Reforming natural gas for CO2 pre-combustion capture in combined cycle power plant

The aim of this study is to assess the conversion of a natural gas combined cycle power plant (NGCC) using an advanced gas turbine (GE9H) for CO2 pre-combustion capture. The natural gas is reformed in an auto-thermal reformer (ATR) either with pure oxygen or with air. After water-shift conversion of CO into CO2 and physical CO2 recovery, the synthesis gas contains a high fraction of H2. It is diluted with N2 and steam to lower its low heating value (LHV) for NOX emission control. Oxygen purity and reforming pressure have little impact on the performances. High-pressure reforming is preferred to reduce the process size. Air reforming results in a slightly higher efficiency but in a bigger process too. The CO2 recovery rate has a big impact on the power plant efficiency since a lot of steam is required to lower the heating value (LHV) of the synthesis gas leaving the recovery process. Two values of LHV have been assessed. Steam consumption for natural gas reforming and synthesis gas dilution are the main consuming elements.