MINLP model for optimizing electricity production from coal-fired power plants considering carbon management

Jorge Cristóbal, Gonzalo Guillén-Gosálbez, Laureano Jiménez and Angel Irabien

Energy Policy, 2012, vol. 51, issue C, 493-501

Abstract: In order to achieve the reduction in greenhouse gases committed in the Kyoto Protocol, countries must establish control policies and encourage industries to reduce their emissions. Two main options arise in a cap and trade framework: (i) buying/selling emission allowances; and (ii) reducing emissions by investing in abatement technologies. In this context, each industry must choose the best strategy considering its particular features. This work proposes a systematic tool to assist decision-makers in the design of coal-fired energy production with carbon management in existing power plants. Our approach relies on a novel mixed integer non-linear program (MINLP) that minimizes the cost of electricity (COE) for a given price of CO2 allowance on the trade market. We demonstrate the capabilities of this MINLP through a case study that addresses the retrofitting of a coal-fired power plant. Results show that the price of the CO2 allowance on the market that effectively induce the investment in carbon capture falls in the range 22–30 $/tCO2eq depending on the quantity of allowances distributed for free. In this solution, carbon capture is accomplished by implementing the oxy-fuel combustion technology (which is preferred to the post-combustion capture using monoethanolamine as solvent).

Keywords: Coal combustion; CO2 cap and trade; Electricity production optimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:51:y:2012:i:c:p:493-501

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.08.055

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