An EU initiative for future generation of IGCC power plants using hydrogen-rich syngas: Simulation results for the baseline configuration Mohammad Mansouri Majoumerd a,⇑ , Sudipta De b , Mohsen Assadi a , Peter Breuhaus c a Department of Mechanical and Structural Engineering and Materials Science, University of Stavanger, 4036 Stavanger, Norway b Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India c International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS), Postbox 8046, 4068 Stavanger, Norway highlights " A baseline IGCC power plant with and without CO 2 capture is presented. " Burning of undiluted hydrogen-rich syngas in the gas turbine is assumed. " A significant efficiency penalty is associated with the CO 2 capture system. article info Article history: Received 13 February 2012 Received in revised form 23 May 2012 Accepted 25 May 2012 Available online 22 June 2012 Keywords: IGCC CO 2 capture Gas turbine H 2 -rich fuel abstract In spite of the rapid development and introduction of renewable and alternative resources, coal still con- tinues to be the most significant fuel to meet the global electricity demand. Emission from existing coal based power plants is, besides others, identified as one of the major sources of anthropogenic carbon dioxide, responsible for climate change. Advanced coal based power plants with acceptable efficiency and low carbon dioxide emission are therefore in sharp focus for current development. The integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant with pre-combustion carbon capture is a prospective technology option for this purpose. However, such plants currently have limitations regarding fuel flex- ibility, performance, etc. In an EU initiative (H2-IGCC project), possible improvements of such plants are being explored. These involve using premix combustion of undiluted hydrogen-rich syngas and improved fuel flexibility without adversely affecting the availability and reliability of the plant and also making minor modifications to existing gas turbines for this purpose. In this paper, detailed thermodynamic models and assumptions of the preliminary configuration of such a plant are reported, with performance analysis based on available practical data and information. The overall efficiency of the IGCC power plant with carbon capture is estimated to 36.3% (LHV). The results confirm the fact that a significant penalty on efficiency is associated with the capture of CO 2 . This penalty is 21.6% relative to the IGCC without CO 2 capture, i.e. 10.0% points. Estimated significant performance indicators as well as comparisons with alter- native schemes have been presented. Some possible future developments based on these results and the overall objective of the project are also discussed. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Use of energy is closely related to the development of an econ- omy. Often per capita consumption of energy is considered as an index of the living standard of the people of a country. Though the efficiency of energy usage has a strong impact on energy con- sumption, the demand for energy is always expected to increase with the growth in population and living standards. The most useful form of energy in the modern world is electricity. Thus the efficient conversion of primary energy to electricity is, besides its efficient use, critical for human civilization [1]. In terms of the eco- nomical aspects of available reliable technology, coal is still the major source of electric power [2]. It is also available in different parts of the world, safe to store and easy to transport over a long distance. Thus coal has emerged as the most widely used fossil fuel for large-scale power generation, though natural gas (NG) use is also increasing mostly in localities of availability due to the fact that it is more environmentally friendly [3]. Conventional pulver- ized fuel (PF) fired thermal power plants have been the most prevalent technology worldwide over a long period. These plants are mostly used for large-scale electricity supply through the grid. Climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is identified as the greatest threat to mankind [4]. The 0306-2619/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.023 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +47 45 39 19 26; fax: +47 51 83 10 50. E-mail address: mohammad.mansouri@uis.no (M. Mansouri Majoumerd). Applied Energy 99 (2012) 280–290 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Applied Energy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy