Evaluation of advanced coal gasification combined-cycle systems under uncertainty

• Published in: Industrial & engineering chemistry research Vol. 31; no. 5; pp. 1299 - 1307
• Main Authors: Frey, H. Christopher, Rubin, Edward S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.05.1992
• Subjects: 01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT; 010404 - Coal, Lignite, & Peat- Gasification; 20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS; 200102 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Power Cycles; 200600 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Economic, Industrial, & Business Aspects- (1990-); AIR POLLUTION CONTROL; Applied sciences; CLEANING; COAL GASIFICATION; COMBINED CYCLES; COMBINED-CYCLE POWER PLANTS; CONTROL; DESIGN; ECONOMIC ANALYSIS; ECONOMICS; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; GASIFICATION; IEUS; Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy; PLANNING; POLLUTION CONTROL; POWER PLANTS; RESEARCH PROGRAMS; TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT; THERMAL POWER PLANTS; THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES; THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES; Costs; Uncertainty; Probabilistic approach; Power plant; Combined cycle; Coal; Gasification; Advanced technology; Performance
• ISSN: 0888-5885; 1520-5045
• DOI: 10.1021/ie00005a010

Advanced integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) systems have not been commercially demonstrated, and uncertainties remain regarding their commercial-scale performance and cost. Therefore, a probabilistic evaluation method has been developed and applied to explicitly consider these uncertainties. The insights afforded by this method are illustrated for an IGCC design featuring a fixed-bed gasifier and a hot gas cleanup system. Detailed case studies are conducted to characterize uncertainties in key measures of process performance and cost, evaluate design trade-offs under uncertainty, identify research priorities, evaluate the potential benefits of additional research, compare results for different uncertainty assumptions, and compare the advanced IGCC system to a conventional system under uncertainty. The implications of probabilistic results for research planning and technology selection are discussed in this paper.