Greening Ningxia -- Beijing Review
Mike,
In China, where they're busily at work building a series of coal-to-liquid plants that will ensure their domestic energy self-sufficiency, they are also using CTL as an opportunity to create additional products, as we've been suggesting.
Some excerpts:
"Coal gasification-converting coal into gas for use as a feedstock for making chemicals like olefin and methanol-has been a pioneering project.... But its viability faces the intractable problem of waste gases being released into the environment. In response, advanced air separation was introduced to remove impurities from waste gases, making them reusable for synthetic ammonia and urea production. Carbon dioxide released from coal-fired power generation is also piped back in for use in urea production, effectively eliminating air pollution."
"The ashes left over from coal burning are used to make cement and other construction materials, while wastewater is also purified for circulation. In addition, all coal is required to go through desulphurization before burning for power generation to protect the environment and minimize the erosion of metal equipment."
Now, granted, all this is state-published information about a semi-state-run operation in a nation that's very sensitive about criticism from the outside. But, all of what they are proposing to do as far as protecting the environment, and reusing "wastes" from the coal conversion process as raw materials for other things, is both feasible and practical, as we have from other sources documented.
And, the Chinese are pragmatic, almost to a fault. If they are going to do all those things they say they are, then those things are probably worth, in a practical way, doing.
WVU has been involved in China's efforts, Mike, according to news releases we've previously brought to your attention. It might even be the "West Virginia Process" the Chinese are using to convert their coal into liquid fuels and chemicals.
