Integration of H 2-Selective Membrane Reactors in the Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle for CO 2 Separation

Abstract

The integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) offers the opportunity for precombustion CO 2 capture. However, recent studies using physical absorption for CO 2 separation indicated efficiency penalties only slightly lower than those for postcombustion capture in conventional steam power plants. These efficiency penalties are explained and analyzed. As an alternative, a process using a so-called water-gas shift membrane reactor, which combines hydrogen-selective membranes with water-gas shift reaction, is presented. It is demonstrated that the use of recirculated flue gas from downstream of the heat recovery steam generator as membrane sweep gas results in an overall efficiency loss of only 4.5%-points (including CO 2 compression to 120bar) in comparison to an IGCC without carbon capture and storage (CCS). © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.