George Booras - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by George Booras

Energy, Nov 1, 1991

The feasibility of significantly reducing carbon dioxide (C@) emissions from fossil-fuel-fired po... more The feasibility of significantly reducing carbon dioxide (C@) emissions from fossil-fuel-fired power plants has recently been investigated by Fluor Daniel for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). The evaluation assessed the incremental cost and performance impact of reducing C@ emissions by nominaIly 90% for a pulverized coal-fired (PC) power plant and a coal-gasification-combined-cycle (GCC) power plant. The study demonstrated that, although removal, recovery, and disposal of C@ is technically feasible, it is an expensive method of reducing this greenhouse gas emission. Based on the costs developed in the EPRI/IEA study, its full-scale implementation would result in increasing the cost of coal-fired power by factors of up to 2.6 and 1.7 for PC and GCC plants, respectively.

The capital cost of a coal-based power plant contributes over 50% to the busbar cost of electrici... more The capital cost of a coal-based power plant contributes over 50% to the busbar cost of electricity. For new coal-based power plants to be competitive, it is imperative that the capital cost be reduced. Additionally, they must have excellent environmental performance and high cycle efficiency. One of the most cost-competitive, coal-based power plant technologies is believed to be an air-blown, combined cycle incorporating a partial gasifier and pressurized char combustor. These two coal-conversion stages provide fuel gas and vitiated air to fire a combustion turbine. To protect the turbine from particle erosion damage, all the dust must be removed from the two hot gas streams. This operation involves high-temperature, high-pressure (HTHP) filtration, a technology currently under development at several locations funded by the Department of Energy. One of these locations is the Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) at Wilsonville, Alabama. At this same site two potential air-blown...

Coal Science and Technology, 1993

1. Abstract Results of an EPRI engineering and economic study confirm that pressurized fluidized ... more 1. Abstract Results of an EPRI engineering and economic study confirm that pressurized fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) power plants have lower capital costs than other advanced fossil technologies. The operating costs are shown to be sensitive to coal properties, particularly the sulfur content. Lower sulfur content coals result in lower sorbent and ash disposal costs and a correspondingly lower cost of electricity. These sensitivity studies indicate that for medium to low sulfur coals the levelized cost of electricity from PFBC power plants is lower than from integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants. Even though a low sulfur coal potentially offers the lowest cost of electricity, if it has to be transported any distance it may be more economic to use a local high sulfur coal. To test this hypothesis, costing were carried out for a utility-scale bubbling PFBC power plant located somewhere in the tri-state region of Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana. The cost of electricity was determined for a local high sulfur bituminous coal and three low sulfur coals, two Appalachian bituminous coals, and a Wyoming subbituminous coal. The resulting costs of electricity were very similar. The closer the plant is to the low sulfur coal producing regions the less economically attractive will be the high sulfur coal. Means of making the high sulfur coal more competitive are discussed.

Clearwater Clean Energy Conference 2022

Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), Mar 29, 2021

Understanding the costs of carbon capture and storage (CCS) is essential to understand the role f... more Understanding the costs of carbon capture and storage (CCS) is essential to understand the role for and potential of CCS technology in addressing climate change, for guidance in research activities aiming to reduce the cost and improve the performance of promising new CCS technologies in different applications. In practice, however, there are many challenges in establishing reliable cost estimates for CCS technologies. To help identify and overcome these challenges, a group of experts from industry, government, academia and other organisations came together in 2011 to form the CCS Cost Network (which came under the aegis of IEAGHG in 2017 [1]). Following discussions at the first CCS Cost Network workshop [1], several members of the workshop steering committee formed a task force to focus on the basic structure of CCS cost estimates. That effort produced a White Paper entitled, "Toward a Common Method of Cost Estimation for CCS at Fossil Fuel Power Plants" [2]. This white paper aimed at overcoming identified pitfalls in CCS cost evaluations for fossil fuel power plants arising from the different methodologies used by various organisations. Towards this aim, the white paper established a common costing methodology and nomenclature, as well as guidelines for CCS cost reporting to improve the clarity and consistency of cost estimates for greenhouse gas mitigation measures. While that work laid the foundation for establishing a common costing methodology for CCS, several important cost issues still remained to be addressed. Building on that earlier work and the interest from additional organisations, the current white paper is an effort to draw up a complementary set of CCS costing guidelines in three complementary areas where further guidelines and better practices are needed, and where efforts are underway to address those topics. This effort is a collaboration among researchers at several industrial research institutes (Electric

The Clearwater Clean Energy Conference, Clearwater, FL, August 1-4, 2022

Project Objectives ▪ Qualify coal, biomass, and plastic waste blends based on performance testing... more Project Objectives ▪ Qualify coal, biomass, and plastic waste blends based on performance testing of selected pellet recipes in a laboratory-scale updraft moving-bed gasifier ▪ Testing will provide relevant data to advance the commercial-scale design of the moving-bed gasifier to use these feedstocks to produce hydrogen ▪ Effects of the waste plastics on feedstock preparation (i.e., blending and pelletizing) and the resulting products (i.e., syngas compositions, organic condensate production, and ash characteristics) will be a focus

An evaluation of the performance and costs for a Texaco-based integrated gasification combined cy... more An evaluation of the performance and costs for a Texaco-based integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant as compared to a conventional pulverized coal-fired steam (PCFS) power plant with flue gas desulfurization (FGD) is provided. A general set of groundrules was used within which each plant design was optimized. The study incorporated numerous sensitivity cases along with up-to-date operating and cost data obtained through participation of equipment vendors and process developers. Consequently, the IGCC designs presented in this study use the most recent data available from Texaco's ongoing international coal gasification development program and General Electric's continuing gas turbine development efforts. The Texaco-based IGCC has advantages over the conventional PCFS technology with regard to environmental emissions and natural resource requirements. SOâ, NOx, and particulate emissions are lower. Land area and water requirements are less for IGCC concepts....

The potential for carbon capture, utilization, and storage to help mitigate the effects of carbon... more The potential for carbon capture, utilization, and storage to help mitigate the effects of carbon emissions from power plants on the global climate has resulted in a boom in technology research and development in the area. Stakeholders outside of the R&D community include the financial, government, environmental, and electric utility sectors. Due to the exponential increase in the development of carbon capture technologies over the last decade, it has become increasingly important to differentiate the technologies. One metric that is commonly used is the cost of those technologies. In this paper, we present an approach to using different cost estimating methods and analysis based on a metric of Technology Readiness Level (TRL). TRL offers a convenient and consistent way to rank a technology’s stage of development from initial concept to commercial launch. In some cases, for early-stage technologies with low TRL, a rigorous cost estimating methodology may not be as meaningful or usef...

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2013

In response to concerns over the possible effects of fossil fuel based CO 2 emissions on global c... more In response to concerns over the possible effects of fossil fuel based CO 2 emissions on global climate several studies have been conducted over the past 15 years on the costs of CO 2 capture from various power plant technologies. Most studies concluded that the costs of pre-combustion CO 2 capture from syngas in an IGCC plant was much lower than post combustion removal from Pulverized Coal (PC) or Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) plants. While this remains true for bituminous coals the costs of CO 2 removal do vary significantly between the various coal gasification technologies and the advantage in capture costs over PC plants will depend very much on the gasification technology selected. The IGCC studies surveyed in this paper cover the main gasification technologies offered by ChevronTexaco, Shell and ConocoPhillips (E Gas) as evaluated by several different engineering companies. For CO 2 capture there is a distinct advantage for gasification operation at high-pressure 55-69 ba...

Cost estimates for subcritical, supercritical and ultrasupercritical pulverized coal (PC) plants ... more Cost estimates for subcritical, supercritical and ultrasupercritical pulverized coal (PC) plants are presented for representative US bituminous coals and compared with IGCC technologies. The basis of the designs are discussed, including the difference between the US and European definitions of efficiency and calculation methods. The build up of the various components of the Total Capital Requirement (TCR) are shown and the effects of different assumptions regarding the additional Owners costs (OC) on the Cost of Electricity (COE) for each technology are addressed. The results show that the Total Plant Cost (TPC) for IGCC is slightly higher than PC when designed for 90 % equivalent availability and at the current state of development IGCC probably requires more staff than PC. There are also additional cost elements and higher perceived risk factors for IGCC that can affect the project development schedule and financing charges and increase the Owners Costs to a greater extent than fo...

This paper presents the results of four detailed system and economic studies of an Integrated Gas... more This paper presents the results of four detailed system and economic studies of an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant based on the Transport Gasifier technology. Southern Company is developing the Transport Gasifier and related systems for commercial application in the power industry in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Kellogg, Brown and Root, Inc. (KBR). At the engineering-scale Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) in Wilsonville, AL, several coals have been successfully gasified in both oxygen-blown and air-blown operation of the Transport Gasifier. To guide future tests and commercialization of the technologies at the PSDF, a series of conceptual commercial plant designs have been completed in partnership with the DOE and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Four Transport Gasifier combined cycle cases have been developed to investigate the relative costs and benefits of oxygen-blown or air-blown gasification and of stack gas...

This paper presents the results of two detailed system and economic studies of an Integrated Gasi... more This paper presents the results of two detailed system and economic studies of an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant based on air-blown and oxygen-blown Transport Gasifier technology with carbon dioxide (CO2) capture. An earlier paper described four cases where gas cleanup with respect to trace metals, sulfur and mercury was the subject of investigation. Southern Company is developing the Transport Gasifier and related systems for commercial application in the power industry in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Kellogg, Brown and Root, Inc. (KBR). At the engineering-scale Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) in Wilsonville, AL, several coals have been successfully gasified in both oxygen-blown and air-blown operation of the Transport Gasifier. To guide future tests and commercialization of the technologies at the PSDF, a series of conceptual commercial plant designs have been completed in partnership with the DOE and the Electric Power Re...

Social Science Research Network, 2021

Uncertainty analysis is a key element of sound techno-economic analysis (TEA) of CO2 capture and ... more Uncertainty analysis is a key element of sound techno-economic analysis (TEA) of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technologies and systems, and in the communication of TEA results. Many CCS technologies are novel concepts, that are still in the early (pre-commercial) stages of development. Therefore, uncertainties in their technology performance and cost are often substantial, making it imperative that they be characterized, and their impacts reported. Although uncertainty analysis itself is not novel, with some methods already frequently used by the CCS TEA community, a document that provides a comprehensive overview of methods and approaches, as well as guidance on their selection and use, is still lacking. Given its importance, we seek to fill this gap by providing a critical review of uncertainty analysis methods along with guidance on the selection and use of these methods for CCS TEAs, highlighting good practice and examples from the CCS literature. There are many opportunities t...

Power, 2005

Skyrocketing natural gas prices have rekindled utilities' interest in building new coal-fired... more Skyrocketing natural gas prices have rekindled utilities' interest in building new coal-fired capacity. The challenge this poses for system planners is to develop the myriad alternative cost estimates required by regulators and internal financing decision-makers. EPRI has developed a comprehensive and consistent approach to coal-plant cost assessment as well as two cost-estimatinq computer programs to implement it.