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The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and a team of five subcontractors (Alstom Power Inc., Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group, Inc., Doosan America ATS, Echogen Power Systems, LLC, and Howden Group Ltd.) will develop process designs for test cases that optimally integrate candidate closed Brayton power cycles using supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2) as the working fluid with oxy/coal-fired SCO2 heaters for comparison with relevant DOE/NETL baseline cases employing steam-Rankine power cycles, and identify technology gaps in the SCO2 Brayton power cycle plants. The team will also develop cost estimates for the SCO2 Brayton cycle power plants coupled with oxy/coal-fired systems for comparison with relevant baseline-case capital costs and associated cost of electricity and identify components whose cost might be reduced by focused R&D.
The EPRI team will develop the first reported design of oxy/coal-fired SCO2 Brayton cycle power plants with the potential to increase efficiency by 3 to 5 percentage points. Furthermore, the work will result in the development of oxy/coal-fired SCO2 heater designs that will be extensions of state-of-the-art steam generator designs. In particular, two different combustion concepts (first-generation atmospheric-pressure oxy-combustion and “transformational” chemical looping combustion) will be integrated with SCO2 power cycles. The work will be of sufficient scope and quality to allow meaningful comparisons of performance and costs with benchmark DOE/NETL baseline cases of coal-fired technologies (with and without CO2 capture) employing the steam-Rankine power cycle. The work will also be used to identify technology and cost gaps that might be reduced by focused R&D and provide the background to assess the value of closing the cost gaps.