Industrial Oxygen Plants: A Technology Overview for Users of Coal Gasification-Combined-Cycle Systems

摘要

Some of the most promising coal gasification processes for gasification-combined cycle (GCC) power plants require an oxygen feed. When these oxygen-blown processes are used, the facilities that produce oxygen for the gasifiers will be an integral part of the GCC power plant. The oxygen production system will represent about 18% of the total GCC power plant installed cost and will be the largest internal power consumer. Consequently, the technical and economic factors associated with the design and operation of commercial oxygen plants will be important to the utility industry. This report presents an overview of the technology associated with commercial oxygen production with focus on the technical and economic aspects that may be important in GCC power plant applications. The manual provides an excellent summary of the following topics: history of industrial oxygen production, oxygen plant process, oxygen plant equipment, process control, plant operation and reliability, economics of oxygen production, and environmental, safety, and health considerations. A major concern of many electric utilities is the safety of oxygen plants. The manual contains a detailed discussion of how identification and control of hydrocarbon vapors in air feed has resulted in modern industrial oxygen plants that are characterized by hazard-free operation. Another concern of electric utilities regarding any equipment is its reliability. The manual states that the bulk of the plants making up the 70,000-tons-per-day capacity in the United States is operating at availabilities of over 98%. (ERA citation 06:011886)