AuxBary Technologies
The oxygen supply to a gasifier is one of the most expensive single parts of any gasification project. Cost estimates for various different IGCC projects put the ASU with its associated compressors at between 10 and 15% of the total plant cost. It also makes a significant contribution to overall operating costs, the power requirement for compression being of the order of magnitude of 5-7% of gross generator output. The arrangement for oxygen supply is one of the most important early decisions in any gasification project.
This decision on oxygen supply is not only technical but to a high degree also commercial. This is because the industrial gas market is dominated by a small number of highly competitive companies who are able not only to build oxygen plants for third parties, but are also willing to build and operate their own plants close to or even on a client’s site and supply oxygen and other gases “over the fence.” In some parts of the world, these companies have their own extended pipeline networks, which can also be integrated into the oxygen supply strategy for a gasification project.