Advanced Coal Power Cycle with a Stand-Alone Magnetohydrodynamic Generator

Ar egenerative and recirculation-type coal power system is proposed that works at high efficiencies with a stand-alone magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generator under complete CO2 liquefaction. The open-cycle MHD generator is uniquely suited for the proposed cycle because combustion temperatures far exceed the working limits of conventional energy conversion devices due to both high fractional energy recirculation and oxygen combustion required for an efficient CO2 liquefaction process. The MHD exhaust heat is regenerated sequentially through the following three processes: thermochemical coal gasification, high-temperature syngas preheating, and an iodine‐ sulphur water splitting process. The mass and energy balances in each elementary process are calculated on the basis of Gibbs’ energy minimization principle. It is shown that the attainable system efficiency is much higher than either a coal gasification gas turbine combined cycle or a direct coal-fired MHD combined counterpart under the same evaluation criteria.