which is expected to continue to be a major energy source for the next few decades. But the coal-based thermal power industry is responsible for significant share of emissions of the industrial sector in India. Combustion of coal leads to emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), a prominent greenhouse gas (GHG) responsible for climate change. Various CO2 mitigation techniques including Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) may be required in future to stabilize the greenhouse gas level in the atmosphere. The quality of coal used for power generation plays a critical role in deciding the need for appropriate emission control technologies, and affects the performance of the plant (plant efficiency, net electricity generation and CO2 emissions) and cost of electricity generation. It would also affect the overall performance and cost of CCS. This study investigates the impact of coal quality while implementing post-combustion carbon capture system and oxy-fuel carbon capture system in the new supercritical coal fired power plants in India. Pre-combustion CO2 capture in IGCC plant using the Indian coal is a challenge, and hence not included as an option in this analysis. This study focuses on post-combustion CO2 capture and oxy-fuel carbon capture system which seems a promising option in Indian context, considering the large existing pulverized coal (PC) fleet that is available in the country and the ease with which it can be retrofitted. Also, there have been large scale post combustion CCS based demonstration projects in Canada and U.S. with more upcoming projects planned globally. The scope of this work however, is limited till CO2 capture and compression and does not take into account technical and economic viability of transportation and long-term storage (T&S) of the captured CO2, due to the lack of reliable data and cost estimates. The Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) is used to simulate 500 MWe supercritical pulverized coal (PC) base plant, with and without CO2 capture system (post-combustion capture and oxy-fuel combustion). The performance of these plants is simulated using coals from different parts of the country, each with different composition, calorific value and pricing. In addition to the domestic coal, plants using imported coal are also simulated. Through this study, we wish to investigate the suitability of Indian coal for implementation of CCS in the country while providing a viable roadmap. Finally, we would also carry out uncertainty analysis to discuss how technical, economic and policy parameters would affect the relevance of CCS in India.

Feasibility study of carbon capture and storage on NLC India Ltd

ABSTRACTIndia is one of the largest growing economies in the world. It has a GDP of 2487.94 billion US dollars as of 2017. Around 61.297% of power generation is by utilising abundantly available lignite blended with imported coal. India is slowly cutting out its demand for imported coal from other countries. It has built its own lignite-based power plant to overcome the need of imported coal. The impact on cost of electricity (COE) and net power output (NPO) after retrofitting carbon capture and storage (CCS) over a lignite-based power plant of India is analysed. In this paper, a feasibility study is carried out for NLC India Ltd Barsingsar power plant by retrofitting CCS. The results obtained from the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) Software are positively strong enough to encourage CCS implementation. Various strategies for utilising the CO2 capture and carbon storage sites are suggested.

Oxy-combustion Carbon Capture for Pulverized Coal in the Integrated Environmental Control Model

This paper describes the newly-developed techno-economic models of oxy-combustion carbon capture systems for pulverized coal-fired power plants now available in the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) developed and maintained by Carnegie Mellon University. The new model is used in case studies that compare the overall performance and cost of electricity generation for power plants employing either oxy-combustion (oxyfuel) or an amine-based post-combustion process to capture and sequester 90% of the flue gas CO2 emission using a variety of U.S. coals. The probabilistic results for 500 MW plants using three coal types (bituminous, sub-bituminous and lignite) show that the oxyfuel option is cost-competitive or less costly than the post-combustion option, especially for the lower-rank low-sulfur coals. However, oxy-combustion would not be cost-competitive as a compliance option for the recently promulgated New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) for CO2 in the United States, which requires CO2 capture levels well below the capability of current technology. Other case studies show that alternative policy options, such as a tax on CO2 emissions, could incentivize oxy-combustion capture.

CO2 Capture and Storage in Coal Gasification Projects

In response to the global climate change problem, the world community today is in search for an effective means of carbon mitigation. India is a major developing economy and the economic growth is driven by ever-increasing consumption of energy. Coal is the only fossil fuel that is available in abundance in India and contributes to the major share of the total primary energy supply (TPES) in the country. Owing to the large unmet demand for affordable energy, primarily driven by the need for infrastructure development and increasing incomes and aspirations of people, as well as the energy security concerns, India is expected to have continued dependence on coal. Coal is not only the backbone of the electric power generation, but many major industries like cement, iron and steel, bricks, fertilizers also consume large quantities of coal. India has very low carbon emissions (∼ 1.5 tCO2 per capita) as compared to the world average (4.7 tCO2 per capita) and the developed world (11.2 tCO2 per capita). Although the aggregate emissions of the country are increasing with the rising population and fossil energy use, India has a very little contribution to the historical GHG accumulation in the atmosphere linked to the climate change problem. However, a large fraction of the Indian society is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change – due to its geographical location, large dependence on monsoon-based agriculture and limited technical, financial and institutional capacity. Today, India holds a large potential to offer cost-effective carbon mitigation to tackle the climate change problem. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is the process of extraction of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from industrial and energy related sources, transport to storage locations and long-term isolation from the atmosphere. It is a technology that has been developed in recent times and is considered as a bridging technology as we move towards carbon-neutral energy sources in response to the growing concerns about climate change problem. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is being considered as a promising carbon mitigation technology, especially for large point sources such as coal power plants. Gasification of coal helps in better utilization of this resource offering multiple advantages such as pollution prevention, product flexibility (syngas and hydrogen) and higher efficiency (combined cycle). It also enables the capture of CO2 prior to the combustion, from the fuel gas mixture, at relatively lesser cost as compared to the post-combustion CO2 capture. CCS in gasification projects is considered as a promising technology for cost-effective carbon mitigation. Although many projects (power and non-power) have been announced internationally, very few large-scale projects have actually come up. This paper looks at the various aspects of CCS applications in gasification projects, including the technical feasibility and economic viability and discusses an Indian perspective. Impacts of including CCS in gasification projects (e.g. IGCC plants) have been assessed using a simulation tool. Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) – a modelling framework to simulate power plants – has been used to estimate the implications of adding CCS units in IGCC plants, on their performance and costs.

Technical and Economic Assessments of Ionic Liquids for Pre-Combustion CO2 Capture at IGCC Power Plants

This study evaluates the feasibility and cost of ionic liquids (ILs) for precombustion carbon dioxide (CO2) capture at integrated gasification combined cycle power plants. The ionic liquid 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide is selected as a physical solvent for CO2 capture. Using newly developed performance and cost models, our analysis shows that the energy penalty of the IL-based capture system mainly arises from powering various compressors and solvent pumps, and compressors and absorbers are the dominant capital cost components. Using the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) for power plant assessments, the cost of CO2 avoided by the IL-based capture system is estimated to be $62/t CO2 in constant 2011 USD. The preliminary comparisons of performance and cost between IL- and Selexol-based capture systems show that an IL-based capture system could be a viable alternative to current liquid solvent processes.

Performance, cost and environmental assessment of gasification-based electricity in India: A preliminary analysis

Coal gasification processes are crucial to decarbonisation in the power sector. While underground coal gasification (UCG) and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) are different in terms of the site of gasification, they have considerable similarities in terms of the types of gasifiers used. Of course, UCG offers some additional advantages such as reduction of the fugitive methane emissions accompanying the coal mining process. Nevertheless, simulation of IGCC plants involving surface coal gasification is likely to give reasonable indication of the 3E (efficiency, economics and emissions) prospects of the gasification pathway towards electricity. This paper will aim at Estimating 3E impacts (efficiency, environment, economics) of gasification processes using simulation carried out in the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) software framework. Key plant level controls which will be studied in this paper will be based on Indian financial regulations and operating costs which are specific to the country. Also, impacts of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) in these plants will be studied. The various parameters that can be studied are plant load factor, impact of coal quality and price, type of CO2 capture process, capital costs etc. It is hoped that relevant insights into electricity generation from gasification may be obtained with this paper.

Suitability of CO2 capture technologies for carbon capture and storage in India

AbstractThe Indian power sector relies heavily on coal power plants for electricity generation as 59% of the total installed capacity is from coal power plants. Considerable research has been done in developed countries to analyze the suitability of CO2 capture technologies for coal power plants, but not in India. This work analyzes the suitability of various CO2 capture technologies for Indian coal power plants on the basis of different parameters: energy penalty, cost of CO2 capture, efficiency, and age and size of the power plant. An Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) was used to simulate the power plants, and to calculate the energy penalty and cost of capture. All existing 517 units of 115 coal power plants in India, along with one Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant and one ultra‐supercritical plant were analyzed for CO2 capture suitability. Results show that the total installed capacity of Indian coal power plants would reduce to somewhere between 66 896 and 105 991 MW, depending on the CO2 capture technology applied, from and existing 126 320 MW. The average efficiency of Indian coal power plants would reduce from the current 29% to 24.4%, 20.7%, and 15.4% if we retrofit the plants with amine‐, ammonia‐, and membrane‐based capture systems, respectively. Cost of CO2 capture for these three technologies would be $42.3, $75.2, and $81.9 per tonne of CO2, respectively. The CO2 capture technologies would be better off on coal power plants which are less than 20 years old, as the energy penalty would be less. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Cost Implications of Carbon Capture and Storage for the Coal Power Plants in India

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is the process of extraction of carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial and energy related sources, transport to storage locations and long-term isolation from the atmosphere. It is being considered as a bridging technology, with significant carbon mitigation potential, especially for large point sources such as coal power plants. The present study looks at the technical feasibility and economic viability of any such initiative in the Indian context by means of case studies of individual power plants. The incremental cost of electricity (COE) of the plants retrofitted with CCS has been estimated using the cost data on CCS components from literature as well as using the IECM (Integrated Environmental Control Model) software. The values of incremental COE and the cost of CO2 avoidance have been estimated as INR 2.2-2.6/kWh and INR 2600-3200 per tCO2, respectively. The costs are highly sensitive to the boiler efficiency and the heat rate of the base plant. The retrofitting of the CCS units in the existing coal plants in India is expected to reduce the net power output of the already inadequate power sector and increase the electricity generation cost substantially. Thus, it would be worthwhile to investigate the necessary and sufficient conditions under which the Indian power plants could graduate to the CCS technologies.

Evaluation of performance and cost of combustion‐based power plants with CO2 capture in the United Kingdom

A techno‐economic assessment of options for large scale combustion based power generation in the United Kingdom is presented. Three of the main technologies for large‐scale power generation are examined: Pulverised Fuel (PF), Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), and Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC), with and without CO2 capture. The effect of three different CO2 capture technologies is studied: Post‐Combustion Capture (PCC) is applied to PF and NGCC plants, Oxyfuel Combustion Capture (OCC) is applied to PF plants, while precombustion capture is for IGCC. Different suboptions for PCC are applied to PF and NGCC plants, namely: amine scrubbing, ammonia scrubbing and membrane physical absorption, with the latter technology applied only to PF plants. Alternatives to coal are studied by using mixtures of 75% coal and 25% biomass by weight in PF and IGCC plants. Fifteen combustion technology, fuel and CO2 capture combinations are tested, including five base cases without CO2 capture with different combustion technologies and fuels, four PF‐PCC cases with different solid fuels and capture suboptions, 2 PF‐OCC cases with different solid fuels, two NGCC‐PCC cases with different capture suboptions, and two IGCC cases with precombustion capture and different solid fuels. The Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) for calculating the performance, emission and cost of fossil‐fuelled power plants is used to perform the techno‐economic comparison. The results highlight the economic preference for PCC. NGCC is the most efficient and economically attractive choice and although IGCC plants are more expensive than PF plants, the introduction of CO2 capture makes IGCC competitive. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 33: 1425–1431, 2014

The effect of retrofitting Portuguese fossil fuel power plants with CCS

This work assesses the retrofit potential of existing Portuguese fossil fuel power plants with post-combustion CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technology. The Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) was used to provide a systematic techno-economic analysis of the cost of emission control equipment, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and other key parameters which may change when CCS is implemented at a fossil fuel power plant. The results indicate that CCS requires a large capital investment and significantly increases the levelized cost of electricity. However, the economic viability of CCS increases with higher CO2 prices. The breakeven CO2 price for plants with and without CCS was estimated at $85–$140/t of CO2 depending on the technical parameters of the individual plants.

Sensitivity analysis of the build decision for carbon capture and sequestration projects

AbstractCarbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is a technology that could allow for continued use of fossil fuels in a carbon‐constrained world, smoothing the transition to non‐fossil energy sources. Our objective is to assess the commercial viability of CCS given pervasive future uncertainties, particularly uncertainties about future natural gas and CO2 prices. Using data from the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM), we develop an interactive Excel‐based spreadsheet tool to compare levelized‐average costs of four different new‐construction 500 MW power plants: natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) with CCS, NCGG without CCS, supercritical coal with CCS, and supercritical coal without CCS. With low natural gas prices, the NGCC without the sequestration option is the dominant technology. Overall, CCS projects for either natural gas or coal projects are unlikely to be the lowest‐cost option for CO2 prices less than $50 per ton. Finally, we examine several potential policy levers that could affect the deployment of CCS. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Economic feasibility of CO2 capture from oxy-fuel power plants considering enhanced oil recovery revenues

Abstract Considering the dramatic increase of greenhouse gases concentration in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide, reduction of these gases seems necessary to combat global warming. Fossil fuel power plants are one of the main sources of CO2 emission and several methods are under development to capture CO2 from power plants. In this paper, CO2 capture from a natural gas fired steam cycle power plant using oxy-fuel combustion technology is studied. Oxy-fuel combustion is an interesting option since CO2 concentration in the flue gas is highly increased. The Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) developed by Carnegie Mellon University (USA) is used to evaluate the effect of this capture technology on the plant efficiency and economic parameters of the system. The IECM uses regression models based on other studies to evaluate the required energy for oxygen production unit (air separation unit) and CO2 purification and compression unit. In this work, these two units are simulated using the Aspen Plus software in parallel with the IECM, and the results are compared with the results of the IECM. This comparison verified that the power requirement evaluations from the IECM performance model and the Aspen Plus software are approximately the same. Since CO2 capture and transport are cost and energy intensive, the cost of electricity (COE) in capture plants increases significantly. According to the assumptions in this study, the cost of electricity for both the base plant and the capture plant are calculated using the IECM cost model. The cost of electricity for the base plant is equal to 66.8 $/MWh while the cost of electricity for the capture plant is 123.7 $/MWh. In addition, cost of CO2 avoided can be calculated by using the cost of electricity and CO2 emission rate in the base and capture plants. If CO2 storage cost or CO2 benefit is not considered, the cost of CO2 avoided is about 104 $/ton CO2 for a 237 MW power plant. However, it is shown in this study that if the captured CO2 is used for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in the nearby oil fields (assuming 100 km distance), the revenue gained can compensate for the extra cost of electricity produced by the oxy-fuel combustion natural gas steam cycle and consequently reduces the cost of CO2 avoided. A rule of thumb is used to evaluate the amount of EOR revenues. According to this rule of thumb, 0.25 ton of crude oil is recovered per ton of CO2 injected. A relation between gas and oil price is therefore required to consider an integrated natural gas fired steam power plant, CO2 pipeline and oil field as an overall system. Assuming that natural gas price is a function of oil price, a rough estimation of oil price in which Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is economically feasible can be found. In this study, the relationship between oil and gas price is based on a polynomial function. This function is determined according to the time series information of natural gas and oil price in recent years (1997–2008) in the United States. The prices of these fuels in Iran were not used because the prices are heavily subsidized. The results show that at high oil prices, about $60/bbl, all the costs of CO2 capture and transport to oil field can be compensated by EOR revenues which makes the integrated power plant and CCS with EOR economically feasible.

A techno-economical study of the CO2 capture in the energy sector in Portugal

Abstract Portugal is one of the countries facing the problem of carbon costs due to the insufficient preparation to achieve its commitments for the Kyoto Protocol and the EU Burden–Sharing Agreement. With the use (and dependency) on fossil fuels in our present quality of life, and the need of the continuous technological development, the CO 2 levels will still continue to grow. It is, therefore, urgent to take some measures in order to stagnate and even more, to diminish the emissions of this phenomenon to the atmosphere. This study shows the implementation of CO 2 capture as a possibility for CO 2 reductions in the electricity sector in Portugal. The IECM (Integrated Environmental Control Model) is used to analyze Portuguese fossil fuel power plants and provide systematic techno-economical analysis indicating the cost of emission control equipment, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and other key parameters which may change when a CO 2 capture and storage (CCS) unit is implemented into fossil fuel power plant.