Inzynieria Chemiczna i Procesowa, Vol.26, No.4, 717-726, 2005
Analysis and discussion of the perspectives related to the application of tri-reforming to gas turbine-based powerplants for the reduction of CO2 emissions
A recently proposed process for natural gas reforming, called tri-reforming, seems to have interesting chances for succeeding when applied to powerplants as a measure for containing CO2 emissions. The exhausts of fossil fuelled powerplants are mixtures of N-2, CO2, H2O and O-2, where CO2 appears in very low concentrations, especially in gas turbine cycles (5-7 vol., %). Thus, its capture is a highly energy demanding operation. The possibility of using the exhausts directly for converting a fraction or the whole of combustion produced CO2 to a fuel (syngas) with a relatively high hydrogen content to replace a fraction of primary natural gas (Or either any other fossil fuel) was investigated. The use of high-temperature gas turbine exhausts for the endothermic tri-reforming reactions represents an interesting option to partially satisfy a rather high energy demand of the process. On the other hand, given the typically high excess air, the exhausts are largely diluted in nitrogen, which is a drawback for the effectiveness of conversion reactions. The possibility of applying tri-reforming directly to the primary fuel decarbonisation was investigated and compared to previously proposed solutions with standard air reforming, such as auto thermal reforming.