Thermoecological analysis of an oxy-fuel combustion power plant integrated with a CO2 processing unit

• An integrated oxy-fuel combustion power plant is a promoting technology.
• Depletion of non-renewable primary energy is an ecological problem.
• The index of TEC (thermoecological cost) is an adequate ecological measure.
• The input–output model of the TEC is an effective approach.

The paper presents a mathematical model of assessing the indices of thermoecological costs concerning an oxy-fuel combustion power plant integrated with a CO2 processing unit. Thermoecological cost is the measure of depletion of non-renewable natural resources. It expresses the cumulative consumption of exergy charging the production processes leading to the analyzed useful product. The additional consumption of exergy compensating the negative impact of harmful emissions has also been taken into account. The proposed model has been developed making use of “input–output analysis” which is an effective tool in modeling of large energy systems. The example of the analysis of thermoecological costs has been elaborated for three variants of an integrated power plant operating with oxy-fuel combustion (basic variant, ultra-supercritical steam parameters and advanced oxygen production) and one reference power plant without CO2 capture. The analysis of the degree of sustainable development has been realized in these four cases.