Improving gasification economics through ITM oxygen integration

A recent study assessed the impact of ITM Oxygen on economics for IGCC. Compared to a highly-integrated state-of-the-art cryogenic air separation unit (ASU) utilizing an elevated pressure, partially pumped LOX design, the ITM Oxygen plant is projected to decrease the installed specific cost (dollars/m TPD) of air separation equipment by 35%. Such savings decrease the installed capital cost of the overall IGCC facility by 7% from 1,094 dollars/kW to 1.020 dollars/kW, while the efficiency also improves by one percentage point. Another potential application for ITM Oxygen technology comprises a 'decarbonized fuel plant' that produces pure hydrogen from fossil fuels while recovering carbon dioxide for offsite processing or sequestration. An integration study with one of these designs projected that an ITM Oxygen plant would save 25-35% of the installed cost for air separation equipment and more than 4% of the total facility cost, while generating ultra-clean power as a co-product. These results are consistent with ITM Oxygen integration studies performed on other advanced power system designs, and they underscore the expected economic benefits of ITM Oxygen technology. 6 figs., 4 tabs.