PERP Program – New Report Alert

May 2005

Nexant’s ChemSystems Process Evaluation/Research Planning program has published a new report,
Coal Gasification Technologies (03/04S11).

Background

Gasification is a high-temperature process usually conducted at elevated pressure that converts any
carbon-containing material into a mixture composed primarily of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
Since this gas is often used for the synthesis of chemicals or synthetic hydrocarbon fuels, the gas is
referred to as synthesis gas or syngas. The syngas can also be used as a fuel to generate electricity
or steam and as a source of hydrogen. Gasification adds value to low- or negative-value feedstocks
by converting them to marketable products.

Typical feedstocks to gasification are coal; petroleum-based materials such as crude oil, coke, and
high-sulfur residues; gases; and various waste materials. Dry or slurried feedstock is reacted in the
gasifier with steam and oxygen in a reducing (oxygen-starved) atmosphere at a high temperature and
(usually) high pressure. The resulting syngas typically contains about 85 percent of combined
carbon monoxide and hydrogen, with the balance being largely carbon dioxide and methane.

The high temperature in the gasifier converts the inorganic materials in the feedstock, such as ash
and metals, into a vitrified material resembling coarse sand in texture and generally referred to as
slag. This inert slag has a variety of uses in the construction and building industries.

The raw syngas is treated using proven commercial technologies to remove trace elements or other
impurities for recovery or recycle to the gasifier. Sulfur can be recovered as marketable elemental
sulfur or sulfuric acid.

If the syngas is to be used to produce electricity, it is typically used as fuel in an integrated

gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation configuration. The combined cycle system
utilizes a high-efficiency gas turbine to burn the clean syngas, with exhaust heat recovered to
generate steam for use in a high-efficiency steam turbine. Both the gas turbine and the steam turbine
drive electric power generators. A wide range of products, such as fuels, chemicals, fertilizers, and
industrial gases, can be produced in lieu of power or in conjunction with power.

Figure 1 depicts a simplified flow chart illustrating alternative utilization options for coal-derived
syngas. Various gasification and environmental cleanup technologies convert coal (or other carbon-
based feedstocks), oxidant, and water to syngas for further conversion into marketable products:
electricity, fuels, chemicals, steam, hydrogen, and others.
 -2-

Figure 1
Gasification-Based Energy Conversion System Components
PARTICULATE GAS
(OPTIONAL) SYNTHESIS GAS
REMOVAL CLEANUP
SHIFT REACTOR CONVERSION

Fuels and
Chemicals

GASIFIER

Sulfur By-product
Carbon Dioxide to
HYDROGEN Sequestration
Gaseous SEPARATION
Constituents
Solid By-product
AIR SEPARATION COMBUSTOR Hydrogen
Air
Coal, Petroleum Oxygen
Compressed Air Electric
Coke, Biomass,
Power
Waste, etc.
Solids FUEL CELLS
Air GAS
TURBINE

Electric
Power
GENERATOR
Air
HEAT RECOVERY
STEAM GENERATOR
Solid By-product Steam
Stack

Steam GENERATOR
Electric
STEAM Power
TURBINE

Source: "Major Environmental Aspects of Gasification-Based Power Generation Technologies", SAIC Report
for DOE, December 2002

Q404/PERP/001.01.0004.4120.VSD

Technology

Gasification consists of a series of controlled chemical reactions taking place at up to 1,000 psig or
more and nominally 2,600oF, resulting in corrosive slag and hydrogen sulfide gas as co-products.
As the feedstock is exposed to rising temperature in the gasifier, devolatilization and breaking of
weaker chemical bonds occur, yielding tars, oils, phenols, and hydrocarbon gases. These products
generally react further to form carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and lesser quantities of carbon dioxide.
The fixed carbon that remains after devolatilization is gasified through reactions with oxygen, water,
carbon dioxide, and hydrogen, and these gases react further to produce the final gas mixture. The
water-gas shift reaction alters the hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio of the final gas mixture. Since
no oxygen is consumed, exothermic (heat-releasing) methanation reactions increase the efficiency of
gasification and the heating value of the syngas produced.
 -3-

Although there are various types of coal gasification reactors, with different design and operating
characteristics, all fall into one of three generic categories:

- Moving-bed reactors (also referred to as fixed-bed reactors)

- Fluidized-bed reactors
- Entrained-flow reactors

Various properties of coal impact on different parts of the gasification process. The primary
property affecting the ease of conversion in gasification is the coal rank, which in turn reflects its
volatile matter content, oxygen content, level of maturity, extent of aromatic ring condensation, and
porosity. Reactivity varies dramatically with rank, with some low-rank coals being several orders of
magnitude more reactive than high-rank coals.

When bituminous coals are heated to 300-350oC, the particles tend to swell and agglomerate,
producing a consolidated cake, which can disrupt gas flow patterns and lower thermal efficiency in
fixed- or fluid-bed gasifiers.

For gasification technologies utilizing a slagging gasifier, slag flow behavior is an important
parameter. Slag viscosity varies over several orders of magnitude for the different coals at
representative gasifier temperatures.

Fouling of heat transfer surfaces can result from constituents such as chlorine, sodium, potassium,
and calcium. Sulfur and chlorine contents are the coal properties most affecting corrosion.

Those gasification technologies that are predominantly used in commercial applications and have
been extensively evaluated and tested are listed in Table 1.

Table 1 Gasifier Technology Suppliers

Solid Fuel
Technology Supplier Gasifier Type Feed Type Oxidant

Chevron Texaco, USA Entrained Flow Water Slurry O2

Global Energy E-GAS, USA Entrained Flow Water Slurry O2
Shell, USA/The Netherlands Entrained Flow N2 Carrier/Dry O2
Lurgi, Germany Moving Bed Dry Air
British Gas/Lurgi, Germany/UK Moving Bed Dry O2
Prenflo/Uhde, Germany Entrained Flow Dry O2
Noell/GSP, Germany Entrained Bed Dry O2
HT Winkler (HTW), RWE
Rheinbraun/Uhde, Germany Fluidized Bed Dry Air or O2
KRW, USA Fluidized Bed Dry Air or O2
 -4-

The ChevronTexaco (GE), E-GAS (Conoco Phillips) and Shell gasifiers are illustrated and discussed
in detail, with brief descriptions only for the other listed suppliers.

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power systems use a gasifier to convert a carbon-
based feedstock into syngas that is cleaned of particulates, sulfur, and other contaminants and is then
combusted in a high-efficiency combustion turbine which drives an electrical generator. Heat from
the combustion turbine exhaust gas is recovered to generate steam for subsequent use in a steam
turbine/generator.

The major system components for a coal-fed IGCC plant, along with required auxiliary components,
are discussed in the report. The current commercial IGCC status and potential advances to IGCC
technology are likewise discussed.

Figure 2 shows some of the many co-product options for utilization of syngas from gasification,
besides the generation of electric power. The myriad of possibilities includes:

- Syngas for generation of power and steam

- Syngas for Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon liquids as refinery/petrochemical feedstocks,
transportation fuels, alpha olefins, waxes, etc.
- Carbon monoxide separated from syngas for use in the production of chemicals
- Hydrogen separated from syngas for use in hydrogenation processes, fuel cell energy source,
ammonia production.
- Syngas for methanol production leading to fuel and chemical end uses.

The LPMEOHTM process is an effective technology for converting a portion of the hydrogen and
carbon monoxide in an IGCC electric power plant’s coal-derived syngas to methanol. The process is
quite flexible in being able to handle wide variation in syngas composition. The process can be
designed to operate in a continuous, baseload manner, converting syngas from oversized gasifiers or
from a spare gasifier. Alternatively, the process can be designed to operate only during periods of
off-peak electrical demand to allow the gasifiers to continue to operate at full rate. In either
baseload or cycling operation, once-through partial conversion of between 20 and 40 percent of the
hydrogen and carbon monoxide in the IGCC power plant’s syngas is optimal on an economic basis.

One of the key advantages of the LPMEOH process is that it can process carbon monoxide-rich gas
without ratio adjustment on a once-through basis. The LPMEOH process differs from conventional
gas-phase methanol technology (fixed beds of catalyst pellets) in its use of an inert hydrocarbon oil
as a reaction medium and heat sink and a powdered catalyst. The slurry reactor can thus achieve
high syngas conversion per pass, due to its capability to remove heat and maintain a uniform
temperature throughout the reactor. A second differentiating feature of the LPMEOH reactor is its
ability to tolerate sharp transient changes in operating conditions, due to the thermal moderation
provided by the liquid inventory in the reactor. A third differentiating feature of the LPMEOH
process is the high quality of the methanol product produced directly from syngas rich in carbon
oxides.
 VAM PVA
Naphtha Waxes
Acetic Acid
Diesel Ketene Diketene &
Fischer- Derivatives
Alpha Olefins CO Chemicals
Tropsch Acetate Esters
Car Fuel Liquids
Figure 2

Power & Steam CO Formaldehyde

Coal/Petcoke Gasification Synthesis Gas Methanol Methyl Acetate Acetic Anhydride

-5-

Town Gas H2 Dimethyl Ether Distrib. Ethylene &

Co-Generation Propylene

Hydrogenation
Fuel Cells Alpha Olefins
Processes Ammonia
Acrylonitrile
Oxo Chemicals
Urea
Polyolefins
Ammonium Nitrate
Urea/ Acrylic Acid/
Ammonium Acrylates
Nitrate
Co-Production Potential of Gasification

Source: “Eastman Gasification Overview”, Eastman Gasification Services Company, July 19, 2004
(with modifications and additions)
 -6-

Economics

A report figure presents a stacked bar chart showing the comparative methanol costs from co-
production from coal (gasification followed by liquid-phase synthesis) and from steam methane
reforming (followed by gas-phase synthesis). Economics for both processes are illustrated at 815
metric tons per day (MT/D). Economics for the SMR-based process are also provided for a U.S.
Midwest location and a Middle East location, both at 5,000 MT/D capacity.

Even allowing for shipping from the Middle East to the U.S. Gulf Coast, methanol based on low cost
natural gas in the Middle East can be made available at less than half the cost of U.S.-based
methanol from natural gas.

At 815 MT/D capacity, the coal-based process compares favorably with methanol imported from the
Middle East. This result reflects the economy of scale in the gasification operation and the choice of
a simple, once-through methanol synthesis tailored to use the coal-derived syngas with its high
carbon monoxide-to-hydrogen ratio without further adjustment. A report figure depicts methanol
cost of production by the coal-based and natural gas-based processes as a function of changes in
feedstock prices. Methanol cost is much more sensitive to changes in natural gas price than to
changes in coal price.

Commercial Status

Worldwide, there has been a growth in gasification capacity of about 2.8 percent per year over the
last three years. Over the 2001-2004 period, coal feed has become more popular, compared to
petroleum residuals, and chemicals and Fischer-Tropsch liquids have become more preferred as
products, compared to electric power.

Methanol supply and demand history and projections for eight different regions and the world from
2001 to 2015 are presented.

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Copyright© by Nexant, Inc. 2005. All Rights Reserved.

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Dr. Jeffrey S. Plotkin, Vice President and Global Director, PERP Program, phone: 1-914-609-0315; fax: 1-914-609-
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