Washington,
D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the selection of four
new projects under its Coal and Power R&D Program. Project teams will
research advanced coal-gasification technologies for the coproduction of
power and hydrogen or substitute natural gas (SNG). The objective of the
coproduction strategy is to pursue new technology developments leading
to low-cost, high-efficiency, environmentally responsible coal gasification
facilities.
Coal gasification offers one of
the cleanest, most versatile ways to convert coal into electricity and
other forms of energy. Rather than burning coal directly, gasification
breaks down the coal into its basic chemical components. The gasification
facility can then coproduce a wide range of products, including electricity,
hydrogen, high-value chemicals, and synthetic fuels such as SNG. Coproduction
is well-suited to increase facility efficiencies and lower production costs.
The selected projects will be managed
by the Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory
(NETL) and will support NETL’s Coal and Power R&D Program in three
areas: novel hydrogen/electricity coproduction, novel SNG/electricity coproduction,
and improving the economics of central-station hydrogen production plants.
The projects, described below, total $23.3 million in government and participant
cost-shared funds, with DOE contributing approximately $17.0 million.
Novel Hydrogen/Electricity Co-production
Processes
One project will focus on developing
a coal gasification process for coproducing hydrogen and electricity in
support of the transition to a hydrogen economy, in which hydrogen is the
fuel of choice for the U.S. transportation fleet and central-station power
generation.
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Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Research
Triangle Park, N.C.— RTI will develop a process for coproducing hydrogen
and electricity based on the reduction and oxidation of iron oxide catalysts
to process coal gasification synthesis gas. The project team will develop
a sturdy, iron-based catalyst for producing high-pressure, high-purity
hydrogen within a system capable of separating carbon dioxide for sequestration.
If successful, the project will reduce the cost of gasification-based co-production
while achieving near-zero emissions. (DOE award: $2,578,345; cost-share:
$643,200; project duration: 40 months)
Novel Substitute Natural Gas/Electricity
Co-production Processes
Two projects will coproduce electricity
and SNG while achieving near-zero emissions and capturing and sequestering
carbon dioxide. The efficient and cost-competitive production of SNG will
augment the U.S. domestic natural gas supply and curb the rising cost of
natural gas for industrial and consumer use.
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Arizona Public Service, Phoenix, Ariz.—This
project will research and develop a hydro-gasification process to co-produce
SNG and electricity from western coals. The proposed system will use hydrogen
instead of air or oxygen in the gasification process, an approach that
offers higher operating efficiencies, lower water consumption, and a gas
product that is richer in methane than other gasification processes. The
system offers the potential to produce SNG below the projected market price
for natural gas. It will use a de-carbonization unit to separate carbon
dioxide for sequestration. (DOE award: $8,905,158; cost-share: $4,046,394;
project duration: 60 months)
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Research Triangle Institute, Research
Triangle Park, N.C.— RTI will develop a catalytic coal-gasification process
that coproduces SNG and electricity, achieves near-zero emissions, and
produces high-pressure, sequestration-ready carbon dioxide. The concept
centers on a preprocessing step that converts the coal into a mixture of
gas-phase carbon products, hydrogen, and char particles. The gaseous mixture
is then cycled through a catalytic reactor and converted into methane.
(DOE award: $3,000,383; cost-share: $750,000; project duration: 40 months)
Improving the Economics of Central-Station
Hydrogen Production Plants
One project will work to improve
the economics of hydrogen production plants by using these gasification-based
facilities and their products to generate high-value byproducts.
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West Virginia University Research Corporation,
Morgantown, W.Va.—This project will integrate a coal extraction process
into a central-station hydrogen production facility to enhance the profitability
of the facility’s hydrogen production process. The new system will combine
small amounts of the plant’s hydrogen product with process waste heat to
coproduce such byproducts as needle coke and binder pitch for metals smelting,
and anode coke for use in the aluminum industry. (DOE award: $2,540,404;
cost-share: $857,148; project duration: 37 months)
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