Title: The influence of carbon capture and compression unit on the characteristics of ultramodern combined cycle power plant

Authors: Janusz Kotowicz; Mateusz Brzęczek; Marcin Job

Addresses: Institute of Power Engineering and Turbomachinery, Silesian University of Technology, Konarskiego 18, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland ' Institute of Power Engineering and Turbomachinery, Silesian University of Technology, Konarskiego 18, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland ' Institute of Power Engineering and Turbomachinery, Silesian University of Technology, Konarskiego 18, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland

Abstract: In this paper, the influence of carbon capture and compression unit on the characteristics of ultramodern combined cycle power plant is presented. The chemical absorption of the CO₂ from the flue gases using MEA in the carbon capture unit was used. The effective use of heat recovered from the turbine blade cooling air in order to increase the efficiency of combined cycle power plant with the carbon capture and compression unit is proposed. The power plant is analysed in a wide range of compression ratios and temperatures in the gas turbine. Thermodynamic and ecological characteristics of this combined cycle unit as a function of the basic operating parameters are made. The equation connecting the efficiency of combined cycle power plant with and without the carbon capture and compression unit is proposed. The calculations indicate that the reduction of energy consumption of the absorbent by 1 MJ/kgCO₂ causes an increase in net electric efficiency of the unit by 1.25 percentage points. The analysed combined cycle power plants are characterised by the highest electricity generation efficiency achievable for large energy units and exceptionally low CO₂ emissions, lower than 41 kg/MWh throughout the analysed range of compression ratio.

Keywords: carbon capture; compression unit; post-combustion; combined cycle; gas turbine; chemical absorption; thermodynamic analysis; ecological analysis; CO₂ emissions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGW.2017.084511

International Journal of Global Warming, 2017 Vol.12 No.2, pp.164 - 187

Received: 01 May 2015
Accepted: 10 Oct 2015
Published online: 12 Jun 2017 *

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