Coal-to-Liquids (CTL)
[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]
Synthesis Energy Systems Enters JV with YIMA for Coal Gasification in China; Financing Key, as SES Halts Synthetic Gasoline Project in US
October 26, 2008
Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. (SES), a gasification company, entered into a primary joint venture agreement with YIMA Coal Croup, a China integrated coal company, for the development of a coal gasification plant which will provide syngas feedstock for the downstream production of transportation fuels and chemicals intermediates in Henan Province, China. The joint venture agreement includes a provision whereby YIMA will guarantee the debt financing for the Plant. SES expects this guarantee will allow debt financing to be obtained from domestic Chinese banking sources.
SES also announced that it and its partner CONSOL Energy stopped funding the front-end engineering design package for the Benwood, West Virginia synthetic gasoline project announced earlier this year (earlier post) “due to the difficult financial environment.” With the lack of advancement of the project, the joint development agreement between SES and CONSOL expired according to its terms.
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Researchers Propose Dual-Bed Configuration to Increase Efficiency and Reduce Emissions from Coal Gasification
October 16, 2008
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| Scheme of the gasification process with air using two reactors. Click to enlarge. Credit: ACS |
Researchers in Italy are proposing a new dual-bed configuration for coal gasification that, in laboratory simulations of Coal-to-Liquids production, is 71.1% more energy efficient; increases the mass yield of synthetic fuel by 39.4%; and releases 31.9% less CO2 than conventional gasification.
Applied for power generation, the dual bed configuration increases plant efficiency by 27.9% and decreases CO2 emissions decrease by 21.8%, compared to a conventional IGCC process. A paper on their work is scheduled for the 19 November issue of the ACS journal Energy & Fuels.
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RAND Study Concludes Oil Sands Synthetic Crude Can Be Cost-Competitive with Conventional Petroleum Even Over a Wide Range of CO2 Prices
October 12, 2008
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| Estimated unit costs of SCO from steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) with upgrading, with and without CCS, and of conventional crude oil in 2025, versus different costs of CO2 emissions. Click to enlarge. Source: RAND |
A new report from RAND concludes that in 2025, synthetic crude oil (SCO) produced from oil sands can have a cost advantage over conventional petroleum at a wide range of CO2 prices, even though it is more CO2-intensive (15-20% on a life-cycle basis). Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) transportation fuels can also be cost-competitive with conventional petroleum, although the degree of cost-competitiveness is more sensitive to the price of oil and the CO2 emission cost, the report says. CTL fuels can be approximately twice as CO2-intensive on a full life-cycle basis as conventional petroleum fuels.
Current methods for oil sands production require large quantities of water and can harm local water quality, the report notes. Development of oil sands can also cause large-scale disturbances of land and habitat. Both resources also represent potentially significant sources of carbon dioxide emissions. The study was funded by the National Commission on Energy Policy.
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Synthesis Energy Systems Options Up to 15 Methanol-to-Gasoline Technology Licenses for Coal-to-Gasoline Projects
September 29, 2008
Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. (SES), a gasification company, has entered into an agreement with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company that provides SES the option to execute up to 15 Methanol-to-Gasoline (MTG) technology (earlier post) licenses at its U-GAS coal gasification plants globally.
MTG is one of several pathways for converting syngas to transportation fuels, the Fischer-Tropsch process being another. The MTG technology converts crude methanol directly to low-sulfur, low-benzene 87 octane gasoline that can be sold directly or blended with conventional refinery gasoline. The gasoline yield from the process is about 89%; LPG yield is about 10%, and fuel gas, about 1%.
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New Life-Cycle Analysis Concludes Neither GTL or CTL a “Reasonable Path” for Energy Security With Reduced GHG Emissions
September 20, 2008
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| High- and low-GHG emissions scenario for FT fuels. Click to enlarge. |
A new life-cycle study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) concludes that the use of either coal- (CTL) or natural gas-based (GTL) Fischer-Tropsch (FT) liquids will likely lead to significant increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to petroleum-based fuels. In a best-case scenario, coal- or natural gas-based FT liquids have emissions only comparable to petroleum-based fuels.
In addition, the economic picture for either FT fuel is uncertain. There is a narrow range of petroleum and natural gas prices at which GTL fuels would be competitive with petroleum-based fuels, according to the study. Although CTL fuels are generally cheaper than petroleum-based fuels, recent reports cited by the study suggest there is uncertainty about the availability of economically viable coal resources in the United States. The CMU study was published 19 September in the online edition of the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
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DARPA Soliciting Research Proposals for Zero CO2, Lower-Water CTL Technologies
September 13, 2008
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) soliciting research proposals for new technologies for the conversion of coal to liquid (CTL) hydrocarbon fuels that are more environmentally friendly and cost-competitive with petroleum-based fuels. Specifically, DARPA is looking for processes that generate no CO2 and that consume about half the water of current technology.
The Coal to Liquids (CTL) program is designed to explore aggressive, short-term, feasibility demonstrations of innovative concepts that would enable the DoD to effectively and economically exploit US coal reserves as part of an overall strategy to ensure a secure future energy supply for the military without the environmental or economic downsides of current direct or indirect coal liquefaction technologies.
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Altona Resources Signs MOU with CNOOC on Arckaringa CTL Project in South Australia
August 19, 2008
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| The Arckaringa CTL and cogen project is situated close to a major rail line and highway, and is targeting exports to Asia as well as domestic use. Click to enlarge. |
Altona Resources Plc, an Australia-based energy company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CNOOC (Beijing) Energy Investment Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, towards the development of the 10 million barrel per year (30,000 barrels per day) coal-to-liquids (CTL) and 560 MW co-generation Arckaringa Project in South Australia. CNOOC is one of the three largest State-owned oil companies in China.
Altona envisions a future expansion of the more than A$3 billion (US$2.6 billion) Arckaringa project to increase production to 45,000 barrels per day and 840 MW of export power as markets develop.
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Crow Nation Signs Agreement for CTL Project in Montana
August 09, 2008
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, a proponent of coal-to-liquids projects, joined tribal leaders of the Crow Nation as well as executives from Australian-American Energy Company (AAEC) in announcing that the tribe and company have formed a partnership to move forward on a coal-to-liquid facility and a new mine to be located on the Crow Reservation in Montana. The project mine will be the first new coal mine in Montana in three decades.
The project, called Many Stars, is initially targeted to convert 38,000 tons of coal per day into 50,000 barrels per day of synthetic diesel, jet fuel and naphtha. Startup is expected in 2016. Crow Chairman Carl Venne noted that future plans with AAEC include expanding the CTL plant production capacity to 125,000 barrels per day.
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CONSOL Energy and Synthesis Energy Systems Form JV for Coal-to-Liquids Plant to Produce Methanol and Gasoline
July 28, 2008
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| Conceptual rendering of the Benwood CTL plant. Click to enlarge. |
CONSOL Energy Inc., the US’ largest producer of bituminous coal, and Synthesis Energy Systems Inc. (SES) have formed a joint venture—Northern Appalachia Fuel LLC (NAF)—to develop their first US coal gasification and liquefaction plant to be located near Benwood, West Virginia. The two companies announced last year that they were jointly exploring coal gasification opportunities. (Earlier post.)
The plant is expected to be a “mine mouth” facility with feedstock supplied directly from CONSOL’s nearby Shoemaker complex. The feedstock will be a blend of run of mine coal and coal otherwise not recovered in the normal preparation process. Coal will be gasified to syngas utilizing SES’ U-GAS technology, licensed from the Gas Technology Institute (GTI); the syngas will be used to produce approximately 720,000 metric tons per year of methanol that can be used as a feedstock for the chemical industry. The partners also expect that the project will be capable of converting methanol production to approximately 100 million gallons/year of 87 octane gasoline.
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Alter NRG Proposing Canada’s First Coal-to-Liquids Project
July 23, 2008
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| Cross-section of the WPC Plasma Gasification Reactor. Click to enlarge. |
Alter NRG Corp. is proposing a Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) project that will use the company’s coal reserves in the Fox Creek Area of Alberta, Canada as a feedstock to produce synthetic diesel fuel and naphtha. The project, with a targeted production capacity of 40,000 barrels per day (bbls/d), will require an investment of approximately C$4.5 billion.
Alter NRG will gasify the solid coal feedstock (Westinghouse Plasma Corporation is a subsidiary of Alter NRG) to produce a syngas that will be processed by a Fischer-Tropsch reactor into liquids with a primary emphasis on low sulfur, high-cetane diesel (33,000 bbls/d), but also naphtha (7,000 bbls/d), which is used as a bitumen diluent by the nearby oil sands industry.
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UDRI, AFRL to Open Research-Scale Facility to Develop Synthetic Jet Fuel From Coal and Biomass
May 28, 2008
With a $10-million seed grant from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) will collaborate with AFRL to construct and operate the country’s first federal research facility designed to create jet fuel from coal and biomass in a program aimed at creating a viable alternative to petroleum-based fuel.
The award will also fund research into coal- and biomass-derived fuel technologies for greater fuel efficiency and reduced environmental impact.
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Senators Introduce Bill to Increase Domestic Oil and Natural Gas Production; Coal-Derived Fuel Mandate
May 04, 2008
US Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced the American Energy Production Act of 2008 (S.2958) to increase domestic production of oil and natural gas and to fund the development of oil shale and coal-to-liquids technology. Eighteen other senators co-sponsored. Included in the bill is language for a coal-derived fuels mandate.
The bill would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as well as the Atlantic and Pacific regions of the Outer Continental Shelf for exploration and production; and lift the one-year moratorium on developing oil shale in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
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BP Reinforces Commitment to China With Series of Agreements; Coal Conversion, Wind, Acetic Acid
January 19, 2008
BP has signed a series of agreements in China involving the strategic integration and commercialization of coal conversion technologies; wind power generation; and world-class acetic acid production.
The British Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown and the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, as well as officials from both the British and Chinese governments, witnessed the signing during a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
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DKRW Selects ExxonMobil’s Methanol-to-Gasoline (MTG) Technology for Coal-to-Liquids Project
December 17, 2007
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| MTG is one of the pathways for converting syngas to transportation fuel. Both the Fischer-Tropsch and MTG processes are 3-step processes. Thermal efficiencies are essentially governed by the thermal efficiencies of the syngas production process and feed. Click to enlarge. Source: ExxonMobil and Uhde |
DKRW Advanced Fuels (DKRW) has selected ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company’s (EMRE) methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) technology as part of DKRW’s coal to liquids (CTL) project in Medicine Bow, WY. DKRW recently stated that it has switched the initial finished product of its planned CTL plant from diesel to gasoline. (Earlier post.)
The Medicine Bow project will gasify the coal, convert the synthetic gas to methanol, and then convert the methanol to gasoline via the MTG process. The plant will produce up to 20,000 barrels per day of transportation fuels, electricity, steam, off-gas, slag, chemicals (including sulfur), other fuels and energy products which will be sold into the market. The plant intends to capture CO2 emissions from the process and send it to northeast Wyoming for use in enhanced oil recovery projects.
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Coal-to-Liquids Producer Forms JV for Algae Bioreactor for CO2 Conversion
November 21, 2007
Linc Energy Ltd, the Australian company developing the Chinchilla Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) to Gas to Liquids (GTL) facility (earlier post and earlier post), has formed a joint venture with BioCleanCoal Pty Ltd to develop an algae bioreactor for the conversion of process CO2 into oxygen and biomass.
The joint venture will be owned on a 60/40 basis with Linc Energy owning 60% and having the day to day management and BioCleanCoal owning the remaining 40%. The JV Company will develop a bioreactor which will convert CO2 through a photosynthesis process into oxygen and solid biomass, permanently and safely removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
