Coal quality effects on the performance of an IGCC power plant with CO2 capture in India
Ever increasing power demand coupled with CO2 emission from coal-based power plants is a critical challenge for worldwide energy sector. This is even more critical for a country like India where a large coal reserve exists and about 60% of the total power produced is from coal. Meeting energy demand and simultaneously satisfying CO2 emissions target, India has to develop power from coal using more advanced technology than existing subcritical pulverized coal fired one. IGCC with CO2 capture emerges as a prospective option for using coal with reduced CO2 emissions. In collaboration under Indo-Norwegian cooperation program, an assessment of expected performance of a possible IGCC configuration with typical Indian coals is explored. In this paper, results of preliminary investigation through simulation for a baseline configuration of IGCC with CO2 capture are presented. A comparison between expected performances for three typical coals is reported to show the effect of coal quality on IGCC performance in an Indian context.
