Simulation of an integrated gasification combined cycle with chemical-looping combustion and carbon dioxide sequestration

• A chemical-looping combustion based integrated gasification combined cycle is simulated.
• The energetic performance of the plant is analyzed.
• Different hydrogen-content synthesis gases are under study.
• Energy savings accounting carbon dioxide sequestration and storage are quantified.
• A notable increase on thermal efficiency up to 7% is found.

Chemical-looping combustion is an interesting technique that makes it possible to integrate power generation from fuels combustion and sequestration of carbon dioxide without energy penalty. In addition, the combustion chemical reaction occurs with a lower irreversibility compared to a conventional combustion, leading to attain a somewhat higher overall thermal efficiency in gas turbine systems. This paper provides results about the energetic performance of an integrated gasification combined cycle power plant based on chemical-looping combustion of synthesis gas. A real understanding of the behavior of this concept of power plant implies a complete thermodynamic analysis, involving several interrelated aspects as the integration of energy flows between the gasifier and the combined cycle, the restrictions in relation with heat balances and chemical equilibrium in reactors and the performance of the gas turbines and the downstream steam cycle. An accurate thermodynamic modeling is required for the optimization of several design parameters. Simulations to evaluate the energetic efficiency of this chemical-looping-combustion based power plant under diverse working conditions have been carried out, and a comparison with a conventional integrated gasification power plant with precombustion capture of carbon dioxide has been made. Two different synthesis gas compositions have been tried to check its influence on the results. The energy saved in carbon capture and storage is found to be significant and even notable, inducing an improvement of the overall power plant thermal efficiency of around 7% in some cases.