Yuan Jiang

Techno-Economic Studies of Coal-Biomass to Liquids (CBTL) Plants with CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS)

In this project, indirect, direct, and hybrid liquefaction routes are investigated for production of transportation fuels from coal and biomass. Addition of biomass and application of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies are studied for reducing the carbon footprint. Due to easy availability and low cost of the shale gas in the U.S., utilization of shale gas in the direct and hybrid routes was investigated for producing hydrogen at a lower cost with reduced CO2 emission in comparison to the traditional coal gasification route. Because the quality of the syncrude produced from ICL and DCL technologies vary widely, the hybrid coal liquefaction technology, a synergistic combination of ICL and DCL technologies, is investigated for reducing the penalty of downstream syncrude upgrading unit through optimal blending. Significant amount of CO2 that is generated in the hydrogen production unit(s) is captured to satisfy the target extent of CO2 capture. Different CCS technologies are considered and optimized for the indirect, direct and hybrid CBTL plant depending on the sources of CO2 containing stream and corresponding CO2 partial pressure. High fidelity process models are developed for indirect, direct, and hybrid CBTL plants with CCS. These models are leveraged to perform comprehensive techno-economic studies. Contributions of this project are as follows: (1) development of the systems-level and equipment-level process models and rigorous economic models in Aspen Plus, Aspen Custom Modeler, Aspen Exchanger Design and Rating, and Aspen Process Economic Analyzer platforms, (2) sensitivity studies to analyze the impact of key design parameters (i.e. biomass/coal ratio, operating conditions of key equipment, extent of CCS, CCS technologies, blending ratio of the syncrude and products in the hybrid route) and investment parameters (i.e. price of coal and biomass, project life, plant contingency and plant capacity) on key efficiency measures, such as thermal and carbon efficiency, as well as economic measures, such as the net present value, internal rate of return and break-even oil price, (3) comparisons and analyses of trade-offs of indirect, direct, and hybrid CBTL technologies. 

• Mevawala C, Jiang Y, Bhattacharyya D, “Techno-Economic Optimization of Shale Gas to Dimethyl Ether Production Processes via Direct and Indirect Synthesis Routes”,  Applied Energy, 238, 119-134, 2019 

• Jiang Y, Liese E, Zitney S , Bhattacharyya D, “Design and Dynamic Modeling of Printed Circuit Heat Exchangers for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Brayton Power Cycles”, Applied Energy, 231, 1019-1032, 2018 

• Jiang Y, Liese E, Zitney S , Bhattacharyya D, “Optimal Design of Microtube Recuperators for an Indirect Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Recompression Closed Brayton Cycle”, Applied Energy, 216, 634-648, 2018 

• Jiang Y, Bhattacharyya D, “Techno-Economic Analysis of Direct Coal-Biomass to Liquids (CBTL) Plants with Shale Gas Utilization and CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS)”, Applied Energy, 189, 433-448, 2017 

• Liu W, Wang J, Bhattacharyya D , Jiang Y, DeVallance D, “Economic and Environmental Analyses of Coal and Biomass to Liquid Fuels”, Energy, 141, 76-86, 2017 

• Mevawala C, Jiang Y, Bhattacharyya D, “Plant-Wide Modeling and Analysis of the Shale Gas to Dimethyl Ether (DME) Process via Direct and Indirect Synthesis Routes”, Applied Energy, 204, 163-180, 2017 

• Jiang Y, Bhattacharyya D, “Process Modeling of Direct Coal-Biomass to Liquids (CBTL) Plants with Shale Gas Utilization and CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS)”, Applied Energy,  183, 1616-1632, 2016 

• Jiang Y, Bhattacharyya D, “Techno-Economic Analysis of a Novel Indirect Coal-Biomass to Liquids Plant Integrated with a Combined Cycle Plant and CO2 Capture and Storage”, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 55, 1677-1689, 2016 

• Jiang Y, Bhattacharyya D, “Modeling and Analysis of an Indirect Coal-Biomass to Liquids Plant Integrated with a Combined Cycle Plant and CO2 Capture and Storage”, Energy & Fuels, 29, 5434-5451, 2015

• Jiang, Y, and Bhattacharyya, D., Plant-wide modeling of an indirect coal-biomass to liquids (CBTL) plant with CO2 capture and storage (CCS), International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2014, 31, 1-15

• Jiang Y, Bhattacharyya D, “Sustainable Engineering Economic and Profitability Analysis”, Chapter 6 in “Sustainability in the Analysis, Synthesis, and Design of Chemical Processes”, Ed.  G. Ruiz-Mercado and H. Cabezas, 2016, Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands 

• Jiang Y, Bhattacharyya D, “Mathematical Modeling and Optimization of Commercial-Scale Catalytic Two-Stage Ebullated-Bed, Direct Coal Liquefaction Reactors”, Paper 417b, AIChE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, October 29-November 3, 2017 

• Jiang Y, Liese E A, Zitney S E, Bhattacharyya D, “Optimal Design and Dynamic Modeling of Microtube Recuperators in an Indirect Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Recompression Brayton Power Cycle”, Paper 547f, AIChE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, October 29-November 3, 2017 

• Jiang Y, Bhattacharyya D, “Techno-Economic Analysis of Indirect, Direct, and Hybrid Coal-Biomass to Liquids (CBTL) Plants with CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS)”, Paper 564e, AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 13-18, 2016

• Jiang Y, Bhattacharyya D, “Techno-Economic Analysis of Direct Coal-Biomass to Liquids (CBTL) Plants with Shale Gas Utilization and CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS)”, Paper 66c, AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 13-18, 2016

• Jiang, Y and Bhattacharyya, D., Modeling of an indirect coal-biomass to Liquids (CBTL) plant with CO2 capture and storage (CCS), Paper 249b, AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, November 16-21, 2014 

• Jiang, Y and Bhattacharyya, D., Techno-economic Analysis of a novel indirect coal-biomass to liquids (CBTL) plant integrated with a combined cycle plant and CO2 capture and storage (CCS), Paper 366a, AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, November 16-21, 2014

• Jiang, Y and Bhattacharyya, D., Plant-Wide Modeling of an Indirect Coal-Biomass to Liquids (CBTL) Plant with CO2 Capture and Utilization Integrated with a Combined Cycle Plant, Paper 410a, AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 3-8, 2013