An innovative oxy-fired supercritical CO2 power cycle for highly flexible electricity generation

拟议的项目名称是“用于高度灵活发电的创新氧燃超临界二氧化碳动力循环”。上面提到的电力循环也被称为阿拉姆循环，是一种新的系统，它承诺与传统循环一样高效，有能力匹配或提高其电力成本（Netpower, 2016）。该循环使用空气分离装置（ASU）将氧气从空气中分离出来，从而实现氧燃料燃烧。驱动涡轮发电机的燃烧产物的主要成分是二氧化碳（CO2），其中大部分随后被重新引入动力循环。由于剩余的二氧化碳可以被捕获并运输储存，Allam循环发电固有地结合了碳捕获和促进能量储存，这是近期电力供应最理想的两个特性。爱丁堡大学的研究引入了使用胺溶剂的燃烧后捕集（PCC）的传统电厂灵活操作的概念（Lucquiaud等人，2008；Chalmers等人，2009）。通过采用临时溶剂储存，要么绕过二氧化碳吸收器，要么将溶剂再生和储存的能量损失从高电价时期转移到低电价时期。与胺溶剂储存相同，ASU中用于氧气生产的空气分离是一个非常耗能的步骤，可以从主要发电过程中分离出来，就像氧气燃烧的煤发电一样（IEAGHG, 2012）。氧气生产和发电的解耦，可以通过使用液氧储存来实现，可以弥补ASU启动时间慢的问题，从而在风力发电资源产量低的时候实现更便宜的发电。当风力发电量高时，电力循环以最小负荷运行，使电网净输出为零，并保持大量的二氧化碳流向运输和储存系统。这项研究将涉及使用gprom软件对发电厂进行建模，并结合过程优化和强化。对当前设计的潜在改进将进行评估，例如，使用液氧储存来弥补ASU启动时间过慢的问题。与电力网络和二氧化碳运输网络的整合也将被考虑在内，以提供一项全面的同类研究，将先进的操作灵活性概念应用于Allam循环发电厂。

The proposed project title is 'An innovative oxy-fired supercritical CO2 power cycle for highly flexible electricity generation.' The power cycle referred to above is also known as the Allam Cycle, and is a novel system which promises to be as efficient as conventional cycles, with the ability to match or improve upon their cost of electricity (Netpower, 2016). The cycle uses an Air Separation Unit (ASU) to isolate the oxygen from the air, resulting in oxy-fuel combustion. The main constituent of the combustion products which drive the turbine generator is carbon dioxide (CO2), the majority of which is then reintroduced to the power cycle. As the rest of the CO2 may be captured and transported for storage, Allam Cycle power production inherently incorporates carbon capture as well as facilitating energy storage, two of the most desirable characteristics of near-future electricity supplies.Research from the University of Edinburgh introduced the concept of flexible operation of conventional plants with Post Combustion Capture (PCC) using an amine solvent (Lucquiaud et al, 2008; Chalmers et al, 2009). The CO2 absorber is either bypassed or the energy penalty of solvent regeneration and storage is shifted from times of high electricity prices to low electricity prices by employing interim solvent storage. In the same way as amine solvent storage, air separation for oxygen production in the ASU is a very energy intensive step that can be decoupled from the main power generation process, as proposed for oxy-fired coal power generation (IEAGHG, 2012). The decoupling of oxygen production and power generation, which is achievable via the use of liquid oxygen storage, can compensate for the slow start-up time of the ASU, allowing for cheaper electricity generation in times of low production from wind power resources. When power generation from wind is high, the power cycle operates at minimum load to return net zero output to the grid and maintain a substantial CO2 flow to the transport and storage system.The study will involve the use of gPROMs software to model the power plant, with the incorporation of process optimisation and intensification. Potential improvements to the current design will be evaluated, for example, the use of liquid oxygen storage to compensate for the slow start-up time of the ASU. Integration with the electricity network and the CO2 transport network will also be accounted for to provide a comprehensive first-of-a-kind study applying an advanced operational flexibility concept to Allam Cycle power plants.