Techno-Economic Optimization of IGCC Integrated with Utility System for CO 2 Emissions Reduction

Environmental legislation pressure on the energy sector to control greenhouse gas emissions is increasing. Regulations typically impose a limit on carbon emissions released by industries and set an emissions reduction target. If emissions reduction targets are not met, economic penalties are applied. Over the last decade, worldwide commitments to meet CO 2 emissions reduction targets have challenged the process industries to reduce CO 2 emissions. A key challenge for recovering carbon dioxide from industrial process sites is the low concentration of CO 2 in the flue gas. The Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) can provide a relatively pure CO 2 exhaust gas that lends itself to sequestration.In this paper, integration of a site utility system with a gasification cycle is introduced as an option to provide a compressed CO 2-rich stream from a process site. Optimization applies the results of screening studies based on rigorous simulation of the IGCC. The IGCC design parameters (including oxygen consumption, compressor pressure ratio and turbine pressure ratio) are optimized for two reference cases: maximum heat and maximum power generation. Interactions between the IGCC and CO 2 emissions compression train are explored for maximum heat and maximum power generation; further work will address economic and operational aspects of integrating the utility system with an IGCC. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.