Convegni ATI - Accesso riservato soci CTI

Autore: P.J. Dechamps, N. Pirard, Ph. Mathieu

Collana: CA - 49 - Perugia 1994

Note:
Coal will undoubtedly play an important and increasing role in fossil fuel based power generation in the coming decades. This will be possible only if it can be burnt cleanly and efficiently. At present, two technologies can fulfil these objectives, namely pulverized coal (PC) power plants equipped with DeNOx and DeSOx devices and integrated gasification in combined cycle (IGCC) power plants. These technologies are often thought as competitors, because they have for the time being similar capital cost and energetic performances, even if the IGCC power plants lack the practical industrial maturity of PC plants. The emissions of the IGCC power plants can be less harmful to the environment, so that only the IGCC could satisfy the most stringent regulatory requirements. However, the PC and IGCC technologies rely on basically different concepts and equipments, so that their relative performance improvement potentials are not similar. The PC plant can be improved by means of supercritical steam conditions, by the introduction of a second reheat or by increased steam temperatures, for example. On the other hand, the IGCC power plant is a combined cycle plant before all, with the improvement potentials of the gas turbine technology and of the heat recovery technology. The gasification unit can also be improved by hot gas clean up and optimized integration. This paper aims at comparing both improvement potentials in order to determine which technology will eventually emerge as the solution for a clean and efficient use of coal for power generation. The paper also analyses the various effect of the site conditions on the plant performances, such as ambient temperature and cooling medium availability, which have different influences on the two considered types of plant.