Assessing the commercial potential of IGCC polygeneration/power plants integrated with chemical-looping processes.

• Process design and energy analysis of IICLAS-based IGCC power and CLGH-based IGCC polygeneration plants are presented. • The capital cost of IICLAS and the expense of natural gas supply detracts the benefits of investing in an IICLAS-based IGCC power plant. • The commercial potential of the investment planning in an CLGH-based IGCC polygeneration plant is confirmed. • The minimum acceptable IRR for an CLGH-based IGCC polygeneration plant is about 14.1%. The techno-economic analysis of an IGCC power plant coupled with integrated intermittent chemical looping air separation (IICLAS) as Design 1 and an IGCC polygeneration plant integrated with chemical looping hydrogen generation (CLHG) as Design 2 are addressed. The economic evaluations show that (i) the total overnight cost of capital (TOCC) of Design 1 is higher than it of Design 2 by 3.6% and (ii) the total fixed and variable operation and maintenance cost (TOMC) of Design 1 is higher than it of Design 2 by 17.8%. These comparisons imply that the potential investment opportunities in Design 2 are more than Design 1. According to recent reports of the internal rate of return (IRR) for the coal-fired power plant investment around 8%∼12%, Design 2 guarantees the minimum acceptable IRR with 14.1% even though its revenue is reduced by 30%. For assessing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) with 0.058USD/kWh and the dynamic payback period (DPP) with 6.6 years, these beneficial results raise the commercial potential of Design 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]