skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Thermal energy storage for integrated gasification combined-cycle power plants

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6624383· OSTI ID:6624383

There are increasingly strong indications that the United States will face widespread electrical power generating capacity constraints in the 1990s; most regions of the country could experience capacity shortages by the year 2000. The demand for new generating capacity occurs at a time when there is increasing emphasis on environmental concerns. The integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) power plant is an example of an advanced coal-fired technology that will soon be commercially available. The IGCC concept has proved to be efficient and cost-effective while meeting all current environmental regulations on emissions; however, the operating characteristics of the IGCC system have limited it to base load applications. The integration of thermal energy storage (TES) into an IGCC plant would allow it to meet cyclic loads while avoiding undesirable operating characteristics such as poor turn-down capability, impaired part-load performance, and long startup times. In an IGCC plant with TES, a continuously operated gasifier supplies medium-Btu fuel gas to a continuously operated gas turbine. The thermal energy from the fuel gas coolers and the gas turbine exhaust is stored as sensible heat in molten nitrate salt; heat is extracted during peak demand periods to produce electric power in a Rankine steam power cycle. The study documented in this report was conducted by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) and consists of a review of the technical and economic feasibility of using TES in an IGCC power plant to produce intermediate and peak load power. The study was done for the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Storage and Distribution. 11 refs., 5 figs., 18 tabs.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/CE
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
6624383
Report Number(s):
PNL-7403; ON: DE90016666
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English