Patent ID: 8146368
Filing Date: 2012-04-03
Classification: C10G,C10J,C10K,F02C,F05D,Y02E,Y02P

Abstract:
1. A process for smoothing out fluctuating power produced by a power production facility which is subject to wide variability in energy source, said method comprising the steps of: integrating said power production facility with one or more gas turbine-generator sets and a hydrocarbon production facility comprising at least one Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reactor; said hydrocarbon production facility further comprising a gasification unit and a gas purification unit; wherein said gasification unit reacts feedstock, oxygen and steam for producing a substantially constant flow rate of synthesis gas comprising primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide; wherein said gas purification unit removes sulfur and other impurities from said synthesis gas, thereby forming a cleaned synthesis gas; introducing a substantially constant flow rate of a first portion of said cleaned synthesis gas into said at least one FT reactor, thereby forming liquid hydrocarbons, naphtha and a FT tail gas comprising unconverted synthesis gas and gaseous hydrocarbons; operating said at least one FT reactor at decreased reaction rate, while maintaining said substantially constant flow rate of said first portion of said cleaned synthesis gas, thereby causing an increased amount of unconverted synthesis gas to be present in the FT tail gas; fueling a combined cycle power production unit with a second portion of said cleaned synthesis gas to provide a base load requirement; fueling the one or more gas turbine-generator sets with a portion of FT tail gas rich in unconverted synthesis gas to provide base electrical power, thereby smoothing out power production over time.