(9a) IGCC: Current Status and Future Potential

This paper discusses the results of a conceptual analysis of current and future IGCC configurations for the generation of electric power from bituminous coal. This analysis was developed using Aspen Plus simulation. Two baseline IGCC facilities were simulated; one with no carbon dioxide capture and the other that captures carbon dioxide and compresses it to 2200 psig. The baseline plants were configured to produce about 600 MW of net power and utilize what is considered to be current technology. Single-stage, slurry feed, entrained flow coal gasification is used to produce the synthesis gas and this is cleaned using conventional cold gas cleanup. In the non-capture configuration, the cleaned synthesis gas is sent to two trains of FB-type gas turbines and steam is raised from the gas turbine effluent to power a steam turbine in the combined cycle power block. In the carbon capture configuration, water gas shift is used to convert most of the carbon monoxide to hydrogen and the carbon dioxide produced is removed in the acid gas removal system. The gas turbine fuel is then predominantly hydrogen. The capture plant was designed to capture 90 percent of the carbon.

There is considerable R&D being sponsored by the Department of Energy to improve the performance and reduce the costs of electric power generation from coal. Much of this R&D is directed towards future incorporation into IGCC configurations. Dry coal feed systems, advanced gas cleaning, improved gasifier performance and availability, advanced gas turbines, membrane-based air separation, and solid oxide fuel cells are among the many areas of advanced R&D. In order to assess the potential impact of this R&D, conceptual advanced IGCC plants that incorporate these future improvements have been simulated. This paper reports on the resulting performance of advanced IGCC facilities for capture and non-capture comparing them to those of the baseline plants.