Thermodynamic analyses of a biomass–coal co-gasification power generation system

•A biomass–coal co-gasification based power generation system is setup with Aspen Plus.•Energy and exergy balance calculations are done for this system.•Sensitivity analysis is done to understand the system operation characteristics.•Total energy and exergy efficiencies of this system can be 39.9% and 37.6%, respectively.•About 96.0% of the carbon contained in coal and biomass can be captured in this system.

A novel chemical looping power generation system is presented based on the biomass–coal co-gasification with steam. The effects of different key operation parameters including biomass mass fraction (Rb), steam to carbon mole ratio (Rsc), gasification temperature (Tg) and iron to fuel mole ratio (Rif) on the system performances like energy efficiency (ηe), total energy efficiency (ηte), exergy efficiency (ηex), total exergy efficiency (ηtex) and carbon capture rate (ηcc) are analyzed. A benchmark condition is set, under which ηte, ηtex and ηcc are found to be 39.9%, 37.6% and 96.0%, respectively. Furthermore, detailed energy Sankey diagram and exergy Grassmann diagram are drawn for the entire system operating under the benchmark condition. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the units composing the system are also predicted.