In this paper the results of the thermodynamic and economic analyses of large size power plants (450 MWe) and distributed power plants (1.5 MWe) are compared and described. The work is focused on two technologies. The first is the decarbonization of natural gas through a CO2 separation unit, which employs a technology (amine chemical absorption) viable for short-term implementation in real installations. The second one is the CO2 separation from the water exploiting the condensation of the steam. Plant layouts, analyzed in previous open literature works, were taken as references.The plants proposed in this work are eight: three belong to large-scale centralized electricity production while the remaining five belong to distributed power generation.The results were obtained with commercial software PROVISION(r) and WTEMP software, developed by the TPG of the University of Genoa and showed that the thermodynamic and economic impact of the adoption of zero-emission cycle layouts is relevant: advanced alternative technologies, such CO2 separation for steam condensation, are highly desirable to improve plant performance.
