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A cryogen‐based peak‐shaving technology: systematic approach and techno‐economic analysis
Author(s) -
Li Yongliang,
Wang Xiang,
Ding Yulong
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.1942
Subject(s) - air separation , natural gas , process engineering , liquefaction , waste management , liquid oxygen , environmental science , electricity , combustion , coal , peaking power plant , capital cost , greenhouse gas , electricity generation , nuclear engineering , engineering , chemistry , renewable energy , oxygen , thermodynamics , distributed generation , electrical engineering , ecology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , biology , power (physics) , physics
SUMMARY A peak‐shaving technology is recently proposed, which integrates peak‐electricity generation, cryogenic energy storage and CO 2 capture. In such a technology, off‐peak electricity is used to produce liquid nitrogen and oxygen in an air separation and liquefaction unit. At peak hours, natural gas (or alternative gases, e.g. from gasification of coal) is burned by oxygen from the air separation unit (oxy‐fuel combustion) to generate electricity. CO 2 produced is captured in the form of dry ice. Liquid nitrogen produced in the air separation plant not only serves as an energy storage medium but also supplies the low‐grade cold energy for CO 2 separation. In addition, waste heat from the tail gas can be used to superheat nitrogen in the expansion process to further increase the system efficiency. This article reports a systematic approach, with an aim to provide technical information for the system design. Three potential blending gases (helium, oxygen and CO 2 ) are considered not only for assessing thermodynamic performance but also for techno‐economic analysis. The peak‐shaving systems are also compared with natural gas combined cycle and an oxy–natural gas combined cycle in terms of capital cost and peak electricity production cost. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.