THERMODYNAMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF INTEGRATED GASIFICATIONAND METHANOL SYNTHESIS (IGMS) ENERGY-SYSTEMS WITH CO2 REMOVAL

Environmental and technical concerns arise from the extensive utilizat ion of the huge world coal reserves. They can nowadays be overcome onl y resorting to advanced energy conversion technologies. Integrated coa l gasification and methanol synthesis power plants can perform a load- following service, by producing and storing liquid methanol, and reduc e the carbon dioxide emissions, by removing CO2 and disposing it outsi de the atmosphere. In this paper, a comparative performance analysis a mong the different IGMS power plants has been carried out, by evaluati ng the influence of the coal gasification and methanol synthesis techn ologies on the main performance characteristics, such as the methanol production, the specific CO2 emissions and the overall efficiency. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.