Minimization of life cycle CO2 emissions in the operation of a steam and power plant

Abstract A methodology is presented to minimize the life cycle CO2 emissions through the selection of the operating conditions of a steam and power generation plant. The battery limits of the utility sector are extended to include the CO 2 emissions of the imported electricity generated by nuclear, hydroelectric and thermoelectric plants. In the life cycle context the CO 2 emissions are estimated in the following stages: (i) exploration, extraction and transport of natural gas, oil, coal and uranium consumed in utility, thermoelectric and nuclear plants; (ii) submerged biomass decay in hydroelectric plants and (iii) transport in the construction stage of hydroelectric and nuclear plants. A Mixed Integer Nonlinear programming problem is formulated to select the operating conditions of the utility sector of an ethylene plant in GAMS. Significant reductions in the life cycle CO 2 emissions, imported electricity, natural gas consumption and operating cost are achieved and reported in the numerical results.