Abstract
The present study assesses different lignite-fired plant configurations for combined heat and power (CHP) production for use in district heating (DH) networks, in terms of environmental, technical, and economic criteria. Lignite utilization guarantees reliable and cost-effective base load power generation, as well as competitive district heat supply in several European countries. The predrying technology is expected to play an important role in the next generation of brown coal power plants and, more specifically, the integration of the fluidized bed drying system with internal waste heat utilization (WTA technology) is anticipated to enhance plant efficiency. On the other hand, aged power plants will be decommissioned in the coming years, and a lack of capacity in electricity production and more importantly in district heat production will arise. In this context, a reference CHP plant configuration firing raw lignite is compared with a new plant configuration firing predried lignite produced by dedicated lignite dryer (WTA), integrated into the reference plant. Thermal cycle calculations are performed in both cases for winter and summer operating modes, and the effect of the WTA integration on the overall heat and mass balance of the steam cycle and the corresponding plant efficiency is computed, using a thermal cycle calculation tool. The electricity and thermal energy generation costs as well as the net annual profit are then calculated and compared. The techno-economic evaluation is also extended by including a comparison of these lignite utilization scenarios with a natural gas (NG) utilization scenario of a typical combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) configuration. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of the effect of some mutable critical parameters on the economic indices is presented. The performed calculations indicate that a significant increase of both electrical and thermal efficiencies may be achieved in the predried lignite firing case. Regarding the economic study, predried lignite firing turns out to be a promising technology, which results in considerable fuel and emissions savings and hence increased competitiveness.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
District Heating Company of Kozani/Greece provided useful technical and financial data regarding the DH network operation and the future thermal needs.
References
Agraniotis, M. (2011). “Substitution of coal by alternative and supporting fuels in pulverised fuel boilers towards reduction of CO2 emissions.” Ph.D. thesis, National Technical Univ. of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Agraniotis, M., Karellas, S., Violidakis, I., Doukelis, A., Grammelis, P., and Kakaras, E. (2012a). “Investigation of pre-drying in an existing Greek power plant.” Thermal Sci., 16(1), 283–296.
Agraniotis, M., Koumanakos, A., Doukelis, A., Karellas, S., and Kakaras, E. (2012b). “Investigation of technical and economic aspects of pre-dried lignite utilisation in a modern lignite power plant towards zero CO2 emissions.” Energy, 45(1), 134–141.
Atsonios, K., Violidakis, I., Agraniotis, M., Grammelis, P., Nikolopoulos, N., and Kakaras, E. (2015). “Thermodynamic analysis and comparison of retrofitting pre-drying concepts at existing lignite power plants.” Appl. Thermal Eng., 74, 165–173.
Atsonios, K., Violidakis, I., Sfetsioris, K., Rakopoulos, D. C., Grammelis, P., and Kakaras, E. (2016). “Pre-dried lignite technology implementation in partial load/low demand cases for flexibility enhancement.” Energy, 96, 427–436.
Dechamps, P. (2013). “Update of EU energy and climate policies relevant for power generation.” Int. Conf. on PowerGEN Europe2013, Vienna, Austria.
DHC+ Technology Platform. (2012). “District heating and cooling—A vision towards 2020–2030–2050.” ⟨http://www.euroheat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DHC-Vision-for-DHC-2012.pdf⟩ (Mar. 3, 2016).
Energy Community. (2013). “Study on the need for modernization of large combustion plants in the energy community.” ⟨https://www.energy-community.org/pls/portal/docs/2652179.PDF⟩ (Mar. 3, 2016).
Euracoal. (2013). “Coal industry across Europe.” ⟨https://euracoal.eu/library/publications/⟩ (Mar. 10, 2016).
European Commission. (2011). “Energy roadmap 2050.” ⟨http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_PRES-11-166_en.htm⟩ (May 1, 2016).
European Commission. (2016). “The EU emissions trading system (EU ETS).” Brussels, Belgium.
European Energy Exchange. (2016). ⟨http://www.eex.com⟩, Leipzig, Germany.
European Union. (2001). “Directive 2001/80/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.” ⟨http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32001L0080⟩ (Apr. 4, 2016).
European Union. (2009). “Directive 2009/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.” ⟨http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32009L0029⟩ (Apr. 4, 2016).
European Union. (2010). “Directive 2010/75/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.” ⟨http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32010L0075⟩ (Apr. 4, 2016).
Eurostat. (2016). “Data.” ⟨http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database⟩ (May 16, 2016).
Fübi, M., and Meyer, P. (2013). “Impact of EU energy and climate policies.” Int. Conf. on PowerGEN Europe2013, Vienna, Austria.
GE Power & Water GateCycle. (2014). ⟨https://myfleet.gepower.com/GateCycle/docs/GateCycle/index.html⟩ (Apr. 4, 2016).
Greek Gazette. (2010). “Greek ministry of energy, environment and climate change.” ⟨http://www.ypeka.gr/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=8vdbmRqgrPs%3d&tabid=508&language=el-GR⟩ (Mar. 7, 2016).
Greek Gazette. (2014). “Greek ministry of energy, environment and climate change.” ⟨http://www.ypeka.gr/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=hL%2fXuG%2b4%2bho%3d&tabid=555&language=el-GR⟩ (Mar. 7, 2016).
IEA (International Energy Agency). (2009). “World energy outlook 2009.” ⟨http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/media/weowebsite/2009/WEO2009.pdf⟩ (Mar. 3, 2016).
Independent Power Transmission Operator of Greece. (2016). “Market Data.” ⟨http://www.admie.gr/en/operations-data/electricity-power-market-participation/market-data/⟩ (May 16, 2016).
Kakaras, E., Ahladas, P., and Syrmopoulos, S. (2002). “Computer simulation studies for the integration of an external dryer into a Greek lignite fired power plant.” Fuel, 81(5), 583–593.
Kakaras, E., Koumanakos, A., Doukelis, A., and Giannakopoulos, D. (2007a). “Ultra-supercritical power plant fired with low quality Greek lignite.” 20th Int. Conf. on ECOS 2007, Univ. of Padova, Padova, Italy, 509–515.
Kakaras, E., Koumanakos, A., Doukelis, A., Giannakopoulos, D., and Vorrias, I. (2007b). “Oxy fuel boiler design in a lignite-fired power plant.” Fuel, 86(14), 2144–2150.
Klaassen, R. E., and Patel, M. K. (2013). “District heating in the Netherlands today: A techno-economic assessment for NGCC-CHP (natural gas combined cycle-combined heat and power).” Energy, 54, 63–73.
Klebes, J., Murato, H., and Joormann, M. (2014). “Development steps to the new 110 MW gas turbine for retrofit and decentralised cogeneration plants.” VGB PowerTech, Essen, Germany.
Klutz, H. J., Moser, C., and Block, D. (2006). “WTA-Feintrocknung, Baustein fuer die Braunkohlekraftwerke der Zukunft.” VGB PowerTech, Essen, Germany.
Kruczek, H. P., Lichota, J., and Plutecki, Z. (2011). “Efficiency of brown coal dryer depending on drying method.” 36th Int. Technical Conf. on Clean Coal & Fuel Systems, Coal Technologies Associates, Louisa, VA, 1023–1031.
Kyritsis, D. C., Rakopoulos, C. D., and Rakopoulos, D. C. (2015). “Special issue on contemporary combustion experimentation and modeling for clean and efficient power generation: Issues and challenges.” J. Energy Eng.,.
Liao, C., Ertesvag, I. S., and Zhao, J. (2013). “Energetic and exergetic efficiencies of coal-fired CHP (combined heat and power) plants used in district heating systems of China.” Energy, 57, 671–681.
Margaritis, N., Rakopoulos, D., Mylona, E., and Grammelis, P. (2014). “Introduction of renewable energy sources in the district heating system of Greece.” Int. J. Sustain. Energy Plann. Manage., 4, 43–56.
Noussan, M., Abdin, G. C., Poggio, A., and Roberto, R. (2014). “Biomass-fired CHP and heat storage system simulations in existing district heating systems.” Appl. Thermal Eng., 71(2), 729–735.
Parajuli, R., Lokke, S., Ostergaard, P. A., Knudsen, M. T., Schmidt, J. H., and Dalgaard, T. (2014). “Life cycle assessment of district heat production in a straw fired CHP plant.” Biomass Bioenergy, 68, 115–134.
Prando, D., Renzi, M., Gasparella, A., and Baratieri, M. (2015). “Monitoring of the energy performance of a district heating CHP plant based on biomass boiler and ORC generator.” Appl. Thermal Eng., 79, 98–107.
Public Power Corporation S.A.-Hellas. (2014). “Booz study for lignite excavation cost.” ⟨https://www.dei.gr/en/anakoinwseis/xrimatistiriaka-etairikes-prakseis-katavoli-merismatos-ka/xrimatistiriakes-anakoinwseis-2014/parousiasi-apotelesmaton-meletis⟩ (May 16, 2016).
Rakopoulos, C. D., Kakaras, E. C., Kyritsis, D. C., and Rakopoulos, D. C. (2016). “Advanced combustion and fuel technologies for economical and environmentally friendly power generation in engines and power plants: Issues and challenges.” J. Energy Eng.,.
Rupprecht, T., and Fielenbach, C. (2011). “Efficiency and flexibility and techno-economical challenges for pre-dried lignite fired power plants.” Int. Conf. on PowerGEN 2011, Milan, Italy.
Sartor, K., Quoilin, S., and Dewallef, P. (2014). “Simulation and optimization of a CHP biomass plant and district heating network.” Appl. Energy, 130, 474–483.
Schwendig, F., Klutz, H. J., and Ewers, J. (2006). “Das Trockenbraunkohle befeuerte Kraftwerk.” VGB PowerTech, Essen, Germany.
Stamatelopoulos, G. N. (2007). “WTA offers big efficiency gains.” Modern Power Syst., 27(12), 17–21.
Storm, C., Hamel, S., Goordon, P., and Bauthier, T. (2013). “Retrofit of rodenhuize-4 power station: The max green and cold back-up-projects.” Int. Conf. on PowerGEN Europe2013, Vienna, Austria.
Sun, F., Fu, L., Sun, J., and Zhang, S. (2014). “A new waste heat district heating system with combined heat and power (CHP) based on ejector heat exchangers and absorption heat pumps.” Energy, 69, 516–524.
Torchio, M. F. (2015). “Comparison of district heating CHP and distributed generation CHP with energy, environmental and economic criteria for northern Italy.” Energy Convers. Manage., 92, 114–128.
Tveit, T.-M., Savola, T., Gebremedhin, A., and Fogelholm, C.-J. (2009). “Multi-period MINLP model for optimising operation and structural changes to CHP plants in district heating networks with long-term thermal storage.” Energy Convers. Manage., 50(3), 639–647.
U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2011). “Annual energy outlook 2011.” ⟨http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=1110⟩ (Apr. 04, 2016).
Wang, H., Yin, W., Abdollahi, E., Lahdelma, R., and Jiao, W. (2015a). “Modelling and optimization of CHP based district heating system with renewable energy production and energy storage.” Appl. Energy, 159, 401–421.
Wilde, M. (2013). “European Union policies and strategies related to the use of coal—Support for clean coal and CCS technologies.” 6th Int. Conf. on Clean Coal Technologies—CCT2013, IEA Clean Coal Centre, London.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 4 • August 2017
Copyright
©2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 2, 2016
Accepted: Aug 31, 2016
Published online: Nov 14, 2016
Discussion open until: Apr 14, 2017
Published in print: Aug 1, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.