A new power, methanol, and DME polygeneration process using integrated chemical looping systems

•A novel plant that converts coal, NG and carbonless energy into MeOH, DME and power.•Improving the thermal efficiency and profitability by using chemical looping gasification technology.•Zero CO2 emission by integrating the reformer and methanol units with the CLG unit.•Higher efficiency than other coal-based processes.

In this work, a novel polygeneration process has been proposed which combines coal gasification and natural gas reforming with either one or two chemical looping systems to produce electricity, methanol, and dimethyl ether (DME). Optionally, a modular helium reactor (MHR) is used to provide the heat required for the natural gas reforming step, which minimizes the amount of fossil fuels used for heating purposes. The process is fully integrated such that essentially 100% of all CO2 produced by the process can be captured and sequestered. Techno-economic analysis of different design strategies are presented, considering three options for coal gasification, incorporation of various ratios of natural gas input, utilization of carbonless energy from MHR, power generation using chemical looping combustion and also CO2 sequestration based on liquefaction or hydration technologies. Moreover, the impact of varying the proportions of products on the thermal efficiency and profitability of the plant is investigated.