Steam is used in a broad range of industrial applications including food processing, drying, fine chemicals production, and pulp & paper. Currently, steam is often generated using natural gas or syngas fired boilers which emit carbon dioxide and other pollutants. In some circumstances, electrification is an attractive approach to the decarbonization of steam production, however, the operating cost can be prohibitively high, and it is unclear when grid infrastructure will support widespread electrification. Carbon capture and storage is an alternative to electrification, but at the low CO2 capture flow rates required for many industrial processes such as steam generation, the costs are prohibitive using conventional post-combustion capture technologies. Pressurized chemical looping combustors (PCLC) firing natural gas or syngas at pressures around 7 bar(g) are being developed as drop-in replacements for conventional package boilers. These PCLC have a compact footprint, generate a pressurized CO2 product that can be cost effectively piped to a centralized purification and compression facility, and generate CO2 requiring minimal purification prior to transportation by pipeline or shipping. These benefits, in addition to thermal efficiencies exceeding best in class package boilers, lead us to believe that PCLC is an excellent technology choice for net zero steam production. This presentation provides the results of flowsheet optimization, performance, and techno-economic analysis of PCLC for generating steam for a typical medium scale industrial application. The analysis includes Monte Carlo process simulation where key operating parameters are varied including fuel conversion, natural gas composition, and minimum approach temperature for key heat exchangers.
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