Performance assessment of first generation oxy-coal power plants through an exergy-based process integration methodology

International audienceIn this study, an exergy-based system level methodology is conducted to assess the energy penalty reduction potential of different configurations of first generation oxy-fired pulverized coal power plants. Once the process improvement potential is identified by exergy analysis on an oxy-fired plant with minimal integration, a heat integration methodology minimizing the exergy losses is carried out. Exergy analysis is employed as a guideline weighted by technological and operational constraints.This methodology has been applied to study the conventional cold flue gas recycle scheme and three alternative flue gas recirculation options including the widely studied warm recycle scheme. The integration potential of advanced cryogenic ASUs (air separation units) has also been assessed. Finally, the energy penalty associated to the capture when a high-purity CO2 flow is required has been determined.Among the different cases considered in this study, recirculation of the flue gas before the regenerative heater with an advanced ASU and a double-column CPU (compression and purification unit) leads to the highest NPE (net plant efficiency). For this case, the NPE is 39.1 % based on the lower heating value (7 %-pts energy penalty), which corresponds to a 6.5% improvement compared to the base-case plant. When high-purity CO2 is desired, the energy penalty is increased by 0.2 %-pts for the same configuration