Polygeneration with biomass-integrated gasification combined cycle process: Review and prospective

The integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) process is an energy conversion system for concurrent power and chemical production. The key capability of this technology is the synthesis of versatile chemical products from various carbonaceous feed material, such as coal, biomass, and by-products from the petroleum refining process. This flexibility places the IGCC as a viable alternative for conventional Rankine cycles which suffer from inflexibility in response to the volatile electricity market. To date, there are few commercial examples of this technology predominantly due to the high capital cost requirement and operation complexity. However, the economic feasibility of the IGCC could be significantly improved with carbon capture obligations. This is due to its lower carbon capture costs as a result of treating high-pressure and high-concentrated CO2 stream, unlike conventional power generation systems. This paper provides a comprehensive review of polygeneration IGCC process with multiple-feed and multiple-product flexibility. Then process fundamentals are critically reviewed and technological barriers are discussed.