Coal based IGCC technology

Ola Maurstad, post doc

Based on work during stay at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2004-2005

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

Gasification
Gasification is the conversion of a solid fuel to a
combustible syngas (CO+H2)
Gasification enables
Coal to run gas turbines
Fuel gas clean up
Pre-combustion CO2 capture
Gasification is not a new technology

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

Main features of the 3 gasifier types

Gasifier type
Outlet temperature
Oxidant demand
Ash conditions
Size of coal feed
Acceptability of fines
Other characteristics

Moving bed
Low
(425-600 C)
Low
Dry ash or slagging
6-50 mm
Limited
Methane, tars and oils
present in syngas

Fluidized bed
Moderate
(900-1050 C)
Moderate
Dry ash or
agglomerating
6-10 mm
Good
Low carbon conversion

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

Entrained flow
High
(1250-1600 C)
High
Slagging
< 100 m
Unlimited
Pure syngas, high
carbon conversion

Moving bed gasifier

Fluidized bed gasifier

Focus of commercial gasifier
technology providers:

Entrained flow
slagging gasifier

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

Entrained flow slagging gasifiers

Outlet syngas temperature: 1250-1600 C

Slagging: Ash is a low viscosity liquid
Pure gas
High carbon conversion
Can handle any coal type (technical perspective)
Coal is ground to < 100 microns particles
Particle residence time: a few seconds

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

Maturity of
gasifiers
3 major classes
Moving bed
Fluidized bed
Entrained flow
Key modern gasifiers are of the entrained flow type:
GE (formerly Texaco)
Shell
ConocoPhilips: E-gas process (formerly Destec)
The moving bed type
The Lurgi dry ash gasifier (Sasol-Lurgi)
Fluidized bed type gasifiers less developed
Not fully commercialized
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

GE

70
bar

Shell

39
bar

ConocoPhillips

Flow
direction
is really
upwards?!

~35
bar

Source: www.netl.doe.gov

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle

(IGCC)
What is an IGCC?
A combined cycle (CC) power plant with a
gasifier in front of it to provide the gaseous fuel
Gasification
Converts coal to syngas (CO+H2)
Combined cycle
Converts the syngas to electricity
Consists of
Gas turbine
Steam cycle (HRSG & steam turbine)
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

Integrated gasification combined cycle

(IGCC) without CO2 capture
Gasification
Quench
water
Heat

~300 C

Water
quench or
heat recov.

Particulate
removal

Hot raw syngas ~1500 C

Coal feed

Depending on process
configuration

~40 C

Combined
cycle

H2S

Sulfur
removal

Gasifier

O2

Clean syngas

Steam
turbine
Hot
steam

Feed
water

N2
ASU

Gas turbine
Air (15 atm)

Air

HRSG
Exhaust
~600 C

Flue gas
~120 C

Air
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

Experience with coal based IGCCs

Demonstration plants with government
support
Project participant/
Plant name

Location

Electric
output
(net)

Southern California
Edison/ Cool Water

Barstow, CA

100 MW

Dow (Destec)/LGTI
Nuon/ Nuon Power
Buggenum
Destec and PSI Energy/
Wabash River
Tampa Electric Company/
Polk Power Station
Elcogas/ Puertollano
Sierra Pacific Power
Company/Pinon Pine

Plaquemine,
LA
Buggenum,
The
Netherlands
West Terre
Haute, IN

253 MW

Mulberry, FL

250 MW

Puertollano,
Spain

298 MW

Reno, NV

160 MW

262 MW

99 MW

Gasifier type
(current
owner)
GE with heat
recovery
ConocoPhillips
E-gas
Shell
ConocoPhillips
E-gas
GE with heat
recovery
Prenflo
KRW air blown
fluidized bed

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

Gas turbine

Dates of operation

GE 7E

1984 - 1988

Siemens
SGT6-3000E

1987 - 1995

Siemens
SGT5-2000E

1994 - present

GE 7FA

1995 - present

GE 7 FA

1996 - present

Siemens
SGT5-4000F

1998 - present

GE 6FA

1998 2000
(18 start-up attempts,
failed to achieve steady
state operation)

10

Availability of IGCC demos

90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%

Nuon Availability
Wabash Availability
TECO Availability
Elcogas Availability
Cool Water Availability
LGTI Syngas Availability

50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th
year year year year year year year year year year year

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

11

Increasing commercial interest in IGCC

Several alliances formed in 2004 aiming to provide IGCC
customers one stop shopping (buy the package instead
of the pieces..)
GE & Bechtel. GE purchased the Texaco gasifier from
ChevronTexaco
ConocoPhillips & Fluor
Shell, Uhde and Black & Veatch
Main challenges are to demonstrate competitiveness
towards pulverized coal (PC) plants in the market
Capital cost
Availability

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

12

IGCC with CO2 capture

Shift

Particulate
removal
Quench
water
Heat

CO+H2O
=CO2+H2

~300 C

~40 C

Water
quench or
heat recov.

Sulfur
removal

Hot raw syngas ~1500 C

Coal feed

New blocks
added for CO2
capture

Steam

Depending on process
configuration

H2S

~40 C
CO2

Gasifier

Steam
turbine

CO2 capture

O2

Hot
steam

H2 rich fuel

Feed
water

N2
ASU

Gas turbine
Air (15 atm)

Air

HRSG
Exhaust
~600 C

Air

Flue gas
~120 C
Steam
extraction to
shift reaction

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

13

Sequence of gas clean up, shift and

capture:

Syngas from
gasifier

Candle filters (250-350 C)

Water scrubber
Shift (if capture, 500 C & 200 C)
Water gas shift reaction: CO + H2O => H2 + CO2
Simultaneous hydrolysis
Exothermic, heat is released => chemical energy lost
Demands steam from steam cycle => electricity lost
Hydrolysis (if no capture, 180 C)
COS + H2O => H2S + CO2
Needed because sulfur removal is more effective for
H2S
Negligible impact on energy balance (due to ppm
level)
Sulfur removal
Acid gas removal (AGR), 40 C: MDEA, Selexol
Sulfur recovery unit (SRU): Claus plant, production of
solid sulfur
Tail gas treatment (TGT): E.g. SCOT, treatment of
exit stream from SRU
CO2 capture, 40 C: MDEA, Selexol
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

Candle
filter
Scrubber

Shift
(sour)

Hydrolysis

Sulfur
removal

CO2
capture

Syngas to
gas turbine
14

Sulfur removal configurations

Higman, 2003 (Gasification text book),
also IEA, 2003:

NETL/MIT simulation:

Air blown SRU

Absorption process in TGT
Recycle of concentrated H2S to SRU

Raw syngas

Clean syngas

Oxygen blown SRU

No absorption process in TGT, only
conversion of sulfur compounds to H2S
Recycle of dilute H2S to AGR
Elimination of emission stream from TGT

Raw syngas

AGR

Clean syngas
AGR

H2S

H2S
Air

Solid sulfur

Oxygen/Air

Tail gas

Tail gas
Recycle
of H2S

To incinerator
TGT

Solid sulfur

SRU (Single
stage Claus )

SRU

Recycle
of tail gas
with H2S

Hydrogenation/
Quench

AGR Acid gas removal, SRU Sulfur recovery unit, TGT Tail gas treatment
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

15

Gas turbines
& syngas/H2

The new 9H turbine

(50Hz) ready for testing
in Baglan bay, UK.
CC output: 480 MW
Eff. 60 % LHV
Source: GE

Major large gas turbines in the 60 Hz market

General Electric: 7FA*, 7FB, (7H)
Siemens**: SGT6-5000F (W501F), SGT6-6000G
(W501G)
Mitsubishi: 501F, 501G
Electric output per gas turbine 200 MW (+/-)
Letters E,F,G,H in the order of higher efficiency
* Used in Tampa and Wabash IGCC demonstrations, ** Siemens has in 2004 implemented a unified nomenclature

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

16

Increased turbine mass flow

Fuel

Gas turbine =
compressor +
combustor +
turbine

Compressor
air

Hot
exhaust

Because the heating value of syngas is lower, a higher mass flow rate of
fuel is added to the turbine
Potential increase in power (GE 7FA: From 172 to 192 MW, +12 %)
Two ways to get more mass flow through the turbine:
Decreased firing temperature (reduces CC efficiency)
Higher pressure ratio (preferred)
Higher pressure ratio requires sufficient compressor surge margin
Alternatively (if no margin), bleed air from compressor outlet to ASU
Gas turbine torque limit can be limiting

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

17

Integration of ASU and GT

Fuel
Nitrogen from ASU
Air bleed to ASU

Hot
exhaust

Compressor air

Degree of integration
Percentage of air needed in ASU which is bled from the
GT compressor outlet
A range from 0 % to 100 % is possible
No integration (0 %): availability (+), efficiency (-)
Full integration (100 %): availability (-), efficiency (+)
Optimal trade-off*: 25 % - 35 %
* Neville Holt, Turbomachinery International, May/June 2004
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

18

IGCC turbines
Modern gas turbines use combustors where fuel
and air is premixed to reduce flame temperatures
and therefore NOx formation (dry low NOx
burners)
Turbines in IGCC plants:
Diffusion burners instead of DLN (avoiding the
danger of flashback)
Dilution with nitrogen and/or steam necessary,
nitrogen preferred
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

19

Reduced GT firing temperature

Increased % of H2O in the exhaust

Leads to higher heat transfer
Reduction of firing temperature (TIT) necessary
to maintain material lifetime
In order of increasing trouble:
Natural gas
Syngas from IGCC
H2 rich syngas from IGCC with CO2 capture
For same reason, N2 dilution preferred over steam
injection

Fuel
Hot
exhaust

~400 C
Compressor
air

~1300 C
~600 C

~15 C

What determines the

gas turbine firing
temperature/ turbine
inlet temperature
(TIT)?
Ans: The fuel supply
in MW or btu/hour

Graphics source: GE
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

20

Steam cycles
Purpose: Utilize gas turbine exhaust and other
heat sources to produce electricity
Consists of HRSG (next slide) + steam turbine
State-of-the-art cycle for CC
3 pressure level steam generation with reheat
Steam parameters
The three subcritical pressure levels
(optimized in each case?)
Superheat: Typical 540 C (Maximum 565 C)
Reheat: Typical 540 C
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

21

HRSG = A big heat exchanger

Cold stack gas,
90-130 C
Heat recovery
steam generator
Produces steam
from the hot gas
turbine exhaust

Hot exhaust from

gas turbine, 600 C

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

22

HRSG

Construction of 100 MW
CC plant by Kinder
Morgan, Midland, Texas,
2004 (My photo).
Left: HRSG
Right: Inlet air filter above
GE LM6000 gas turbine

Evaporators (boilers):
production of steam
Economizers: Increasing
the temperature of liquid
water
Superheaters: Increasing
the temperature of steam
(water vapor)
May be integrated with
IGCC syngas coolers.
Steam is superheated in
HRSG.
Suppliers: Vogt-NEM,
Nooter-Eriksen, Foster
Wheeler, Aalborg
Industries, and Deltak

Source: GE

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

23

Air separation units (ASUs)

Cryogenic air separation: A process in

which air is separated into component
gases by distillation at low
temperatures
Lowest cost alternative for large scale
applications
Single train production capacity (O2):
3200 t/d
Recognized for high reliability
For IGCC, probably O2 storage only for
a few hours operation
Major suppliers

Air Products
Air Liquide
BOC Gases
Praxair
Linde
Source: Air Products. 2800 t/d

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

24

IGCC efficiency
While natural gas based CCs have efficiencies (LHV)
close to 60 %, coal based IGCCs have lower efficiencies
(below 45 % for the same technology level)
Main reason is the gasification step where part of the
chemical energy in the coal (about 20-30%) is converted
to heat
This heat is less efficiently converted to electricity than the
chemical energy in the produced syngas
Another factor is the work required for air separation
IGCCs have no clear efficiency benefit compared to
supercritical pulverized coal plants

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

25

IGCC improvement potential

Advances in several areas can potentially improve the
performance of future IGCC plants
Gasifiers
Dry feed gasifier with two stages
Refractory and feed injector lifetime
Coal feed and slag removal systems

Air separation
Oxygen separating membranes (ionic transport membranes)

Gas turbines
Higher firing temperatures

Novel cycles including high temperature fuel cells

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

26

 According to a study*, a year 2020 IGCC plant could

be 49 % (LHV) efficient without capture and 43 %
efficient with capture
Efficiency (%,LHV)
Capital cost ($/kW)

Without CO2 capture

GE
Shell
2020 plant
38.0
43.1
48.9
1187
1371
1129

With CO2 capture

GE
Shell
2020 plant
31.5
34.5
43.2
1495
1860
1248

For the year 2020 plant, the study* assumed

Bituminous coal
A two-stage dry feed gasifier
A gas turbine more advanced than H-class
Supercritical steam cycle
Membrane air separation
* IEA GHG report PH4/19, 2003 (by Foster Wheeler)
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

27

IGCC issues
Effect of coal quality
Most studies on bituminous coal (high rank)
Degree of integration (% of ASU air from GT)
US demos: 0 %
European demos 100 %
Future plants: 25-50 % (probably)
Gas clean up (sulfur and CO2)
2-stage Selexol, physical absorption seems to be
preferred
Co-capture of sulfur and CO2 acceptable?
Gas turbines on hydrogen rich fuels
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

28

IGCC Concluding remarks

Several IGCC plants have been demonstrated, all with
government support, private companies are now working
to commercialize the technology
IGCC challenges
Demonstrate competitive capital cost and availability
IGCC benefits (over pulverized coal plants)
Lower environmental impact, probably easier permitting
Lower cost option if CO2 capture (greenfield & retrofit)
Capture of CO2 introduces some minor technical
challenges related to gas turbines on hydrogen rich fuels
For low rank coals such as lignite, less information on
IGCC performance is available
Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

29

Thank you!

Gas Technology Center NTNU - SINTEF

30