Thermo-economic analysis of a waste-to-energy assisted carbon capture system for a coal-fired power plant

An advanced energy system was proposed that hybridizes a waste-to-energy plant and a coal-fired power plant accompanied by a carbon capture and storage system. Compared with previous similar systems, the innovations of this system include: (1) a new approach to municipal solid waste energy use was proposed: energy supply for carbon capture and storage systems; (2) the heat integration design of the novel system was conducted based on the principle of energy cascade utilization, and high energy efficiency was achieved; (3) the equipment of the waste-to-energy plant is streamlined due to system integration, reducing investment costs. The main parameters of several existing reference systems were collected, and the benefits of the proposed systems were analyzed, compared and evaluated in terms of energy, exergy and economy. The results show that the net electric efficiency of the integrated system is improved by 1.75%, the electricity generation is increased by 14.37 MW, and at a discount rate of 5%, the dynamic payback period of the waste-to-energy system can be advanced by about 2.34 years. These indicators demonstrate the engineering potential of the proposed system and can be used as a reference for similar investment projects.