The 13th Asia Pacific Confederation of APCChE 2010

Chemical Engineering Congress October 5-8, 2010, Taipei

Recovery of flue gas energy in heat integrated IGCC power plants

using the contact economizer system
Vhutshilo Madzivhandilaa, Thokozani Majozia,b*, and Thoshko Zhelevc
a
Department of Chemical Engineering
University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
b
Modelling & Digital Science
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
c
Department of Chemical and Environmental Science
University of Limerick, Ireland
*
Corresponding Author’s E-mail: thoko.majozi@up.ac.za

Keywords: IGCC; Contact economizer system; Flue gas; Mickley’s graphical technique

Abstract

In this work, the contact economizer system is used to recover low potential heat from the gas
turbine exhaust (flue gas) stream of a heat integrated IGCC plant adopted from previous studies.
Recovery of this heat was demonstrated to be capable of further increasing the thermal efficiency of
the plant. Application of Mickley’s graphical technique for dehumidification in a contact economizer
system following a slightly different procedure that allows calculation of the exact ratio between the
liquid-phase heat transfer coefficient and gas-phase mass transfer coefficient demonstrated a possible
increase in thermal efficiency from 54% to 55%. This method however is incapable of obtaining the
optimum thermal efficiency due to the monotonous relationship between the boiler feed water
temperature and the thermal efficiency of the plant.
The 13th Asia Pacific Confederation of APCChE 2010
Chemical Engineering Congress October 5-8, 2010, Taipei

1. Introduction
The IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) is one of the innovative power generation
technologies that promises to provide a large share of the future world’s energy needs in an
economical and environmentally friendly way. This technology combines two primary systems,
gasification and the combined cycle made up of the gas turbine and the steam turbine. The process
followed by IGCC plants can be viewed as a two path process, the first path being the gas path and the
second path being the steam path. These two paths are integrated by a gas cooler (referred to as a
boiler) and a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to form one system. Five IGCC plants are
currently operating commercially worldwide and the number of demonstrations is increasing rapidly.
A lot of research on IGCC plants is currently on the way and a lot of researchers have managed to
improve the process in various aspects to obtain higher thermal efficiencies. Most of the research
conducted in this field has focused on the improvement of equipment and optimizing the operating
parameters. Only a few researchers have focused on optimizing the use of energy within the plant.
Considering the amount of energy available for use in this system, this should be one the areas of
focus.
The objective of this contribution is to recover low potential heat from the gas turbine exhaust
stream of heat integrated IGCC plants using a contact economizer system.
The basis of this contribution was that an increase in the boiler feed water temperature will result
in an increase in the overall efficiency of IGCC plants as demonstrated in this paper.

2. Theory

2.1 The integrated gasification combined cycle

It is assumed at this stage that the reader is familiar with the fundamental structure and concepts of
the IGCC shown in Figure 1. The stream of concern in Figure 1 is the gas turbine (GT) exhaust stream
leaving the HRSG en route to stack. More details on this core stream will be given in the following
sections.

Figure 1: Basic flow sheet of an IGCC plant

The 13th Asia Pacific Confederation of APCChE 2010
Chemical Engineering Congress October 5-8, 2010, Taipei

2.2 Mickley’s graphical technique

Mickley (1949) presented a simple and improved graphical method for the design of forced draft
air conditioning equipment. This method is an extension of the “enthalpy potential” method proposed
by Merkel (1925) and is recognized as the most convenient method for determining the size of the
equipment for direct contact systems. All operating conditions of the equipment can be quickly
determined by this method, and the danger of fog formation ascertained. The design equations for this
graphical enthalpy potential method are given below, with a large portion of their development
presented elsewhere (Mickley 1949).

H G = c s + (TG − T0 ) + λ0 x (1)

GdH G = k G a M (H i − H G )dZ

H G1 − H G 2 Lcp L
=
TL1 − TL 2 G

HG − Hi h
=− L
TL − Ti kG

dH G H G − H i
=
dTG TG − Ti

aM - mass transfer area

cs - humid heat
G - flowrate of the gas
HG - enthalpy of the gas
hL - liquid-phase heat transfer coefficient
kG - gas-phase mass transfer coefficient
Ti - temperature at liquid-gas interface
TL - liquid phase temperature
T0 - reference temperature
X - humidity of the gas
Z - tower height
0 - latent heat of vaporization of water at reference temperature T0
1 - top of the packed bed column
2 - bottom of the column

Equation 1 defines the enthalpy of humid gas while equation 2 relates this enthalpy to the tower
height. Equation 3 and equation 4, the operating line and the tie line respectively, govern the
dehumidification/humidification operation with the help of the equilibrium curve and equation 5.
These equations operate under the following assumptions:

At the water-gas interface, the gas is saturated at the interface temperature Ti.

The change in the water flowrate due to evaporation or condensation is negligible.

The heat transfer area is equal to the mass transfer area. This assumption holds if and only
if the interfacial area is fully wetted.
The 13th Asia Pacific Confederation of APCChE 2010
Chemical Engineering Congress October 5-8, 2010, Taipei

Figure 2 represents typical results of Mickley’s graphical technique applied to a dehumidification

process. Curve ‘EF’ in this figure represents the equilibrium line or saturation curve. Line ‘AB’ is the

Figure 2: Enthalpy-Temperature diagram indicating the dehumidification process

operating line constructed from equation 3 with point ‘A’ corresponding to the entering bulk-gas
enthalpy and the leaving bulk-water temperature. The slope of this line is L/G as indicated in
equation 3.

The construction of the dehumidification path begins at point ‘C’ which represents the gas-water
− hL
vapour mixture at the bottom of the tower. A tie line with slope is drawn from point ‘A’ to
kG
intersect the equilibrium line at point ‘G’. The coordinates of this intersection point are (Ti, Hi). A
straight line drawn from point ‘C’ to point ‘G’ then gives the direction of the initial tangent to the gas
path. The slope of this line is (H i − H G ) (Ti − TG ) , the ratio of the enthalpy driving force to the
temperature driving force. By virtue of equation (5), the slope of line ‘CG’ also represents
dH G dTG , the rate of change of bulk-gas enthalpy with bulk-gas temperature. Assuming this slope
is constant over a small interval, point ‘H’ represents the bulk-gas enthalpy and temperature at a short
distance above the bottom of the tower. The construction is extended with a new tie line and a new
direction of the path line tangential to point ‘H’. This exercise is repeated until a complete gas path
(CD) is achieved.

2.3 The contact economizer system

The contact economizer system (CES) is a low potential heat recovery system allotted to explore
the simultaneous management of heat and mass transfer between a gas stream and a desiccant stream
The 13th Asia Pacific Confederation of APCChE 2010
Chemical Engineering Congress October 5-8, 2010, Taipei

Figure 3: Basic structure of the contact economizer system

Figure 3 represents a typical CES for the recovery of heat from the GT exhaust stream using water
as a desiccant. The CES process involves direct heat transfer between the hot gas stream and a cold
circulating water (desiccant) stream accompanied by dehumidification of the flue gas, in a packed bed
column. The heated desiccant that leaves at bottom of the packed bed column can then be used as a
source of heat for other operations.

Literature (Mickley 1949) has shown that the circulating water can only be heated to a point
where its temperature equals the wet-bulb temperature of the gas provided an infinite heat exchange
area is available. At this point, the gas temperature enthalpy curve crosses the equilibrium line and fog
formation is a possibility. Consequently, the circulating water should be heated to a certain
temperature “ T” degrees lower than the wet-bulb temperature of the gas. This allows for thermal
driving forces and also ascertains that fogging conditions will not be attained in the tower. “ T”
values as low as 2.5°C are feasible for packed bed columns and have been previously demonstrated in
literature (Zhelev and Semkov 2002).

3. Methodology
Application of the contact economizer system in conjunction with the graphical construction of the
dehumidification path line according to Mickley is discussed below, but firstly the basis of this
research is demonstrated. Equation 3 was adopted from previous studies (Madzivhandila, Majozi and
Zhelev, 2009) and represents how the amount of energy available (Qavailable) within the IGCC system
can be used up by the steam path to improve the thermal efficiency as described in that study.

Q =m H −H + mλv + m H sp − H ss
available sl BFW
The 13th Asia Pacific Confederation of APCChE 2010
Chemical Engineering Congress October 5-8, 2010, Taipei

HBFW - enthalpy of the boiler feed water

Hsl - enthalpy of the saturated liquid in the boiler
Hsp - enthalpy of the superheated steam
Hss - enthalpy of the saturated steam
m - maximum boiler feed flowrate
V - latent heat of vaporization of water

Manipulation of equation 3 by replacing V by Hss - Hsl results into equation 4.

Q = mH sp − mH
available BFW

Rearranging equation 4 by writing mHsp as the subject of the formula results in equation 5, the energy
balance of the plant. Stated in words, equation 5 shows that the energy carried by the superheated
steam to the steam turbine (Qsp) is equal to the sum of the energy available within the IGCC system
(Qavailable) and the energy carried by the boiler feed water (mHBFW = QBFW) into the system.

mHsp = Qavailable+ mHBFW = Qsp

Qsp = Qavailable + QBFW

Given that Qavailable is constant, it is evident from equation 5 that an increase in HBFW will result in an
increase in Qsp. An increase in Qsp in turn results in an increase in the overall thermal efficiency
( IGCC) according to equation 6 where WST, the power output of the steam turbine, is given by
equation 7.

WGT + WST
η IGCC =
QCOAL

WST = η ST Q sp

ST - thermal efficiency of the steam turbine

WGT - gas turbine power output
QCOAL - calorific value of coal

The increase in IGCC by increasing Qsp as discussed above is the basis of the application of the contact
economizer system. The application of the aforementioned methodology with reference to Figure 4 is
as follows:

Given the conditions of the GT exhaust:

1. Determine TBFW2 required for a certain increase in IGCC . This can be done by substituting
equations 5 and 7 into equation 6 and writing HBFW in terms TBFW2 .
2. Draw the equilibrium curve on the “HG” vs. “TL” graph.
The 13th Asia Pacific Confederation of APCChE 2010
Chemical Engineering Congress October 5-8, 2010, Taipei

3. Select a “ Tmin” for the column and specify TL2 to be at least “ Tmin” lower than the wet-bulb
temperature (Tw) of the gas to allow for thermal driving forces. At the same time, make sure

Figure 4: Necessary stream data for the application of the contact economizer system

that TL2 is a certain “ T” degrees higher than TBFW2 in step 1 to allow for heat exchange in the
heat exchanger. If there is no feasible “ T” for the heat exchanger (if TBFW2 is greater than TL2 or if
the difference is too small), it is necessary to increase the moisture content of the gas so as to
increase its wet-bulb temperature; hence increasing TL2.
L
4. Specify the circulating water flowrate (L) such that an ratio is between 1.1 and 1.5
G′
(considering a splash fill media is to be maintained in the packed bed column).
5. Draw the operating line using equation 2 and apply Mickley’s graphical technique to
determine the gas dehumidification path as follows:

5.1 Specify TG1 and HG1 such that the gas is still above its condensation point.
− hL
5.2 Choose a starting and apply Mickley’s graphical technique to determine the
kG
dehumidification path.

5.3 Check if the dehumidification path intersects the point (TG , H G ) = (TG1 , H G1 ) in step
5.1 and proceed as follows:
If the dehumidification path intersects the point (TG , H G ) = (TG1 , H G1 ) ,

then the design can be carried out with the specified

− hL ratio.
kG
The 13th Asia Pacific Confederation of APCChE 2010
Chemical Engineering Congress October 5-8, 2010, Taipei

− hL
Otherwise repeat steps 5.2 and 5.3 while changing in step 5.2 until
kG
the dehumidification path intersects the aforementioned point.

4. Case study
The CES was adopted into a heat integrated design of the Elcogas plant obtained from previous
studies (Madzivhandila, Majozi and Zhelev 2009) and shown in Figure 5. Its (CES) application was
on the gas turbine exhaust stream that leads to the stack, sitting at temperature of 90°C. The
composition of the gas turbine exhaust stream was assumed to be the design composition of a typical
IGCC. This stream was assumed to behave like air under these conditions. Consequently, enthalpy
data was obtained from the air-water psychometric chart.
The five step procedure given in section 3 was followed in the application of the CES to increase
the IGCC to 55%.

Figure 5: The heat integrated design of the Elcogas plant.

5. Results and discussion

Figure 5 shows the results of the case study after application of the graphical methodology in
section 3. Mickley’s graphical technique is shown in Figure 5a with the final gas path transposed into
Figure 5b. The temperature (TBFW2 in Figure 4) required to increase IGCC to 55% as discussed in
section 4 was found to be 57.3°C. A TL2 of 59°C at a column Tmin of 3°C after increasing the
moisture content of the GT exhaust to 150 g/kg satisfied the required conditions for step 3 of the
procedure. The Tmin maintained for the heat exchanger was 1.7°C. The outlet gas temperature and
enthalpy (TG1 and H G1 ) where specified to be (64°C, 450kJ/kg) as indicated by the small circles in
The 13th Asia Pacific Confederation of APCChE 2010
Chemical Engineering Congress October 5-8, 2010, Taipei

Figure 5a: Mickley’s graphical technique Figure 5b: Enthalpy-Temperature diagram

indicating the operating line,
equilibrium curve and the final
gas path.

− hL
both Figure 5a and Figure 5b. The corresponding that satisfied the conditions of step 5 of the
ky
procedure was 7.04 kJ/kgK.

6. Conclusion
Application of the CES proved effective in recovering the low potential heat from the GT exhaust
stream in order to improve the IGCC plant’s efficiency. The method used avoids the estimation of the
ratio between the liquid-phase heat transfer and the gas-phase mass transfer. The approach followed
is, however, incapable of obtaining the optimum thermal efficiency due to the monotony of the
function relating the boiler feed water temperature (TBFW2) to the thermal efficiency ( IGCC) of the
IGCC. Optimality can only be claimed if certain boundary conditions to TBFW2 are introduced.

References
1. Madzivhandila V., Majozi T., and Zhelev T. Process integration as an optimization tool in clean
coal technology: A focus on IGCC, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 18, 941-946, 2009.
2. Mickley, H.S., DESIGN OF FORCED DRAFT AIR CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT, Chem.
Engng. Prog., 45, 739-749, 1949.
3. Zhelev T.K, and Semkov K.A., Cleaner flue gas and energy recovery through pinch analysis,
Journal of Cleaner Production, 12, 165-170, 2004.