DKRW and SNC-Lavalin in Alliance for Coal-to-Liquids Projects
16 August 2006
DKRW Advanced Fuels LLC (DKRW), headquartered in Houston, Texas and SNC-Lavalin GDS, Inc. of Houston and SNC-Lavalin Constructors Inc. of Bothell, Washington, wholly-owned subsidiaries of SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC), have formed an alliance to develop, design and construct a number of coal-to-liquid fuel projects each valued in excess of $1 billion.
Medicine Bow Fuel & Power LLC (MBF&P), a wholly-owned subsidiary of DKRW Advanced Fuels LLC (DKRW), has awarded a contract to SNC-Lavalin GDS, Inc. and SNC-Lavalin Constructors Inc. to provide feasibility studies, front end engineering and design (FEED) services, and turnkey engineering procurement construction (EPC) contractor services for DKRW’s future coal-to-liquid projects. The Medicine Bow, Wyoming coal-to-liquid project’s FEED is expected to commence during the 4th Quarter 2006.
DKRW has already selected GE’s coal gasification technology and Rentech’s Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology for the proposed Medicine Bow CTL plant. (Earlier post.)
We selected SNC-Lavalin because of its process engineering expertise in gasification and syngas conversion to fuels, its experience in thermal power plants and for its extensive experience with oil sands in northern Alberta from which we expect to learn a great deal about designing and building a facility of this size in a rather remote region of Wyoming.
—Robert Kelly, Executive Officer of DKRW and MBF&P
The Medicine Bow CTL plant will initially make about 11,000 bbl/day of transport diesel and other fuels using high Btu, low-sulfur coal from the Carbon Basin Coal Reserve from a mine being developed and operated by Arch Coal. Diesel and other transport fuels will be sold to regional customers along with the carbon dioxide, sulfur and other byproducts.
If the CTL plants could be converted to BTL, then this is not as inflexible as first glance. The point is to move off fossil energy and to renewables. If BTL can be achieved economicaly on the large scale, then this plant might have a long future.
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___One idea, a xTl plant wit combined cycle (gas+steam turbine w/ extensive waste heat utilization/recycling) could provide for power during the day/peak or high load, while uring the night/low load times, the syngas process could make fuel or chemicals/chemical raw materials.
Posted by: allen Z | 17 August 2006 at 05:06 AM
You're not going to convert a coal mine mouth CTL plant in Wyoming into a BTL plant. Wyoming is semi-arid and not a good place to get high yields of biomass.
Posted by: Paul Dietz | 17 August 2006 at 04:07 PM
Paul Dietz,
It does have pipelines that may be converted to transport sterilized (ie irradiated) algae biomass (with or without algae oil) sludge. It may just transport the extracted algae oil. The pplants may then process, syngas, and convert it to electricity or fuel, or even chemicals.
Posted by: allen Z | 17 August 2006 at 08:00 PM
Coal gasification to SNG might be a good idea. We will be out of NG in about 10 years and LNG is not expected to be able to make up the shortfall.
Posted by: SJC | 20 August 2006 at 08:37 PM