We often document for you the facts, that, as seen for a few examples in our reports of:
West Virginia Coal Association | Standard Oil 1941 Improvements in Syngas Processing | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 2,266,161 - Process for Reacting Hydrogen and Oxides of Carbon; 1941; Standard Oil Development Company; Abstract: This invention is more particularly directed to process involving reactions between carbon monoxide and hydrogen, such as the production of methanol and other alcohols, 'synthol' and similar mixtures of liquid hydrocarbons and oxyorganic compounds. This invention, however, especially relates to the manufacture of hydrocarbon constituents containing more than one carbon atom in the molecule by a process involving the hydrogenation of oxides of carbon in which the rapid exothermic reaction is controlled in a manner that the temperature of the reaction does not vary without the predetermined critical temperature range whereby higher yields of products of improved quality are obtained"; and:
West Virginia Coal Association | Texaco 1951 Coal + CO2 + H2O + O2 = Syngas | Research & Development; concerning, primarily: "United States Patent 2,558,746 - Carbon Monoxide and Other Gases from Carbonaceous Materials; 1951; The Texas Company; Abstract: This invention relates to a process and apparatus for the generation of gases comprising carbon monoxide from carbonaceous materials. In one of its more specific aspects it relates to a process and apparatus for the generation of a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, suitable as a feed for the synthesis of hydrocarbons, from powdered coal";
as has long been known, "synthesis gas" blends of Hydrogen and Carbon Monoxide, and/or Carbon Dioxide, can be catalytically, chemically condensed into a wide range of hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals, and, such gas blends can be produced by the gasification of Coal.
A clear, illustrated exposition of the general Coal gasification process can be seen in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | Eastman Chemical Coal Gasification Overview | Research & Development; concerning: "Eastman Gasification Services Company: Eastman Gasification Overview; Gasification 101: Just the Basics: C + O2 + H2O = CO + H2; The partial oxidation of carbon to produce a 'synthesis gas'."
Further, as exemplified by our reports of:
West Virginia Coal Association | Germany Improves Coal Conversion To Hydrocarbon Syngas | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 8,562,698 - Device for Production of Synthesis Gas with a Gasification Reactor with a Subsequent Quenching Space; 2013; Assignee: ThyssenKrupp Uhde, GmbH, Germany; Abstract: The invention relates to a device for producing a crude gas containing CO or H2 by gasification of an ash-containing fuel ... . An apparatus for production of raw gas that contains CO and H2, by means of gasification of fuel that contains ash, with gas that contains oxygen"; and:
West Virginia Coal Association | Shell Oil 2013 Coal to Hydrocarbon Synthesis Gas | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 8,470,291 - Process To Prepare A Gas Mixture of Hydrogen and Carbon Monoxide; 2013; Assignee: Shell Oil Company; Abstract: Process to prepare a gas mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide from an ash containing carbonaceous feedstock";
the technologies for gasifying Coal, to produce hydrocarbon synthesis gas blends of Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen, continue to be improved and advanced, while, as seen in:
West Virginia Coal Association | Exxon Co-Gasifies Coal and Carbon-Recycling Biomass | Research & Development; concerning: "US Patent Application 20100083575 - Co-gasification Process for Hydrocarbon Solids and Biomass; 2010; Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company; Abstract: A process for the co-gasification of carbonaceous solids (coal) and biomass ... wherein the solid carbonaceous particles comprise coal (and) wherein the biomass comprises biological matter selected from wood, plant matter, municipal waste, green waste, byproducts of farming or food processing waste, sewage sludge, black liquor from wood pulp, and algae";
such gasification processes are being imbued with elements of Carbon-recycling and sustainability, through the inclusion and consumption, with Coal, of a wide variety of organic wastes and various botanical products.
As seen, for a few examples, in our reports of:
West Virginia Coal Association | General Electric and China Forge Coal Conversion Partnership | Research & Development; concerning: "GE Shenhua Form Coal Tech Venture; May 11, 2012; China Daily; State-owned Shenhua Group, China's largest coal producer, will work with General Electric Co to advance the development of 'cleaner coal' technology and solutions through the 50-50 joint venture. Partners plan to make greater use of nation's huge reserves, reduce import reliance . As a coal-to-gas boom grows in China, the founding of a new joint venture to develop gasification technologies marks part of the country's multi-billion-yuan effort to lessen dependency on oil imports. State-owned Shenhua Group,China's largest coal producer, will work with General Electric Co to advance the development of "cleaner coal" technology and solutions through the 50-50 joint venture"; and:
West Virginia Coal Association | General Electric Converts China Coal | Research & Development; concerning: "'GE Energy Licenses its Gasification Technology for Coal-to-Methanol Plant in China'; "GE's gasification technology has been licensed by 38 facilities in China, allowing chemicals manufacturers to use successfully a variety of relatively inexpensive local coals to create a wide variety of industrial chemicals and fuels";
one well-known US corporation with Coal gasification knowledge and technology so extensive it's been recognized internationally - - and gotten them involved in China's Olympian task of establishing a Coal conversion industry to supply their vast demand for liquid hydrocarbon fuels and industrial raw materials from their domestic Coal resources - - is the venerable General Electric Company.
And, herein we see that the United States Department of Energy, in acknowledgement of their expertise, hired General Electric to validate and improve upon the concepts of co-gasifying Coal with Carbon-recycling Biomass, as a way of increasing the sustainability of such an industry, and of reducing it's Carbon footprint.
Comment follows relatively brief excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch to:
"Product Characterization for Entrained Flow Coal/Biomass Co-Gasification
DOE Award No. DE-NT0006305; Final Technical Report; December 11, 2011
Shawn Maghzi, et. al.; GE Global Research; Niskayuna, NY 12309
Abstract: The U.S. Department of Energy‘s National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE NETL) is exploring affordable technologies and processes to convert domestic coal and biomass resources to high-quality liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
This interest is primarily motivated by the need to increase energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Gasification technologies represent clean, flexible and efficient conversion pathways to utilize coal and biomass resources.
Substantial experience and knowledge had been developed worldwide on gasification of either coal or biomass. However, reliable data on effects of blending various biomass fuels with coal during gasification process and resulting syngas composition are lacking.
In this project, GE Global Research performed a complete characterization of the gas, liquid and solid products that result from the co-gasification of coal/biomass mixtures. ... Results from this project provide guidance on appropriate gas clean-up systems and optimization of operating parameters needed to develop and commercialize gasification technologies.
This is the final technical report for this U.S. DOE NETL (Contract No. DE-NT0006305) and GE supported project summarizing project accomplishments for the period starting Oct 1, 2008 and ending Sep 30, 2011. This report provides a project narrative and a summary of project activities and accomplishments during this reporting period.
The primary project goal was to perform a complete characterization of the gas, liquid, and solid products that result from the co-gasification of various coal/biomass mixtures (three coal types with three biomass types) with focus on biomass concentrations between 30 wt.% and 50 wt.% (dry coal and dry biomass basis) to provide guidance on the appropriate gas clean-up systems and optimization of operating parameters for development of future gasification systems.
Under this project, GE Global Research carried out a comprehensive characterization of the coal/biomass co-gasification products using bench-scale gasifier (BSG) at GE and a pilot-scale entrained flow gasifier (EFG) at Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), an agency of the University of North Dakota. To minimize expensive experimentation with the EFG, the BSG was used to map the composition of the gaseous, liquid, and solid products, define their concentration ranges, and optimize product analysis methods and procedures. The EFG was used in the latter part of the project to perform a focused set of experiments based upon the initial results obtained from the BSG. Experiments were performed on mixtures of the three major types of coal (bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite) with three types of biomass (cornstover, wood, and grass). Feedstocks included pine wood sawdust as a representative wood biomass and milled switchgrass as a representative herbaceous biomass. Wood sawdust and milled switchgrass were well suited for experimental testing in the small-scale entrained flow gasification facilities. The main focus of the experiments was on biomass concentrations between 30 wt. % and 50 wt. % (dry coal and dry biomass basis).
The main work conducted during the project focused on conducting gasification experiments with coal and biomass mixtures for 3 different coals and 3 different biomass types and benchmarking it against pure coal gasification. The experiments were conducted mainly in BSG at the Fuel Conversion Lab (FCL) in Irvine, California and high pressure experiments for selected conditions were conducted at EFG at EERC. It was found that while many of the inorganic elements are volatile at the high temperature gasification conditions, subsequent cleanup and cooling processes in a full-scale gasification system would condense and substantially capture most of these components.
Scientific and Technical Merit: Biomass is considered a renewable energy source since carbon dioxide emissions caused by its use are absorbed during biomass growth. Only biomass offers the possibility of producing nearly carbon-neutral liquid transportation fuels that provide feasible alternatives for the transportation sector in the foreseeable future. This issue is particularly relevant today as transportation is responsible for a large part of global CO2 emissions. The portion of transportation in the total energy consumption is increasing, especially in developing countries.
Common barriers to biomass utilization at scales large enough to make a noticeable contribution to global energy production include biomass variability, availability, seasonality, and low energy density. The influence of these factors can be substantially mitigated if biomass is used synergistically with the most abundant fossil fuel resource - - coal.
(Note the implication, that, not only does the inclusion of biomass help to ameliorate Coal's CO2 emissions, but, Coal actually, through its abundance, makes the use of biomass in the production of hydrocarbons through gasification feasible on a practical basis)
Co-gasification of coal and biomass ... presents several technical challenges including:
· Reliable feeding into the pressurized gasifier.
· Unknown effects of coal and biomass compositions on the solid, liquid (if any), and gaseous products of co-gasification.
· Effects of syngas impurities on downstream equipment such as water-gas shift (WSG) and FT catalysts.
(The "FT" is, of course, "Fischer-Tropsch"; and refers to additional work being performed on the conversion of the Coal-Biomass synthesis gas into hydrocarbon fuels.)
Anticipated Benefits: The program delivers a comprehensive description of raw syngas compositions, resulting from the co-gasification of coal/biomass mixtures. This effort supports R&D on CBTL syngas cleanup systems and helps determine the optimal operating conditions for the co-gasification process.In conjunction with an optimal feeding strategy for biomass and optimized FT processes, this represents a critical step towards the commercialization of co-gasification technology. Oxy-cogasification of coal and biomass mixtures with steam presents several advantages over conventional coal gasification technologies, including increased efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas footprint. In addition, this approach mitigates several risks associated with biomass-only gasifiers, including feedstock availability and variability, high specific costs, low efficiency, high tar concentrations in the raw syngas, and potential for shut down due to biomass shortage."
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We'll close our excerpts there, since the bulk of the report is given over to exposition of experimental details which just confirm and illustrate the fact, that, Coal and Biomass can be effectively co-gasified, as a preliminary step in the synthesis of hydrocarbon fuels and chemical manufacturing raw materials; and, in fact, it is the Coal which makes such use of Biomass genuinely feasible in the first place.
The full document does contain an addendum from the University of North Dakota, detailing some additional specific results of co-gasification tests: "Gasification Of Indiana No. 5 Coal Blended with Switchgrass in the EERC’S Small Pilot Scale Entrained-Flow Gasifier".
The report also treats, to a certain extent, the disposition of Carbon Dioxide generated in the processes of gasification and/or fuel synthesis. But, that is a separate issue, and, we remind you, that, as seen for one example in:
West Virginia Coal Association | General Electric Recycles Carbon Dioxide | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20070149392 - Reactor for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Conversion; 2007; Abstract: Disclosed herein is a multifunctional catalyst system comprising a substrate; and a catalyst pair disposed upon the substrate; wherein the catalyst pair comprises a first catalyst and a second catalyst; and wherein the first catalyst initiates or facilitates the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide while the second catalyst initiates or facilitates the conversion of carbon monoxide to an organic compound";
General Electric has, as well, been developing the technologies for Carbon Dioxide utilization; technologies which treat CO2 more as a valuable byproduct of Coal/Biomass gasification and hydrocarbon fuel synthesis, than as a troublesome pollutant which must somehow be disposed of.
The enclosed document, 'Product Characterization for Entrained Flow Coal/Biomass Co-Gasification", should give you some additional background on the Co-Gasification concept and technology, much as that presented in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE Coal + Biomass = Affordable, Low-Carbon Liquid Fuel | Research & Development; concerning: "Affordable, Low-Carbon Diesel Fuel from Domestic Coal and Biomass; 2009; DOE/NETL-2009/1349; Energy Systems Engineer Office of Systems, Analyses, and Planning National Energy Technology Laboratory; USDOE National Energy Technology Laboratory".
We'll be referring back to it as a reference in future reports, in which the technical developments by General Electric, and others, in the field of Coal-Biomass co-gasification, for the production of synthesis gas, and the subsequent synthesis of a full range of "Low-Carbon" hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals will be further documented and explained.