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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gasification Technologies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (625)	11/9/2006 11:11:26 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 1740

Study finds coal-gasification system would help Agrium Associated Press Article Last Updated:11/08/2006 03:03:09 PM AKST ktva.com A new federal study says a coal-gasification system would eliminate Agrium's dependence on natural gas at its fertilizer plant in Nikiski. The study was done by the U.S. Department of Energy. It finds that a coal-gasification system is technically and economically feasible. Agrium is engaged in a long-range feasibility study of its own in an effort to determine if it can continue operating the plant profitably. It is looking at constructing a power generation plant and coal gasifier to produce energy and supply feedstock for its fertilizer manufacture operations. The DOE study said the power plant could be large enough to produce an excess of electrical energy beyond that needed by Agrium -- power that could be sold to the Railbelt Energy Grid.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (625)	5/27/2008 9:16:59 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1740

Fairbanks EDC to conduct study on coal to liquids plant [May 25, 2008] ipvpn.tmcnet.com (Alaska Journal of Commerce (Anchorage) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 25--Fairbanks Economic Development Corp. has signed a contract with a Toronto-based engineering firm to conduct a $550,000 screening study on a possible coal or biomass-to-liquids plant in Fairbanks. The hope is that the alternative fuels plant might lower the cost of energy in Interior Alaska by manufacturing liquids fuels from sources other than crude oil, which is now selling as prices near $130 per barrel. Electricity would also be produced as a byproduct of plant operations. "Energy is just costing too much. It is driving people and businesses away from our community. This study is the first step toward finding or creating cheaper fuel to ease the burden on our families," said Jim Dodson, president of the FEDC. "By lowering the cost of energy we can also attract new businesses to Fairbanks and grow our economy." Whether an alternative fuels plant in Fairbanks would be able to lower costs for liquids fuels is unknown, however. The plant could require a capital investment more than $1 billion. FEDC, a nonprofit economic development group based in Fairbanks, signed the contract with Hatch Ltd., an energy engineering firm with 8,800 employees in 80 offices around the world. Hatch will deliver its report to FEDC in October. Jim Sarvinis, Hatch's director of energy technologies, said his company believes the goals of producing lower-cost energy in an environmentally responsible manner can be achieved, and that his company has the expertise to help the Interior community achieve its objectives. Sarvinis will be the manager of the FEDC study. The concept for a Fairbanks alternative fuels plant using the Fischer-Tropsch chemical conversion process to manufacture 20,000 barrels to 40,000 barrels per day of fuels using coal or biomass as a carbon feedstock. The Fischer-Tropsch process was developed in the 1920s and is used on a large scale today by Sasol in South Africa to convert coal and natural gas to liquids fuels. Shell operates a Fischer-Tropsch plant in Malaysia to make petrochemical feedstock and ultra-clean diesel fuel from natural gas. Sasol has also started operations at a new Fischer-Tropsch plant in Qatar that used natural gas as a feedstock. Jet fuel, diesel and home heating oil would be the primary products produced in a Fairbanks plant, under the FEDC plan. The concept also involves 60 megawatts to 200 megawatts of power being produced as well as use of waste heat in local space heating. The study will assume that coal will be the primary feedstock for the plant and that it can be purchased from the Usibelli coal mine at Healy, Dodson said. Usibelli's mine now supplies coal to power stations in Fairbanks, at Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base as well as Clear Air Force Station south of Nenana. Biomass will also be considered as a feedstock for the plant, however. The study will look at a case involving 1,000 tons per day of biomass supply. The contract calls for two scenarios to be developed, one involving a plant to make liquid fuels derived from coal or biomass with the additional capability of producing power, and a second where natural gas can be added to the feedstock to maximize the conversion of carbon to useful products. Hatch will also recommend a Fischer-Tropsch technology that minimizes the release of carbon dioxide, according to the contract. While Fischer-Tropsch is a well-tested technology the major impediment has been the high capital cost of production plants, which has recently been in the range of $70,000 per installed barrel for large new plants, although advances in the technology by Sasol and Shell have reduced the costs for the new generation large plants in Qatar. Assuming capital investment cost of $70,000 per barrel of daily capacity, a 20,000 barrels-per-day plant in Fairbanks would cost $1.4 billion. Environmental groups have also criticized plants using the Fischer-Tropsch process because they release large amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, and because they are relatively inefficient in the conversion of energy to final products. The energy inefficiency is substantially improved, however, when waste heat is used to produce electricity or serves other purposes. Carbon dioxide emissions are a problem, however, unless a way can be found to sequester or use the gas. Fischer-Tropsch plants have the advantage of concentrating the carbon dioxide into a stream of gas so that it can at least be captured, as compared to conventional combustion plants where the gas is released as part of the plant emissions and is thus more difficult to capture. Alaska Natural Resources-to-Liquids, an Anchorage-based firm, is working to develop a larger 80,000 barrels-per-day Fischer-Tropsch plant using coal at Beluga, west of Anchorage, that would manufacture liquid fuels and have the capability of generating power through waste heat. At that location the carbon dioxide could be used in enhanced oil recovery to produce more oil from aging Cook Inlet fields. Tim Bradner can be reached at tim.bradner@alaskajournal.com. To see more of the Alaska Journal of Commerce, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to alaskajournal.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Alaska Journal of Commerce, Anchorage Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (625)	7/10/2008 9:05:42 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 1740

Honed in WWII, gas-to-liquids technology has excelled Web posted Sunday, July 6, 2008 alaskajournal.com Gas-to-liquids projects being discussed usually involve the Fischer-Tropsch process that was developed by two German scientists in the 1920s. Germany fuelled its war machine in World War II with Fischer Tropsch plants making fuel from coal, and after the war the U.S. government built a gas-to-liquids plant in Texas based on the German designs. When large discoveries of conventional oil were made and crude oil prices dropped the process did not appear to be economic, so efforts in the U.S. dropped off. South Africa, meanwhile, continued work. With ample coal resources that nation commissioned its government-owned company, Sasol, to develop a domestic fuels industry that would make the nation self-sufficient. Sasol, now a private company, accomplished that with a large coal and gas-based alternative fuels industry that is now thriving on a commercial basis in South Africa. Shell became interested in Fischer Tropsch in the 1970s and built a gas-to-liquids plant in Malaysia that is profitable from sales of ultra-clean diesel to the U.S. West Coast market and sales of feedstocks to petrochemical plants in Asia. Most recently Shell and Sasol have built large GTL plants in Qatar and have projects planned in Nigeria and China. Chevron is a partner with Sasol in the worldwide marketing of its GTL technology. Other companies, including ExxonMobil, BP and ConocoPhillips have done extensive work on Fischer Tropsch plants. Sasol is interested in developing a coal-to-liquids plant in the U.S. and is considering a location in Alaska as well as in the Lower 48. The fundamental chemistry involved in Fischer Tropsch is not new. The process involves three stages: the breakdown of a carbon-based material - natural gas, coal or biomass - through a reformer (in the case of gas) or a gasifier (in the case of coal or biomass) into a synthesis gas of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The synthesis gas goes to the second stage, a Fischer Tropsch reactor, where the gas is fed through a series of catalysts. These rearrange the hydrocarbon molecules in a way that the gas becomes a solid paraffin wax. The wax is then fed to a third stage, a refinery unit, which manufactures products like diesel or jet fuel from the wax. The products are clean from an environmental viewpoint, with virtually no sulphur or aromatics. Emissions from burning clean F-T fuels contain low levels of nitrogen oxides. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually classified drilling fluids made with F-T diesel as non-toxic and biodegradable and cleared it for over-the-side disposal from drilling platforms. Many companies have been working on their own variations and patented processes for some of these steps, particularly the catalysts that are used. BP is testing a compact small reformer in a test GTL plant in Nikiski, although the process is not expected to be used on the North Slope. ExxonMobil has done work on its GTL process, which it calls AGC-21. Despite its promise, industry has been cautious about gas-to-liquids and coal-to-liquids for several reasons. One of the large capital cost in building Fischer-Tropsch plants, which are really large, complex refineries. Sasol and Shell, the industry leaders, have made big advances in bringing costs down, which a Sasol GTL project in Qatar has benefited from, but the recent runup in costs for all energy projects has hit another Qatar GTL project, Pearl, being developed by Shell. Because of high product prices Shell's project will still pencil out, but it has given industry pause when considering new large Fischer-Tropsch plants. Costs for a North Slope GTL plant will be similarly large, but Richard Peterson, of Alaska Natural Resources-to-Liquids, believe that hefty prices for diesel would make the plant economically viable and more profitable than for a gas pipeline. “These projects aren't for the faint of heart,” Peterson says. Another problem cited is the low energy efficiency of GTL plants, which can consume a third of the energy value of the feedstock in making the product. In contrast, natural gas pipelines use much less energy to get the gas to market. However, the “energy balance” ratio improves dramatically when waste heat is captured and used for power generation, for example. On the North Slope a GTL plant could generate power for the field, reducing natural gas now burned to make electricity. A third difficulty is the large amount of carbon dioxide emitted by a GTL plant. In an age of increasing sensitivity to greenhouse gas emissions this has become a matter of concern. However, Fischer-Tropsch plants do have an advantage over other industrial facilities that release emissions in that much of the carbon dioxide is concentrated into a single stream of gas, which means it can be captured and used, or stored. On the North Slope, carbon dioxide captured from a GTL plant could be used in enhanced oil recovery to help produce more oil. Carbon dioxide from a coal-to-liquids plant at Beluga could perform a similar function, making the gas available for enhanced recovery from aging Cook Inlet oil fields.