Thermodynamic Simulation of CO₂ Capture for an IGCC Power Plant using the Calcium Looping Cycle

Abstract

A CO 2 capture process for an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant using the calcium looping cycle was proposed. The CO 2 capture process using natural and modified limestone was simulated and investigated with the software package Aspen Plus. It incorporated a fresh feed of sorbent to compensate for the decay in CO 2 capture activity during long-term cycles. The sorbent flow ratios have significant effect on the CO 2 capture efficiency and net efficiency of the CO 2 capture system. The IGCC power plant, using the modified limestone, exhibits higher CO 2 capture efficiency than that using the natural limetone at the same sorbent flow ratios. The system net efficiency using the natural and modified limestones achieves 41.7 % and 43.1 %, respectively, at the CO 2 capture efficiency of 90 % without the effect of sulfation.

Calcium looping process simulation based on an advanced thermodynamic model combined with CFD analysis

“…According to the simplest approach, a constant conversion rate for the carbonation and calcination reactions is applied [5,[11][12][13][14]. A more sophisticated approach is based on the hypothesis of thermodynamic equilibrium inside the reactors.…”