Energy & Fuels 2008, 22, 961–966 961

Investigation of Gasification Chemical Looping Combustion

Combined Cycle Performance
Wenguo Xiang* and Sha Wang
Key Laboratory of Clean Coal Power Generation and Combustion Technology of the Ministry of
Education, Southeast UniVersity, Nanjing 210096, China

Tengteng Di
Sichun Electric Vocational and Technical College, Chengdu 610072, Sichuan, China

ReceiVed NoVember 22, 2007. ReVised Manuscript ReceiVed January 5, 2008

A novel combined cycle based on coal gasification and chemical looping combustion (CLC) offers a possibility
of both high net power efficiency and separation of the greenhouse gas CO2. After pressurization, a coal slurry
enters a pipe-type gasifier immersed in the CLC air reactor and takes in the heat released from the air reactor.
After removal of particulates, the syngas is used as the fuel of the CLC fuel reactor or the supplementary
firing. The technique involves the use of a metal oxide as an oxygen carrier, which transfers oxygen from the
combustion air to the fuel, and the avoidance of direct contact between fuel and combustion air. The fuel gas
is oxidized by an oxygen carrier, an oxygen-containing compound, in the fuel reactor. The oxygen carrier in
this study is NiO. The reduced oxygen carrier, Ni, in the fuel reactor is regenerated by the air in the air
reactor. In this way, fuel and air are never mixed, and the fuel oxidation products CO2 and water vapor leave
the system undiluted by air. All that is needed to get an almost pure CO2 product is to condense the water
vapor and to remove the liquid water. When the technique is combined with gas turbine and heat recovery
steam generation technology, a new type of combined cycle is formed which gives a possibility of obtaining
high net power efficiency and CO2 separation. The performance of the combined cycle is simulated using the
ASPEN software tool in this paper. The influence of the water/coal ratio on the gasification and the influence
of the CLC process parameters such as the air reactor temperature, the turbine inlet supplementary firing, and
the pressure ratio of the compressor on the system performance are discussed. Results show that, assuming an
air reactor temperature of 1200 °C, a gasification temperature of 1100 °C, and a turbine inlet temperature after
supplementary firing of 1350 °C, the system has the potential to achieve a thermal efficiency of 44.4% (low
heating value), and the CO2 emission is 70.1 g/(kW h), 90.1% of the CO2 captured.

Introduction

Observation of the increased concentration of carbon dioxide

in the atmosphere and the thereto connected global warming
effect has made prevention of carbon dioxide emission from
power plants an important field of research. Today, most fuels
used in thermal power plants are fossil fuels, which on
combustion release CO2 to the atmosphere. To decrease the
emission of CO2 from fossil fueled power plants, an increase
in the power conversion efficiency is necessary. There is also a
possibility of separating the CO2 from the other exhaust gases
and disposing of the carbon dioxide in an environmentally safe Figure 1. CLC process.
way. However, conventional gas separation techniques like
membrane separation and absorption have been estimated to
and the avoidance of direct contact between fuel and combustion
be rather costly because of the large volume of dilute gas that
air. A simple schematic of a CLC system is shown in Figure 1.
needs to be treated. The energy consumed in the separation
processes has also been estimated to decrease the net power Here a hydrocarbon fuel is oxidized by a metal oxide, MexOy,
efficiency by about 10 percentage points. in the fuel reactor (FR). The fuel is oxidized to CO2 and H2O
while the metal oxide is reduced to a metal, Me (or to a metal
There are many kinds of technologies to separate CO2, one
of which is through chemical looping combustion (CLC). The oxide with a lower oxidation number). To regenerate the oxygen
technique involves the use of a metal oxide as an oxygen carrier, carrier, the Me is transported to the air reactor (AR) where it is
which transfers oxygen from the combustion air to the fuel, reoxidized with oxygen in the air according to the oxidation
reaction. In this way, the combustion products CO2 and H2O
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: wgxiang@ leave the system undiluted by excess air. All that is needed to
seu.edu.cn. separate CO2 is to condense the water vapor and to remove the
10.1021/ef7007002 CCC: $40.75  2008 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 02/19/2008
962 Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008
liquid water. The CO2 can then be stored or utilized in an
environmentally friendly way.
The metal and metal oxide is just circulated between the two
reactors and never leaves the system. Thermodynamically, the
reaction between metal and oxygen is normally exothermic; that
is, heat equal to ∆Hox is released. The reaction between fuel
and metal oxide is normally endothermic; that is, heat equal to
∆Hred is consumed (if the reaction between metal oxide and
fuel is exothermic, heat ∆Hred is released and ∆Hred < 0).
According to the energy balance, the sum of the heat of reaction
for the two reactions is equal to the heat of fuel combustion,
∆Hc. Generally, ∆Hox must be greater than ∆Hc. Accordingly,
in a CLC system it is possible to generate more heat at a high
temperature compared with conventional combustion.
The principles of CLC were first introduced by Richter and
Knoche in 1983.1 Since then studies have been performed on
selection and preparation of oxygen carriers. Ishida and Jin
studied the hydrogen-fueled CLC characteristics using NiO as
the oxygen carrier.2–4 Cho et al. and others have investigated
Fe-, Ni-, and Cu-based oxygen carriers5–9 and designed the CLC
reactors as a fluidized bed.10,11 Combining CLC with a gas
turbine combined cycle offers a novel power generation
technique with high efficiency and CO2 separation. Researchers
have also paid attention to the possibilities of CLC based power
generation. Ishida et al. investigated a CLC power generation
system with exergy analysis and discussed the possibility of a
coal fired CLC combined cycle.12–15 Anheden and Svedberg
performed an exergy analysis of a natural gas-fired CLC
(1) Ritcher, H.; Knoche, K. Reversibility of combustion process. ACS
Symp. Ser. 1983, 235, 71–85.
(2) Jin, H.; Ishida, M. Reactivity study on a novel hydrogen fueled
chemical-looping combustion. Hydrogen Energy 2001, 26, 889–894.
(3) Jin, H.; Okamoto, T.; Ishida, M. Development of a novel chemical-
looping combustion: Synthesis of a looping material with a double metal
oxide of CoO-NiO. Energy Fuels 1998, 12, 1272–1277.
(4) Jin, H.; Okamoto, T.; Ishida, M. Development of a Novel Chemical-
Looping Combustion: Synthesis of a Solid Looping Material of NiO/
NiAl2O4. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 1999, 3, 126–132.
(5) Cho, P.; Mattisson, T.; Lyngfelt, A. Comparison of iron-, nickel-,
copper- and manganese-based oxygen carriers for chemical-looping com-
bustion. Fuel 2004, 83, 1215–1225.
(6) Consonni, S.; Lozza, G.; Pelliccia, G.; et al. Chemical looping
combustion for combined cycles with CO2 capture. Proceedings of ASME
Turbo Expo 2004, Power for Land, Sea, and Air, Vienna, Austria, June
14–17, 2004; GT2004-53503.
(7) Mattisson, T.; Lyngfelt, A.; Cho, P. The use of iron oxide as an
oxygen carrier in chemical-looping combustion of methane with inherent
separation of CO2. Fuel 2001, 80, 1953–1962.
(8) Abad, A.; Adánez, J.; García-Labiano, F. Mapping of the range of
operational conditions for Cu-, Fe-, and Ni-based oxygen carriers in
chemical-looping combustion. Chem. Eng. Sci. 2007, 62, 533–549.
(9) Corbella, B. M.; Palacios, J. M. Titania-supported iron oxide as
oxygen carrier for chemical-looping combustion of methane. Fuel 2007,
(86), 113–122.
(10) Johansson, E.; Mattisson, T.; Lyngfelt, A. A 300W laboratory
reactor system for chemical- looping combustion with particle circulation.
Fuel 2006, (85), 1428–1438.
(11) Lyngfelt, A.; Leckner, B.; Mattisson, T. A fluidized-bed combustion
process with inherent CO2 separation: application of chemical-looping
combustion. Chem. Eng. Sci. 2001, 56, 3101–3113.
(12) Ishida, M.; Jin, H.; Akehata, T. Evaluation of a chemical-looping-
combustion power-generation system by graphic exergy analysis. Energy
1987, 12 (2), 147–154.
(13) Ishida, M.; Jin, H. A New Advanced Power-Generation System
Using Chemical-looping Combustion. Energy 1994, (4), 415–422.
(14) Jin, H.; Ishida, M. A new advanced IGCC power plant with
chemical-looping combustion. Proceedings of the International Symposium
on Thermodynamics Analysis and ImproVement of Energy System; Beijing
World Publishing Corporation: Beijing, China, 1997; pp 548–553.
(15) Jin, H.; Ishida, M. Investigation of a Novel Gas Turbine Cycle
with Coal Fueled Chemical-looping Combustion. Proc. ASME ASE DiV.
2000, 40, 548–553.
Xiang et al.
Figure 2. Schematic diagram of a GCLC-CC.
system.16 Brandvoll and Bolland simulated the performance of
a natural gas fired CLC power cycle.17–21 Wolf and Yan studied
a CLC based trigeneration of hydrogen, heat, and electrical
power with CO2 capture.22 Those papers mainly focus on the
system configuration and the overall efficiency prediction using
natural gas as fuel.
In this paper, a novel cycle configuration using coal as the
fuel is proposed. Because the system is highly integrated, it is
important to study the effects of parameters on the performance
of the system. Key parameters of the process are identified, and
their impacts on the efficiencies of producing electrical power
and the CO2 emission properties are investigated.
System Description
The system studied in this paper is shown in Figure 2. The
combined cycle system is based on coal gasification, CLC, and
gas turbine combined cycle (namely, GCLC-CC). It offers a
possibility of both high net power efficiency and separation of
the greenhouse gas CO2 for coal combustion.
Direct reaction between the coal and the oxygen carrier in
the CLC is not expected to be feasible because the reaction
rate is likely to be too slow. There is a risk of coal and ash
covering the metal particle surface and thereby hindering the
CLC reactions. It is also likely that a large part of the coal fed
to the reduction reactor will be entrained with the metal stream
and combusted with oxygen in the air in the oxidation reactor
instead of reacting with the oxygen carrier in the reduction
reactor. Thus, the advantage of easy CO2 separation is lost. To
(16) Anheden, M.; Svedberg, G. Exergy Analysis of Chemical-Looping
Combustion Systems. Energy ConVers. Manage. 1998, 39 (16–18), 1967–
1980.
(17) Brandvoll, Ø.; Bolland, O. Inherent CO2 capture using chemical-
looping combustion in a natural gas fired power cycle. Proceedings of ASME
Turbo Expo 2002, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 3–6, 2002; GT2002-
30129.
(18) Kvamsdal, H. M.; Jordal, K.; Bolland, O. A quantitative comparison
of gas turbine cycles with CO2 capture. Energy 2007, 32, 10–24.
(19) Naqvi, R.; Bolland, O.; Brandvoll, Ø.; et al. Chemical looping
combustion—Analysis of natural gas fired power cycle with inherent CO2
capture, Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2004, Power for Land, Sea,
and Air, Vienna, Austria, June 14–17, 2004; GT2004-53359.
(20) Naqvi, R.; Wolf, J.; Bolland, O. Part-load analysis of a chemical
looping combustion (CLC) combined cycle with CO2 capture. Energy 2007,
32 (4), 360–370.
(21) Wolf, J.; Anheden, M.; Yan, J. Comparison of nickel- and iron-
based oxygen carriers in chemical looping combustion for CO2 capture in
power generation. Fuel 2005, 84, 993–1006.
(22) Wolf, J.; Yan, J. Parametric study of chemical looping combustion
for tri-generation of hydrogen, heat, and electrical power with CO2 capture.
Int. J. Energy Res. 2005, 29, 739–753.
Gasification Chemical Looping Combustion
create an acceptable reaction scheme, the coal is first gasified,
and then the resulting syngas is fed to the CLC reduction reactor
where it is oxidized.
Coal, sorbent, and water are prepared to be a coal slurry.
After pressurization, the coal slurry is led to a pipe-type
pressurized coal gasifier immerged in the CLC AR and takes
in the heat released from the CLC AR. The coal slurry is turned
to raw syngas under high temperature. Meanwhile, more than
95% of the sulfides are captured as CaS, and the remaining
sulfides will be captured by the metal oxides and released from
the AR. After passing through a cyclone and removing the ash
particles, the raw syngas is cleaned and can be used as the fuel
gas of the CLC system and as supplementary firing fuel. The
syngas makes it possible to get a high concentration of CO2
and H2O in the gaseous products from the CLC reduction reactor
and, therefore, enables an easier separation of carbon dioxide.
The compressed air from the gas turbine compressor is fed
to the CLC AR, where the oxygen carrier reacts with oxygen.
It is also heated to a very high temperature and then expands
in the gas turbine. The heat released from the oxidant reaction
is used in two ways: one is used to heat the compressed air,
and the other is used as the heat of coal slurry gasification. The
heat in the gas turbine exhaust is recovered in a three pressure
reheat heat recovery steam generator (HRSG).
In this paper Ni/NiO is selected as the oxygen carrier in order
to keep the AR at a relatively high temperature where the coal
gasification can take place. When Ni/NiO is the oxygen carrier,
the heat released from the syngas FR is quite different from
that of Fe/FeO/Fe3O4/Fe2O3 as the oxygen carrier. In the syngas
FR
4NiO + CH4 ) CO2 + 2H2O(g) + Ni ∆H )
398.8 kJ/mol (1)
NiO + H2 ) H2O(g) + Ni ∆H ) -2.1 kJ/mol (2)
NiO + CO ) CO2 + Ni ∆H ) -43.3 kJ/mol (3)
H2O + CO ) CO2 + H2 ∆H ) -41.2 kJ/mol (4)
Because the content of CH4 in the syngas is small, there is much
heat released in the FR. The total reaction of eqs 4 and 2 is the
same as eq 3, so the water-gas shift reaction eq 4 is not included
in the simulation. And in the AR, there is a large amount of
heat released:
2Ni + O2 ) 2NiO ∆H ) -479.8 kJ/mol (5)
The reactions in the two reactors are exothermic. The main
purpose of this paper is to determine whether or not it is possible
to use coal as a fuel in a CLC system which remains at high
efficiency. Simulation results and a detailed heat balance analysis
of the new systems are presented. The components of the syngas
are estimated according to the mass equations and kinetics. The
influences of the water/coal mass ratio on the gasification, the
AR temperature, the turbine inlet supplementary firing, and
the pressure ratio of the compressor on the system performance
are also discussed.
Assumptions
Because this paper focuses on the coal fired CLC combined
cycle performance for power generation, we will not deal with
the details of the reactor chemistry and kinetics nor with the
issues related to the thermo-fluid dynamic and structural design
of the reactors and their components (cyclones, feeding systems,
etc.). Here the CLC system is modeled on the basis of
simplifying assumptions which are insufficient to define the
Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 963
Table 1. Input Illinois No. 6 Coal Characteristics (wt %)
C H O N S H2O ash FC VM
wt % 61.2 4.7 8.8 1.1 3.4 12.0 8.8 42.85 36.35
Table 2. Air Composition (vol %)
N2 O2 CO2 H2O Ar
77.3 20.74 0.03 1.01 0.92
actual design of the CLC components but are fully adequate to
predict the heat/mass balances and thus the overall performance
of the integrated CLC-CC system. The whole CLC combined
cycle power plant has been studied with the ASPEN PLUS
software. The gasifier, AR, and FR have been simulated using
the Gibbs models available in the ASPEN library, which
determines equilibrium conditions by minimizing the Gibbs
energy.23
More specifically, we have assumed the following:
(1) Coal (Table 1) is wet ground. The resulting coal slurry is
fed to the gasifier at a pressure of 2.5 MPa.
(2) Both AR and FR are adiabatic.
(3) Ni/NiO is selected as the oxygen carrier, carrying out the
chemical loop, and the reactions in the two reactors are the
reactions 1, 2, 3, and 5.
(4) The composition at the outlet of both reactors is at
equilibrium; that is, the reactant residence times are higher than
the characteristic times of chemical kinetics and of heat/mass
transport. A catalyst may be needed.
(5) Excess oxygen, that is, excess NiO, in the reduction
reactor is 15-20%. Maintaining some excess oxygen is essential
to warrant the full oxidation of the syngas.
(6) Inert solid material (NiAl2O4) is 50% of the total flow of
solids entering the oxidation reactor. This inert material is
necessary to achieve appropriate physical characteristics of the
solid particles and to realize a favorable temperature distribution
across the reactors.
(7) The air separation unit is not modeled here; rather, we
adopt the specific work at 0.4 kW h/kg of 98% O2.24,25
(8) Ambient conditions are 15 °C, 1 bar, and 60% relative
humidity (RH) air content as shown in Table 2.
Table 3 exemplifies the CLC operating conditions corre-
sponding to these assumptions. The table also reports the
operating conditions obtained under the same assumptions with
nickel oxide. Because of the lower molecular weight of its
reduced and oxidized form, nickel gives a dramatic reduction
of the mass flow circulating across the reactors.
Define the whole power plant efficiency as
WGT1 + WGT2 + WST1 + WST2 - WC - WCO2
ηnet ) (6)
ṁcoalQycoal
The specific work of the system is defined as
WGT1 + WGT2 + WST1 + WST2 - WC - WCO2
w) (7)
ṁair
(23) Wstkinson, A. P.; Lucas, J. P.; Lim, C. J. A Predication of
Performance of Commercial Coal Gasifiers. Fuel 1991, 70, 519–527.
(24) Wang, B.; Jin, H.; Han, W.; Zheng, D. IGCC system with
integration of CO2 recovery and the cryogenic energy in air separation unit.
Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2004, Power for Land, Sea, and Air,
Vienna, Austria, June 14–17, 2004; GT2004-53723.
(25) De Lorenzo, L.; Kreutz, T. G.; Chiesa1, P.; Williams, R. H. Carbon-
free Hydrogen and Electricity from Coal: Options for Syngas Cooling in
Systems Using a Hydrogen Separation Membrane Reactor. Proceedings of
GT 2005, ASME Turbo Expo 2005: Power for Land, Sea and Air, Reno-
Tahoe, NV, U.S.A., June 6–9, 2005; GT2005-68572.
964 Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 Xiang et al.

Table 3. Assumptions Adopted for the Performance Simulation

assumption
gasification process temperature 950 °C
pressure loss 6%
heat loss 1%
syngas temperature 870 °C
gasification pressure 25 bar
Ca/S mole ratio 1.6
carbon conversion rate 98%
CLC reactors NiO/NiAl2O4 ) 3:2
AR 1200 °C
pressure loss 5%
FR 1000 °C
pressure loss 5%
gas turbine air flow 634 kg/s
pressure ratio 17
TIT 1350 °C
air cooling fraction 0.12 Figure 3. Effects of water/coal ratio and gasification temperature on
compressor polytropic efficiency 88% the gasification efficiency.
turbine polytropic efficiency 90%
turbine discharge pressure 1.047 bar Table 4. Syngas Composition at the Gasifier Outlet
mechanical/generator efficiency:
99.5%/98.5% H2 CO H2O CH4 CO2 N2, H2S, NH3, COS
HRSG approach ∆T ) 15 °C, 15 °C, 8 °C vol % 50.43 37.13 6.70 2.39 2.99 trace
(HP/IP/LP)
pinch ∆T ) 10 °C, 10 °C, 8 °C
(HP/IP/LP) and the Ca/S mole ratio is 1.6, a best cold gasification efficiency
three pressure levels 12.5 MPa/ is reached, and 95.4% of sulfur is captured as CaS. Because
535 °C (HP) water is the only gasification oxidant, the hydrogen volume
2.86 MPa/535 °C (IP)
0.72 MPa/232 °C (LP) fraction in the syngas is relatively higher, as shown in Table 4,
pressure loss 3.4 kPa and the syngas lower heat value (LHV) is 11670.13 kJ/Nm3,
exhaust gas temperature from with the volume 2.18 Nm3/kg (coal).
the HRSG: 80 °C The raw syngas is cooled down to 870 °C by a waste heat
HRSG thermal losses 0.7% of
thermal input
boiler to generate superheat steam. After removal of the
steam turbine polytropic efficiency 90% particulate, the clean syngas is used as the fuel of CLC FR and
mechanical/generator efficiency: supplementary firing.
99%/99% 2. CLC Process. To meet the oxygen needs of the CLC
condensing pressure 0.05 bar reactors, the minimum oxygen carrier flow Mmin and the
CO2 compression stage compression ratio of CO2
compressor 3.5, 3.5, 3.5, 2.5 minimum air flow Mair for 1 kg of coal base are simulated under
compressor stage isentropic efficiency different AR temperatures as shown in Figure 4 when the water/
(%): 85 coal ratio is 0.6. Because the syngas composition nearly remains
cooling water inlet temperature 15 °C the same, there are only slight changes in the value in response
pressure losses in the heat exchanger
(%): 3
to the AR temperature change. To ensure higher carbon and
temperature at intercooler outlet 30 °C hydrogen conversion, the FR excess oxygen ratio is selected as
mechanical/electric efficiency 99%/99% 1.25, and the oxygen carrier flow rate is 15 kg/kg coal.
liquid CO2 to disposal 30 °C, 85 bar Assuming that the excess oxygen ratio in the AR is 1.8 and the
balance of plant (BOP) pump efficiency 75% AR temperature is 1200 °C, the FR outlet temperature is 1136
°C, and the composition at the outlet of the AR and the FR is
To measure the CO2 capture performance of a system, we shown in Tables 5 and 6. To prevent sintering of the oxygen
define the CO2 capture efficiency as carrier, the AR operation temperature is below 1200 °C.
3. Turbine Inlet Supplementary Firing. The temperature
ṁsep at the outlet of the AR and the FR is relatively lower than 1350
ηCO2 ) (8)
ṁtot

Results and Discussion

1. Gasification Process. We define the cold gasification
efficiency ηg as

QygVg
ηg ) (9)
ṁcoalQycoal + Qgf
The effects of gasification temperature, pressure, and water/
coal mass ratio on the gasification performance are simulated,
and the effects of the sorbent (mainly CaCO3) fraction on the
desulfuration are also included. Figure 3 shows the effects of
the gasification temperature and the water/coal ratio on the cold
gas efficiency. When the gasification temperature is in the range Figure 4. Minimum air and minimum oxygen carriers as a function of
of 1000-1100 °C, the water/coal ratio is in the range 0.6-0.7, the AR temperature.
Gasification Chemical Looping Combustion Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 965

Table 5. Depleted Air Composition at the AR Outlet

N2 O2 H2O Ar others
vol % 85.59 12.14 1.12 1.02 0.16

Table 6. CO2 Rich Stream Composition at the FR Outlet

H2O CO2 CO N2 H2 SO2
vol % 58.87 40.19 0.36 0.31 0.24 0.03

°C. Because increasing the turbine inlet temperature (TIT) can

raise the system efficiency, supplementary firing is used to
increase the depleted air temperature of GT1, which had
remained at 1350 °C. To obtain the supplementary firing of the
CO2 rich stream, pure oxygen and catalytic combustion tech-
niques are needed so as to increase the carbon and hydrogen
conversion and to decrease the chemical unburned loss in the Figure 6. Net efficiency and CO2 capture rate as a function of TIT.
FR. GT2 needs to be cooled by the compressed CO2 rich stream. Table 7. Final CO2 Stream Composition (vol %)
The AR temperature is a key parameter for the combined
cycle plant. The temperature affects the carbon conversion rate CO2 H2O CO N2 H2 SO2 H2 S
of the pipe-type gasification process and the CO2 emission. If 97.6 0.16 0.91 0.81 0.51 0.028 7.4 × 10-5
the temperature is lower, the carbon conversion rate and the
4. CO2 Capture and Storage. The CO2 rich stream is cooled
system efficiency will go down. Maintaining the TIT, the CO2
and then compressed to 9 MPa in four stages using centrifugal
emission will increase. Assuming that supplementary firing is
compressors whose pressure ratio is 3.5 and isentropic efficiency
used only to the GT1 and the TIT of GT1 is kept at 1350 °C,
is 85%. Dehydration takes place after compression and cooling.
the system net efficiency is decreased when the AR temperature
The composition of the final stream is shown in Table 7.
goes up (Figure 5). Because the supplementary firing fuel is
5. Effect of Compressor Pressure Ratio on the Net
diminished, the mass flow to the gas turbine (GT1) goes down
Efficiency. Figure 7 presents the net cycle efficiency and CO2
and the average temperature of turbine inlet stream (GT1 and
emission as a function of specific power output with increasing
GT2) decreases, which leads to the decrease of the cycle
pressure ratio and TIT (after the supplementary firing) under
efficiency. But the gasification temperature (900-1100 °C) and
the constant maximum CLC AR temperature. Three different
the cold gasification efficiency will increase as the AR temper-
TIT values (1200 °C, 1300, and 1350 °C) are simulated with the
ature rises assuming that the gasification temperature is 100 °C
cooling air fraction of 4%, 8%, and 12%. Under certain TIT,
lower than the AR temperature, as shown in Figure 3. Thus,
the increase of the pressure ratio results in the decrease of the
the system net efficiency is only 0.35% (LHV) lower as the
specific power output, and there exists an optimum pressure
AR temperature is changed from 1000 to 1200 °C. Meanwhile,
ratio for the system net efficiency. For TIT ) 1350 °C, the fired
the 77% (CO2 emission 162 g/(kW h)) and the 90.1% (CO2
GCLC-CC plant reached a net efficiency of 44.4% (LHV) at
emission 70 g/(kW h)) of the CO2 can be separated at the AR
the optimum pressure ratio of 19. The optimum pressure ratio
temperature of 1000 and 1200 °C, respectively. However,
tends to increase as the TIT rises. At the TIT of 1200 °C, 1300
keeping the AR outlet temperature at 1200 °C, when the
°C, and 1350 °C, the optimum pressure ratios are 15, 17, and
supplementary firing temperature increases, the net efficiency
19, respectively. The system net efficiency improvement brought
goes up and the CO2 capture efficiency goes down, as shown
about by supplementary firing can result in the increase of CO2
in Figure 6. As the TIT of GT1 is changed from 1200 to 1500
emission. The CO2 emission at different pressure ratios and TIT
°C, the net efficiency rises from 43.2% (LHV) to 45.5% (LHV)
is also shown in Figure 7. As the TIT or pressure ratio increases,
and the CO2 capture efficiency from 99% (CO2 emission 5
the CO2 emission increases. At the optimum pressure ratio of
g/(kW h)) to 83% (CO2 emission 116 g/(kW h)). When the AR
19 with a TIT of 1350 °C, CO2 emission is 74.5 g/(kW h).
temperature is taken to 1200 °C and the TIT of GT1 to 1350
°C, the FR flue gas temperature is 1135 °C. The system net Conclusions
efficiency is increased by 0.5% (LHV) if the FR flue gas
temperature is raised to 1350 °C by supplementary firing. Gasification integrated CLC-CC plants offer the potential for
coal-fired power generation with near zero emission. We have

Figure 5. Influence of the AR outlet temperature on system efficiency

and CO2 capture efficiency. Figure 7. Efficiency vs specific work.
966 Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 Xiang et al.

mainly concentrated on the simulation of a coal fired CLC-CC HP ) high pressure

system. The results show several merits of this system. The pipe- HRSG ) heat recovery steam generator
type gasification process takes in the heat from the CLC AR, IP ) intermediate pressure
and oxygen used for gasification is not needed. So, the cold LP ) low pressure
gas efficiency is relatively high, and the integrated combined M ) mass flow (kg/s)
cycle plants have better efficiency. Most of the CO2 is separated m ) mass flow rate (kg/s)
PR ) pressure ratio
with CLC technology. There is no energy consumption on
Q ) gasification heat absorbing from the AR (kJ/s)
separation, and only CO2 compression energy is needed. The Qy ) lower heating value (kJ/kg for coal, kJ/m3 for syngas)
efficiency of the system is improved with the increase of the RH ) relative humidity
supplementary firing temperature, but the emission of CO2 ST ) steam turbine
increases. TIT ) turbine inlet temperature (°C)
A limitation of this study is the pipe-type gasification process. V ) volume flow (m3/s)
Although there are some difficulties in realizing this type of W ) work (kW)
gasification at present, it is possible to discuss this system w ) specific work (kW/kg)
performance. We have also simulated the coal fired CLC-CC η ) efficiency (%)
plants with commercial-ready gasification technologysTexaco ∆H ) chemical reaction heat at 25 °C (kJ/mol)
gasification. Its net efficiency is 41.7% (LHV), and the CO2 Subscripts
emission is 125 g/(kW h) at the same conditions as discussed c ) combustion
in this paper. C ) compressor
CO2 ) CO2 compression
Acknowledgment. The authors wish to express thanks to the g ) gas
National Natural Science Foundation of China (90410009, 50776018) gf ) gasification
and the Special Fund of the National Priority Basic Research of GT ) gas turbine
China (2007CB210101) for financial support of this project. min ) minimum
ox ) oxidation reaction
Nomenclature red ) reduction reaction
AR ) air reactor sep ) separated CO2
C ) compressor ST ) steam turbine
CLC ) chemical looping combustion sf ) supplementary firing
C.W. ) circulating water tot ) total generated CO2
FR ) fuel reactor
GT ) gas turbine EF7007002