Controller design for dispatch of IGCC power plants

The Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) possesses a number of benefits over traditional power generation plants, ranging from increased energy conversion efficiency to flex-fuel and carbon capture opportunities. A less known benefit of the IGCC configuration is the ability to load track electricity market demands. The idea being that material storage can be used to time-shift power production away from periods of low power value to periods of high power value. In this work, we present a supervisory control scheme, known as Market Responsive Control (MRC), which has the objective of maximizing revenue for a given level of plant dispatchablity. The design of this controller is achieved by a fairly simple convex optimization problem. The MRC method is then embedded within an equipment design algorithm. This extended algorithm, known as MRC Embedded Equipment Design (MRC-EED), has the objective maximizing Net Present Value (NPV) in an effort to size the storage units as well as the required energy conversion devices. The design options considered in this study focus on hydrogen and compressed air storage as well as ramping abilities of the gasification block. Under the economic assumptions of this study, it is concluded that the NPV of the hydrogen storage option is significant, while that of compressed air is much less favorable. Finally, no scenario could be found in which ramping of the gasification block provided a positive NPV.