Advanced Ultra-Supercritical Coal-Fired Power Plant with Post-Combustion Carbon Capture: Analysis of Electricity Penalty and CO2 Emission Reduction

This article presents the performance analysis of a 700 MW future planned advanced ultra-supercritical (A-USC) coal-fired power plant fitted with post-combustion carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The reference A-USC unit without CCS achieves a net efficiency of 47.6% with CO2 emissions of 700 kgCO2/MWh. Relatively to subcritical units, the net efficiency of the A-USC is 8%-pts higher while CO2 emissions are 16.5% lower. For a CO2 removal rate of 90%, the net efficiency of the CCS integrated A-USC unit is 36.8%. The resulting net efficiency loss is 10.8%-pts and the electricity output penalty is 362.3 kWhel/tCO2 for present state CCS technology. The study continues with the assessment of interface quantities between the capture unit and the steam cycle affecting the performance of the A-USC. Improved CO2 absorbents could alleviate the net efficiency loss by 2–3%-pts, and enhanced CO2 compression strategies and advanced heat integration could further reduce the efficiency loss by 0.5–1.2%-pts and 0.4–0.6%-pts, respectively. The total efficiency gain from CCS technology upgrades is estimated at 3.6%-pts, thus bringing down the net efficiency loss to 7.2%-pts and the electricity output penalty to 241.7 kWhel/tCO2.