Integrated air separation boosts power efficiency, cuts emissions in next-gen power plants
The study looked at how the air separation unit (ASU) in a gasification power plant affects efficiency. They found that increasing the pressure in the air compressor can make separating oxygen harder, but it can also improve power generation efficiency. They recommend using 0.85 oxygen purity for the best balance. By integrating the ASU with the gas turbine, the power generation efficiency can be optimized at a certain level of integration. Overall, integrating the ASU with the gas turbine in the power plant can potentially improve efficiency by using waste heat from the turbine.