Alqaheem Yousef, Alswaileh Fajer
Petroleum Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait.
Membranes (Basel). 2021 Mar 17;11(3):211. doi: 10.3390/membranes11030211.
Power plants are considered as the major source of carbon dioxide pollution in Kuwait. The gas is released from the combustion of fuel with air to convert water into steam. It has been proven that the use of enriched oxygen can reduce fuel consumption and minimize emissions. In this study, UniSim (Honeywell, Charlotte, NC, USA) was used to estimate the fuel savings and carbon dioxide emissions of the largest power plant in Kuwait (Alzour). Results showed that at 30 mol% oxygen, the fuel consumption was lowered by 8%, with a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 3524 tons per day. An economic analysis was performed on the use of a membrane unit to produce 30 mol% oxygen. At current market prices, the unit is not economical. However, the system can achieve a payback duration of 3 years if natural gas price increases to USD 6.74 or the compressor cost decreases to USD 52 per kW. Currently, the research and development sector is targeting a membrane fabrication cost of less than USD 10 per m to make the membrane process more attractive.
发电厂被视为科威特二氧化碳污染的主要来源。这种气体是燃料与空气燃烧以将水转化为蒸汽的过程中释放出来的。事实证明，使用富氧可以减少燃料消耗并将排放降至最低。在本研究中，使用UniSim（美国北卡罗来纳州夏洛特市霍尼韦尔公司）来估算科威特最大的发电厂（阿尔祖尔发电厂）的燃料节省量和二氧化碳排放量。结果表明，在氧气含量为30摩尔%时，燃料消耗降低了8%，二氧化碳排放量每天减少3524吨。对使用膜装置生产30摩尔%氧气进行了经济分析。按当前市场价格，该装置不经济。然而，如果天然气价格上涨至6.74美元或压缩机成本降至每千瓦52美元，该系统可实现3年的投资回收期。目前，研发部门的目标是使膜制造成本低于每平方米10美元，以使膜工艺更具吸引力。
