Commercialization of Coal GasificationTechnologies

March 24, 2009 - PRLog -- Phoenix, AZ – Coal gasification offers one of the most versatile and clean ways to convert coal into electricity, hydrogen, and other valuable energy products. The first coal gasification electric power plants are now operating commercially in the United States and in other nations, and many experts predict that coal gasification will be at the heart of the future generations of clean coal technology plants for several decades into the future.

Rather than burning coal directly, gasification (a thermo-chemical process) breaks down coal - or virtually any carbon-based feedstock - into its basic chemical constituents. In a modern gasifier, coal is typically exposed to hot steam and carefully controlled amounts of air or oxygen under high temperatures and pressures. Under these conditions, carbon molecules in coal break apart, setting off chemical reactions that typically produce a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and other gaseous compounds.

Gasification, in fact, may be one of the best ways to produce clean-burning hydrogen for tomorrow's automobiles and power-generating fuel cells. Hydrogen and other coal gases can also be used to fuel power-generating turbines, or as the chemical "building blocks" for a wide range of commercial products

The environmental benefits of gasification stem from the capability to achieve extremely low SOx, NOx and particulate emissions from burning coal-derived gases. Sulfur in coal, for example, emerges as hydrogen sulfide and can be captured by processes presently used in the chemical industry. In some methods, the sulfur can be extracted in either a liquid or solid form that can be sold commercially.

Coal gasification may offer a further environmental advantage in addressing concerns over the atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide. If oxygen is used in a coal gasifier instead of air, carbon dioxide is emitted as a concentrated gas stream in syngas at high pressure. In this form, it can be captured and sequestered more easily and at lower costs. By contrast, when coal burns or is reacted in air, 80 percent of which is nitrogen, the resulting carbon dioxide is diluted and more costly to separate.

Efficiency gains are another benefit of coal gasification. In a typical coal combustion plant, heat from burning coal is used to boil water, making steam that drives a steam turbine-generator. In some coal combustion plants, only a third of the energy value of coal is actually converted into electricity, the rest is lost as waste heat.

The research report from Energy Business Reports – Commercialization of Coal GasificationTechnologies- provides an in-depth analysis of the coal gasification industry and helps one understand this fascinating technology further. The report discusses in detail the various challenges facing the technology, along with factors that are boosting the growth and of gasification. You can find information on all the different types of gasification processes and the technologies that are used during gasification. Case studies of successful projects and a focus on the leading players in this industry make this report vital to the informed reader, inside and outside the industry.

About the Publisher: This report “Commercialization of Coal GasificationTechnologies” is published by Energy Business Reports (www.EnergyBusinessReports.com), an energy industry think tank and leading source for energy industry information and research products.  

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Energy Business Reports publishes cutting-edge business research and analysis reports in the global energy industry including power, oil and gas, and renewables markets.