Conceptual design and energy, economic and environmental ( 3E ) analysis of a natural gas‐based integrated system with reduced CO ₂ emission for multigeneration of electricity, freshwater, syngas, and oxygen

Abstract

Summary This study proposes a novel multigeneration system consisting of a gas turbine cycle, multi‐effect desalination (MED), mono ethanolamine‐based post‐combustion carbon capture, and a co‐electrolysis unit. The designed multigeneration system aims to produce electricity, freshwater, syngas, and oxygen. This study considers two main configurations, namely base and advanced cases. In addition, the advanced configuration is simulated for three scenarios of carbon utilization and absorption efficiencies of 85%,90%, and 95% in the capture unit. The system is analyzed from energy, environmental, and economic points of view to ascertain the feasibility of each scenario. The scenarios include (i) transferring all captured carbon dioxide to a co‐electrolysis unit, (ii) delivering 30% of captured carbon dioxide to a co‐electrolysis unit and storing the rest, and (iii) storing all captured carbon dioxide. According to the results, the advanced system, compared with the base case, has 26.27% higher energy efficiency and 8.01% higher carbon dioxide capture efficiency besides 42% lower water consumption. The first scenario performs better in oxygen and syngas production (44.46 and 33.51 kg/s). In contrast, the third scenario is the most promising, considering energy and carbon dioxide capture efficiency (83.72% and 76.61%) and net electricity generation (327.97 MW). Moreover, the third scenario demonstrated the best economic feasibility with the prime cost of electricity equal to 0.02 US$/kWh and a period of return of about 1.1 years. The results confirm that the proposed multigeneration system is capable of producing multiple useful and affordable products while minimizing the CO2 emission to the atmosphere.