Thermodynamic analysis and economic evaluation of a 1000 MW bituminous coal fired power plant incorporating low-temperature pre-drying (LTPD)

Cheng Xu, Gang Xu, Mingming Zhu, W. Dong, Yang Zhang, Y. Yang, Dongke Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Low-temperature pre-drying (LTPD) of lignite has been identified as an effective approach to improve the efficiency of lignite fired power plants. In this study, an improved concept for the pre-drying of medium moisture bituminous coals using flue gas waste heat was proposed and its feasibility was assessed. In the proposed configuration, the boiler exhaust flue gas is drawn to dryers to heat and pre-dry the raw coal, removing a large proportion of the coal moisture and leading to an improvement in the energy efficiency of the power plant. Thermodynamic analysis and economic evaluation were performed based on a typical 1000 MW bituminous coal fired power plant incorporating the proposed LTPD concept. The results showed that the net power plant efficiency gain is as much as 0.4 percentage point with additional net power output of 9.3 MW as compared to the reference plant without coal pre-drying. This was attributed to the reduction in the moisture content from 10.3 to 2.7 wt%. The additional net economic benefit attained due to the coal pre-drying was estimated to reach $1.91 M per year. This work provides a broadly applicable and economically feasible approach to further improve the energy efficiency of power plants firing coals with medium moisture contents.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)613-622
Number of pages10
JournalApplied Thermal Engineering
Volume96
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Mar 2016

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Thermodynamic analysis and economic evaluation of a 1000 MW bituminous coal fired power plant incorporating low-temperature pre-drying (LTPD)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this