Energy Integration of an IGCC Plant for Combined Hydrogen and Electricity Production-Methodology and Tools Integration

Carbon dioxide capture is associated with significant energy penalties that affect the economic viability of such plants. This paper focuses on the energy integration of combined hydrogen and electricity production of an IGCC unit to increase its energy efficiency. Two energy integration methods are used in succession, with the ELCC forming the screening tool for heat integration in the Sequential Framework. Different modeling and optimization tools are integrated to evaluate the performance of the IGCC plant. Results show that the methodology designs efficient processes with flexibility in being able to choose from different heat integrated schemes based on qualitative and quantitative parameters.