Optimal performance of combined cycles with chemical looping combustion for CO2 capture

Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) is an ingenious concept of CO2 capture from fossil fuels combustion. CLC is closely related to oxy-fuel combustion as the chemically bound oxygen reacts in a stoichiometric ratio with the fuel. In CLC, the overall combustion takes place in two steps while air and fuel are kept away from each other in two separate reactors. The necessary oxygen is supplied to the fuel by a certain metal oxide (Me/MeO). In a fuel reactor, the fuel reacts with the metal oxide and reduces it to metal (Me). The reduced metal oxide (Me) circulates to a separate air reactor where it reacts with oxygen in the air and gets oxidised back to metal oxide. The metal oxide keeps circulating between the two reactors in a loop while taking part in the successive chemical reactions. CLC can be applied in conventional circulating fluidised bed reactors. The air reactor product is hot oxygen-depleted air and the fuel reactor exhaust ideally consists of hot CO2/steam mixture. The exhaust can be condensed to separate steam and CO2 is compressed. Hence, energy penalty for CO2 capture is lower as compared to pre- and post-combustion capture methods. When the reactors are pressurised, CLC can be applied in combined cycles. This paper addresses optimal performance of two CLC-combined cycle configurations. In order to obtain optimal efficiency at base-load, thermodynamic analysis has been carried out and design point established. Further, the cycles' performance at different load conditions has been analysed. The cycles are also compared with two conventional combined cycles including post-combustion CO2 capture in amine solution. The results show that the CLC-combined cycles exhibit higher net plant efficiencies at base-load as well as at part-load with close to 100% CO2 capture as compared to conventional combined cycles with post-combustion CO2 capture. Also, the CLC-combined cycles have better relative net plant efficiencies at part-load compared to conventional combined cycles. This work concludes that the CLC-combined cycles have high potential of efficient power generation with high degree of CO2 capture at base-load as well as part-load. The challenges with respect to cycles control have also been identified and control strategies discussed.