(597b) Conceptual Design of a Novel Industrial Complex for Simultaneous Production of Electricity, Urea, and LNG with Extremely Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Natural gas, as the fastest growing primary energy and raw material resource, has been widely used in the chemical/petrochemical, residential, power generation, commercial, and transportation sectors in recent decades. To satisfy the globally increasing demand of clean power and fertilizer productions with the growing concerns of both industrial and environmental sustainability, the use of natural gas in large-scale manufacturing systems should be further investigated. In this regard, a new conceptual design of an industrial complex, namely the A³UL complex, has been developed, simulated, and evaluated in this paper. The complex optimally integrates energy, power, and materials among five subsystems, including an Allam-cycle power plant (ACPP), an air separation plant (ASP), an ammonia production plant (APP), a urea production plant (UPP), and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) production plant (LPP). The A³UL complex takes natural gas and air as the main feedstock to simultaneously produce electricity, LNG, urea, plus valuable byproducts such as high-purity carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and steam. In the meantime, the complex completely avoids nitrogen oxides emission and significantly reduces carbon dioxide emission, as compared with traditional productions of the above products. The operating feasibility and economic attractiveness of the complex have been virtually validated through rigorous modeling and simulation. The simulation results show that the overall revenue of the A³UL complex will reach at least $43 per Mcf of natural gas utilization, which is much higher than any stand-alone process for power generation, urea production, or LNG production. The developed conceptual industrial complex can support the development of solutions for monetizing natural gas resources effectively, efficiently, and environmentally friendly.