IGCC Technology

The IGCC approach has been proposed to alleviate problems related to carbon dioxide emissions. 

The gasification process converts carbon-containing material into a synthesis gas composed primarily of carbon monoxide and hydrogen for subsequent utilization. The primary product can be nsed as a fnel to generate electricity, used to synthesize chemicals such as anunonia, oxy-chemicals, liquid fuels, or used to produce hydrogen. 

Historically, gasification has been used as industrial processes in the creation of chanicals, with power production as a secondary and subordinate process. In the last decade, the primary application of gasification to power production has become more common due to the demand for high efficiency and low-environmental impact. 

There are three types of gasifier classified by the configuration entrained flow gasifiers, fluid-ized-bed gasifiers, and moving bed (also called fixed-bed) gasifiers (Chapters 20 and 21). 

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The capital cost of an IGCC plant for biomass or coal IS in the range of 1,500 to 2,000 per installed kW. A comparable natural gas fire facility costs about 750 to 1,000. The economics of biomass electricity based on IGCC technology depend on the relative cost of natural gas and biomass fuels. Biomass must be lower m cost than gas to pay back the additional capital cost of gas production and cleaning. A 1999 estimate suggestes that the biomass would have to be 3 per million Btiis cheaper than natural gas for biomass to be economical. 

Lower Heat Rates and Increased Output. The heat rates of the plants based on IGCC technology are projected to be around 2100 kCal/kWh compared to the heat rates values of around 2500 kCal/kWh for the conventional PC fired plants. 

Flexibility to accept a wide range of fuels. IGCC technology has been proven for a variety of fuels, particularly... 

GE, Siemens and Mitsubishi are among major corporations active in IGCC technology. 

In 2005, there were four coal-based IGCC power plants in operation in the world Tampa Electric in Polk County, Florida, based on a Texaco (now GE) gasifier Wabash repowering project in Indiana, based on E-Gas (now ConocoPhillips E-Gas) and Buggenum in The Netherlands and Puertollano in Spain, both based on Shell gasifiers (N.A.H. Holt, IGCC Technology—Status, Opportunities, and Issues, EM, Dec. 2004, pp. 18-26). 

Joshi MM, Lee S (1996) Integrated gasification combined cycle—a review of IGCC technology. Energy Source 18 537-568... 

To avoid degradation of the construction materials used for the treatment unit, it has been customary to undertake cleaning after the gas has been cooled to below 100 °C, but this reduces the overall energy efficiency of the plant and increases both capital and operating costs. When using IGCC technology, the... 

The next key steps in the utilization of IGCC technology to further the Hydrogen Economy are ... 

Galuszka J, Giddings T, laquaniello G. Integration of membrane reactor and IGCC technologies experimental study and reactor modeling. Chem Eng Process (to be published)... 

A key attraction of IGCC technology is that the incremental cost of capturing carbon dioxide emissions (in addition to regulated air pollutants) is lower than that for a comparably sized pulverized coal plant based on current commercial carbon dioxide capture technology. 

IGCC technology was first successfully demonstrated on a commercial scale at the Cool Water Project in Southern California from 1984 to 1989. Since then, roughly a dozen IGCC plants have been built, most of them running on refinery residues rather than coal. 

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