A comparative simulation study of power generation plants involving chemical looping combustion systems

•Simulations were performed for power generation plants including various CLC systems.•Each configuration was optimized for maximum net LHV plant efficiency.•Results include a comparative of efficiency, capital investment and costs.•Plants involving the HAT cycle present higher efficiencies.•The CLC3 system presents the best performance in terms of economics.

This work presents a simulation study on both energy and economics of power generation plants with inherent CO2 capture based on chemical looping combustion technologies. Combustion systems considered include a conventional chemical looping system and two extended three-reactor alternatives (exCLC and CLC3) for simultaneous hydrogen production. The power generation cycles include a combined cycle with steam injected gas turbines, a humid air turbine cycle and a simple steam cycle. Two oxygen carriers are considered in our study, iron and nickel. We further analyze the effect of the pressure reaction and the turbine inlet temperature on the plant efficiency. Results show that plant efficiencies as high as 54% are achieved by the chemical looping based systems with competitive costs. That value is well above the efficiency of 46% obtained by a conventional natural gas combined cycle system under the same conditions and simulation assumptions.