The Novel Design of an IGCC System with Zero Carbon Emissions

The integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) is a clean power generation system which consists of the coal gasification process, combined heat and power (CHP) processes and carbon capture processes. The IGCC consumes less water than traditional pulverized coal plants since it uses the gas turbines. The coal gasification process produces the syngas as the fuel of the gas turbine which not only improves the power efficiency but also the pollutants under combustion are reduced. To improve the carbon capture efficiency, the oxy-fuel combustion is a very efficient option but the conventional cryogenic air separation unit (CASU) consumes a lot of energy such that the total power efficiency is dramatically decreased. A new design of chemical looping air separation (CLAS) is presented. The simulation shows that the proposed CLAS with low energy consumption and high purity oxygen can replace the CASU.