Design of a hydrogen production process for power generation based on a Ca-Cu chemical loop

This work proposes the integration into a NGCC of a novel H2 production process based on a double chemical Ca-Cu loop. This H2 production process is based on the Sorption Enhanced Reforming process including a CaO-based solid as a high temperature CO2 sorbent. The addition of a second CuO/Cu loop provides the energy required to carry out sorbent regeneration. The coupling between this process and a combined cycle is discussed in this paper, and an efficiency assessment of the whole plant is accomplished. 9.5 percentage points of efficiency penalty has resulted from the integration proposed in this work, which is in the range of those penalties reported for the ATR, POX or SEWGS integrated with a combined cycle. Ca-Cu looping performance is prone to be improved if less exigent conditions were chosen, which added to the inherent advantages of cheaper reactor design, feasible solid materials and less process units make the Ca-Cu looping process emerge as a potential pre-combustion CO2 capture technology.