Evaluation of a power plant with chemical looping combustion using an advanced exergoeconomic analysis

Advanced exergy-based analyses extend engineering knowledge beyond the respective conventional methods by quantifying the potential for improvement and the component interactions and facilitating the optimization of a system. In this paper, the first application of an advanced exergoeconomic analysis to a complex combined-cycle power plant with CO2 capture is presented and the obtained results are assessed. The power plant incorporates a chemical looping combustion unit that facilitates the CO2 capture process and has been chosen as one of the most promising oxy-combustion technologies with respect to efficiency, economic feasibility and environmental footprint. The largest avoidable costs, which represent the potential for improvement, are associated with the components constituting the main gas turbine system. The most important components based on the total avoidable cost are the reactor, expander and compressor. Furthermore, the relatively low component interactions show that most of the costs are associated with the operation of these components; i.e., no intense process interdependencies exist.