IGCC Power Plants - Gas Turbine Experience, Fuel-Flexibility andEnhancement Potential

摘要

According to IEA’s World Energy Investment Outlook 2003 the electricity sector willrndominate with the total investment requirements expected until 2030 for worldwide energy-supplyrninfrastructure. Significant share of the capital needed for the electricity sector will bernfor power generation. The share of natural gas for power generation is projected to increasernsignificantly, but coal will remain the largest source of electricity generation throughout thernprojection period.rnThese trends must be seen against the background of the commitments made in the KyotornProtocol and the fact that environmental regulations, requiring fossil fuelled power plants tornreduce their emissions (e.g. sulphur dioxide or nitrogen oxide), are becoming tighter, and thatrnenvironmental legislation will increasingly address greenhouse gas emissions. The projectedrnneed for improved environmental protection will on the one hand influence the investmentrnrequirements for both existing and new power plants, on the other hand suitable solutionsrnmust be made available by technology suppliers.rnThe necessity for more efficient use of primary energies in combination with more stringentrnenvironmental regulations for fossil-fuelled power plants therefore pushes concepts withrnincreased efficiencies and reduced CO2 emissions, respectively. For natural gas with lowrncarbon content this is achieved with high efficient combined cycle plants. IGCC power plantsrnare one of the options which need to be considered for future applications based on differentrnsolid or liquid carbon-containing fuels such as e.g. refinery residues or coal.rnSince significant reduction of CO2 emissions cannot only be achieved via increasedrnefficiencies or application of fuels with low carbon content, CO2 removal options also need tornbe considered for future power plant configurations. Considering this, IGCC is again one ofrnthe most promising solutions which are of relevance in this context.rnHowever, these new IGCC applications require further overall plant concept and componentrndevelopment efforts. One essential step for performance improvement of future IGCCrnapplications is to further develop syngas capabilities of advanced gas turbines, therebyrnconsidering the experience and lessons learned from operational plants.