Exergetic, Exergoeconomic and Macroeconomic Analysis of Three Cogenerative Plants Fuelled by Hydrogen and with CO2 Sequestration

This paper presents the proposal of integration of an existent cogenerative gas turbine facility with the pre-combustion conversion of natural gas to hydrogen and CO2 sequestration. Three different configurations have been analyzed: • natural gas conversion by partial oxidation and CO2 chemical absorption from syngas; • natural gas conversion by steam reforming and H2 physical adsorption from syngas; • natural gas conversion by steam reforming and CO2 chemical absorption from syngas. The main thermodynamic quantities and the performances of the plant and of its components have been calculated for each solution by means of a modular code. Then, an exergetic and exergoeconomic analysis and a preliminary economic evaluation of the three solutions have been performed. The paper even summarizes the results of a more complete macroeconomic evaluation, able to take into appropriate consideration environmental aspects, by analyzing the influence of each configuration on the increase of economic benefits induced in the productive system of the Country and on the economic decrease of the Natural Capital due to both polluting effects associated to the productive process and the consumption of natural resources.