Gasification
[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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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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DOE Awards Diversified Energy Corporation Phase II SBIR Award for HydroMax Gasification Technology
August 13, 2008
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| HydroMax gasifier and production cycle. Click to enlarge. |
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Diversified Energy Corporation (DEC) a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant to continue the development and commercialization of its HydroMax advanced gasification technology. (Earlier post.) The 24-month, $945,000 grant resulted from a competitive solicitation from the DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and builds upon results achieved by DEC during Phase I.
The HydroMax gasifier uses a patented molten-metals approach that can gasify a broad range of hydrocarbon inputs (biomass, municipal solid waste, petroleum coke, and coals with varying moisture, sulfur, and heating value content). The resulting syngas is relatively free of tars and oils and therefore requires less downstream clean-up equipment.
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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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INEOS Bio to Commercialize BRI Thermochemical/Biochemical Waste-to-Ethanol Process
July 21, 2008
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| The INEOS Bio waste-to-ethanol process. Click to enlarge. |
INEOS, the world’s third largest chemical company, has formed INEOS Bio to commercialize and license a thermochemical and biochemical process from Bioengineering Resources, Inc. (BRI) (earlier post) for the production of biofuel, renewable power and chemical intermediates from a wide range of low-cost carbon materials.
INEOS Bio’s initial focus will be the production of commercial quantities of bioethanol fuel from biodegradable municipal solid waste (MSW), organic commercial waste and agricultural residues. INEOS Bio expects the first commercial plant will be operational in late 2010 or early 2011.
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Fulcrum BioEnergy to Build First Municipal Solid Waste-to-Ethanol Plant in Nevada
July 18, 2008
Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc. plans to build its first commercial-scale thermochemical plant for converting municipal solid waste (MSW) to ethanol at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in Storey County, Nevada. The project is expected to cost approximately $120 million and is set to enter construction by the end of this year. When it begins operations in early 2010, the Sierra BioFuels plant is expected to produce approximately 10.5 million gallons of ethanol per year, and to process nearly 90,000 tons per year of MSW.
The plant will utilize gasification technology licensed from InEnTec (previously Integrated Environmental Technologies) and a licensed proprietary catalytic technology jointly developed by Nipawin Biomass Ethanol New Generation Co-operative Ltd. and Saskatchewan Research Council for the conversion of the resulting syngas to fuels.
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Dow and NREL Partner on Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass to Ethanol and Other Chemical Building Blocks
July 16, 2008
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| Process flow diagram with research barriers for cost-competitive thermochemical ethanol production. Click to enlarge. Source: NREL |
The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) and the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are jointly developing and evaluating a thermochemical process that will convert biomass to ethanol and other chemical building blocks.
The process will gasify non-food biomass feedstock to produce a synthesis gas, which Dow’s catalyst technology will then convert into a mixture of alcohols—predominantly ethanol—that can be used as transportation fuels or chemical building blocks. The joint evaluation program will focus on improving the mixed alcohol catalyst, as well as demonstrating pilot scale performance and the commercial relevance of an integrated facility.
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GreenField Ethanol and Enerkem Partner on Commercial MSW-to-Ethanol Facility in Alberta
June 29, 2008
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| Enerkem’s four-step process uses gasification and catalytic synthesis to convert waste to liquid fuels. Click to enlarge. |
The city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has signed a 25-year agreement with GreenField Ethanol, Canada’s largest ethanol producer and Enerkem, the developer of a thermochemical (gasification and catalytic synthesis) process to produce synthetic fuels, for a facility to produce biofuels from municipal solid waste (MSW).
The C$70 million facility will initially produce 36 million liters (9.5 million gallons US) of ethanol per year, according to the partners. As part of the agreement, the City of Edmonton will supply a minimum of 100,000 tonnes of sorted municipal solid waste per year.
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GM Pushes for Ethanol; Update on Cellulosic Biofuels Partner Coskata
May 24, 2008
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| Cellulosic ethanol producer Coskata has rapidly brought its microbes to levels of commercial productivity with the assistance of genomic analysis that identified optimized nutritional pathways. Click to enlarge. Source: Coskata |
General Motors is picking up the pace on its steady push for the adoption of ethanol as a major alternative to petroleum fuel in the US and in other countries. As part of that campaign, GM this week hosted a media briefing at cellulosic biofuels start-up Coskata’s lab in Warrenville, Illinois to highlight the progress made by the syngas-to-ethanol company. GM announced an investment in and strategic alliance with Coskata in January. (Earlier post.)
GM also participated in an Ethanol Summit panel prior to the Indianapolis 500—for which GM is providing a concept E85 Z06 Corvette pace car—that included Beth Lowry, GM’s VP of Environment and Energy; Dr. Michael Ladisch, CTO of Mascoma, GM’s other cellulosic ethanol partner (earlier post); Marcos Jank, president of UNICA, the largest ethanol co-op in Brazil; Bill Becker, president of Lifeline Foods, the sole provider of E100 to the Indy circuit (Indy racing now runs on 100% ethanol); and Brazilian racing legend Emerson Fittipaldi, an ethanol investor and producer. Fittipaldi is driving the E85 Z06 pace car at the Indy 500 this year.
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Coskata Chooses Site for Demo Syngas-to-Ethanol Plant
April 25, 2008
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| Coskata will use WPC plasma torches for the initial gasification of feedstock. Coskata proprietary microorganisms will ferment the cooled syngas to ethanol. Click to enlarge. |
Coskata Inc., a developer of syngas-to-ethanol technology, has announced the location of a 40,000 gallon per year cellulosic ethanol pilot plant. The $25 million project will be located at the Westinghouse Plasma Center in Madison, PA, the current site of a pilot-plant gasifier owned and operated by Westinghouse Plasma Corporation (WPC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Alter Nrg Corp.
The plant, located about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, is expected to begin delivering ethanol in early 2009 utilizing a variety of input materials, including woody biomass as well as agricultural and industrial wastes. General Motors, a strategic partner and investor in Coskata (earlier post), will use the next generation ethanol for testing in flex-fuel vehicles at its Milford, Mich., Proving Grounds.
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Syntec Catalytic Synthesis Process Yields 105 Gallons of Alcohols Per Ton of Biomass
February 15, 2008
Syntec Biofuel Inc has achieved a yield of 105 gallons of alcohols (ethanol, methanol, n-butanol and n-propanol) per ton of biomass. In 2006, the company had targeted a yield of approximately 113 gallons per ton.
The Syntec Biomass to Alcohols (B2A) technology (earlier post), initially developed at the University of British Columbia, parallels the low-pressure catalytic synthesis process used by methanol producers. Syntec’s technology uses any renewable waste biomass such as hard or soft wood, sawdust or bark, organic waste, agricultural waste (including sugar cane bagasse and corn stover), and switch-grass to produce syngas.
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ZeaChem In Long-Term Poplar Tree Feedstock Supply Agreement for Biorefinery
February 11, 2008
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| Elements of the ZeaChem process. Click to enlarge. |
ZeaChem, Inc. and GreenWood Resources, Inc. (GWR) signed a non-binding Letter of Intent for the supply of poplar tree (Pacific Albus) feedstock under a long-term agreement to support the operation of an initial 1.5 million gallon per year (MGPY) ZeaChem cellulosic biorefinery near one of Greenwood’s Pacific Albus tree farms in the Columbia River Basin.
The ZeaChem biofuel process combines the outputs of two traditional fuel production pathways (fermentation of sugars and gasification of biomass) into a third catalytically-driven step—hydrogenolysis—to produce cellulosic ethanol fuel and cellulose-based intermediate chemicals. ZeaChem’s technology will produce 50% more ethanol per ton of feed than the current best-in-class technology. (Earlier post.)
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Coskata Forms Strategic Alliance with ICM for Design and Construction of Syngas Fermentation Ethanol Plant
February 06, 2008
Coskata Inc., the second-generation ethanol startup with which GM announced a partnership and investment at the Detroit Auto Show (earlier post), has entered a strategic alliance with ICM, Inc. to design and construct a commercial ethanol plant using Coskata’s syngas fermentation technology.
ICM is North America’s leading ethanol plant design, engineering and support firm, and is responsible for approximately 50% of North American ethanol production from plants constructed by Fagen, Inc. and ICM.
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GM and Coskata Partner In Syngas-to-Ethanol Technology
January 13, 2008
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| The Coskata process can combine a variety of gasification technologies with Coskata proprietary microorganisms and bioreactors. Click to enlarge. |
Emphasizing on one hand the importance of ethanol as a shorter-term solution to reducing oil dependence and emissions, and on the other to coming up with alternatives to corn-based ethanol, GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced a partnership with Coskata Inc., a second-generation ethanol startup, during his opening press conference at the North American International Auto Show.
Coskata uses a proprietary process that leverages patented microorganisms and bioreactor designs to produce ethanol from practically any carbon-based feedstock, including garbage, old tires and plant waste, for less than $1 a gallon—about half of today’s cost of producing gasoline. The partnership includes an undisclosed equity stake for GM, joint research and development into emissions technology and investigation into making ethanol from GM facilities’ waste and non-recyclable vehicle parts.
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FutureGen Plant to Be Sited in Mattoon, Illinois
December 18, 2007
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| Overview of technologies and process for the FutureGen coal plant. Click to enlarge. |
The FutureGen Alliance has selected Mattoon, Illinois as the site to host the FutureGen power plant. FutureGen is a prototype coal-based plant intended to establish the technical feasibility and economic viability of co-producing electricity and hydrogen from coal with essentially zero emissions, including carbon dioxide (via capture and sequestration). (Earlier post.)
The $1.2-billion (2006 dollars) FutureGen plant will be nominally rated at 275 MWe—roughly equivalent to a medium-size coal-fired power plant and sufficient to supply electricity to approximately 275,000 average US households. Carbon dioxide sequestration will be in the range of 1 to 2 million metric tons annually.
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Hunton Energy to Build Synthetic Natural Gas Plant at Dow Facility
December 13, 2007
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| Layout of the proposed SNG facility. Click to enlarge. |
Hunton Energy and the Dow Chemical Company have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will result in Hunton Energy building and operating a Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) plant at Dow’s Oyster Creek Facility on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Under the proposed 15-year agreement with Dow, the Hunton Energy facility is slated to produce SNG and will use steam turbines to produce additional power from its byproduct steam. Processes in Hunton’s gasification system will capture 100% of the CO2 emissions from the facility for use in enhanced oil recovery, according to Hunton.
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Diversified Energy and Velocys Win DoD Contract for Portable Waste-to-Synfuel Plant
December 12, 2007
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| Process flow chart for the Hydro-Max/Velocys portable Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) fuels plant. Click to enlarge. |
Diversified Energy Corporation (DEC), developers of the HydroMax gasification process (earlier post), and Velocys Inc., a Battelle subsidiary specializing in microchannel reactor technology (earlier post), have been selected by the US Department of Defense (DoD) to design a portable synthetic fuel production system based on DEC’s HydroMax gasification technology and Velocys’ advanced Fischer-Tropsch approach.
The goal of the DoD funded effort is to develop a transportable system that can convert waste products generated at military installations into 50-500 barrels per day of high-performance synthetic fuels such as diesel and aviation fuel.
