IEA Clean Coal Centre August, Banff, Canada. sponsored by Alberta Innovates Linc Energy Sherritt. Meeting report

Transcription

1 Underground coal gasification: 2 nd Workshop and Network Meeting IEA Clean Coal Centre August, Banff, Canada sponsored by Alberta Innovates Linc Energy Sherritt Meeting report 1

2 Summary report The second Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) network meeting was held on August 2012 in Banff, Canada and attended by 68 delegates. Building on the success of the first South African UCG workshop in 2011 it brought together local and international UCG experts from around the world to discuss a range of issues and the current status of UCG. Over the two days experts in UCG gave presentations on: the status of UCG globally and within Canada; legal, economic and regulatory issues; modelling; environmental risks, project development, and engineering and geosciences. Experts were encouraged to provide feedback on key issues/questions/drivers relating to the development of UCG. This meeting summary report presents the major findings and discussions from the meeting. In the first session Eddy Isaccs the CEO of Alberta Innovates welcomed delegates to the workshop and gave a brief overview of the role Alberta Innovates provides in the province and the energy resources in Alberta. Julie Lauder the CEO of the Underground Coal Gasification Association (UCGA) explained the role of the UCGA and gave an overview of the growth in interest and development of UCG projects internationally. Gordon Matlock from Sherritt outlined the preparation of a white paper to demonstrate the value of in situ coal gasification (ISCG) with a study on Alberta reviewing and comparing different technologies, identifying the operational and technical challenges, costs of drilling, syngas production and competing technologies such as CBM. The goal is to publish the white paper early in During the two days the term in situ coal gasification (ISCG) was used by several speakers with ISCG used to describe deeper coal UCG (1400 metres) and seen as distinctive from shallow historic and current UCG projects. Stacy MacDonald an engineer from the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) presented on the regulatory framework for ISCG or UCG in Alberta. The ERCB has 900 staff and for the last 70 years has been the primary regulator for energy resources in Alberta dealing with oil, oil sands, gas and coal. Albertans own the resource and the government grants tenure and sets and collects royalties. She emphasised that tenure does not necessarily mean a developer will get approval for a project to proceed. The application process involves field officers inspecting sites to ensure compliance with regulations. Concerns with ISCG is plain language in the application, public consultation, ground water contamination, monitoring programs, subsidence and geotechnical assessments. Martin Lambert presented on the Swan Hills Synfuels 1400 metre deep UCG project. The pilot project is completed and there are plans to establish a commercial project. A key criterion for him was a good regulatory environment for UCG that is provided for by the ERCB. 2

3 Michael Blinderman presented on Exergy UCG technology for up to 700 metres depth. The technology involves drilling of directional, inclined, vertical and other wells with projects in the USA, Canada, NZ, SA, Australia, China and India. He mentioned Cougar and the Kingaroy project shutdown. This was due to laboratory error with since the shutdown 17,000 analyses of ground water undertaken with no contamination found. Simon Maev company Laurus Energy is developing UCG projects in North America. They have projects in Alberta, Alaska, Wyoming and Texas. In Alaska the company is developing the Stone Horn Ridge project and in Alberta the Parkland County and in the USA the Wyoming Converse County project. The aim of the Parkland County Project is to showcase the first UCG syngas production in North America. The Project is located 110 kms from Edmonton and has been issued with a permit to operate a demonstration plant. The biggest obstacle is not technical but rather the current low price of natural gas which has fallen to as low as US$1.50 a gigajoule. Steven Pearce from Solid energy spoke about a pilot UCG project in NZ emphasising that UCG is a mining technology. The challenges are the commercial reality and convincing the bankers engineer that UCG is a commercial option. The challenges include diverse operators, technology immaturity with a limited pool of expertise and the ability to prove performance prior to investment. In addition, regulatory frameworks have not anticipated UCG. One option to meet this challenge is to learn and engage with other jurisdictions on their regulatory systems to address UCG. Michael Beeslaar from Eskom discussed eliminating and managing risks with UCG through their ongoing research and development at the Majuba UCG demonstration site. Good progress with the pilot project met nearly all Eskom s strategic drivers. A key issue is managing environmental risk and being proactive and not reactive by understanding the geology, hydrogeology and rock mechanics of the intended area. Eskom had two casing failures at Majuba which were addressed by proven and effective rehabilitation strategies. Terence Abboo from Eskom presented on the issues of condensate disposal and clean up of the syngas and removal of hydrogen sulphide. These issues need to be considered when scaling up to a commercial size UCG plant. He stressed the need to align UCG project drivers with the commercial plant design and early engagement of technology specialists. Daryl Rattai presented on Linc Energy developments in UCG. The 5 th generation gasifier has been in continuous operation since October The Chinchilla project has been operating for 12 years and to date no groundwater non- compliance incidents have resulted from UCG operations. The focus for Linc is on transportation fuels, diesel and jet fuel with both being fully compliant with international requirements. There were also several modelling presentations and John Chen from the University of Calgary presented on modelling efforts at the university. This work is based on 30 years development in reservoir simulators and applying the theory from these models of the gas and oil industry to UCG and post UCG CCS. The UCG study process is lab experiments, physical models and computer model simulation using high performance computer systems to simulate UCG phenomena. This allows identifying effective key design, operating and performance parameters. Dr Chen also discussed the work being undertaken with the international collaborations on benchmarking UCG models network where a meeting had been held prior to 3

4 this meeting in Calgary. The next workshop for international collaborations on benchmarking UCG models will be held in There were other presentations that covered UCG developments in Viet Nam which are at an early stage, potential for UCG in British Columbia with an undeveloped coal field. There was also a presentation on the ongoing UCG European research in Poland. A presentation also compared UCG and surface gasification. UCG was competitive with key factors for success energy density, depth and coal thickness. David Camp from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory the USA presented on their 3D multi-physics UCG simulator model. Johan Brand spoke about the Wildhorse Mecsek Hills UCG project in Hungary the only current one in mainland Europe. The project has the backing of all stakeholders, local residents, local authorities as well as an agreement in place for a local energy company to take produced syngas. Since the first 2011 UCG workshop there has been slow progress with UCG from a commercial viewpoint. However, the Eskom Majuba Pilot Project is expected to go to the next stage and be expanded. In Alberta, Canada and Australia UCG projects are progressing as well as a new UCG pilot project in New Zealand beginning in April There has been little progress on the regulatory issues since the last meeting with the exception of Alberta which has put in place legislation. Regulatory issues came up several times during the meeting with internationally current and future UCG projects hampered by a lack of suitable regulations. An example of this was in South Africa where legislation and permitting for UCG is not catered for in existing acts and legislation. In the final session of the workshop a discussion was held with participants on the need for commercialising UCG. The conclusion was that this is the key issue that needed to be addressed for the industry to move forward. A further comment was that it is important for modellers to share data and this is being done through the UCG international collaboration on benchmark modelling. Developers stressed the importance that modelling plays in commercialisation of UCG and that more work needs to be carried out on this topic. It was also noted that future network meetings include representatives from the finance and infrastructure sector. The participants thought the network was useful for the UCG community to share useful information which the meeting provided. Issues identified by participants that could be covered at a future workshop included: Modelling to assist UCG developers; Geological and hydrogeological issues; Environmental considerations to explore condensate disposal and clean up of the syngas and removal of hydrogen sulphide; Legal, economic and regulatory issues; Pilot plant achievements, and Moving towards commercial deployment. 4

5 Annex 1. Programme: Wednesday, 22 August :00-09:20 Wildrose salon C Opening session and welcomes Welcome from Alberta Innovates / Eddy Isaacs Welcome from IEA Clean Coal Centre / Robert Davidson 09:20-10:40 Wildrose salon C Session I The Global Development of Commercial Underground Coal Gasification / Ms Julie Lauder UCG Association, United Kingdom Underground Coal Gasification in Alberta - Understanding the Technology and Value Proposition / Gordon Matlock - Sherritt International, Canada The ERCB's Regulatory Framework for In Situ Coal Gasification / Ms Stacy MacDonald Energy Resources Conservation Board, Canada Deep ISCG: Enhances Public Support and Addresses Regulatory Issues / Mr. Martin Lambert Swan Hills Synfuels LP, Canada 10:40-11:10 Wildrose prefunction space Break 10:40-15:50 Wildrose prefunction space Poster Eskom Majuba Underground Coal Gasification Pilot Plant Achievements / Mrs Chantelle Moll Eskom Holdings, South Africa 11:10-12:30 Wildrose salon C Session II Application of the Exergy UCG Technology in International CTX Projects / M.S. Blinderman Ergo Exergy Technologies Inc. Canada Development of an Exergy UCG based project in Canada / Simon Maev - Laurus Energy Inc, Canada Putting fire in the hole, the process to fire up a UCG business / Dr Steven Pearce Solid Energy New Zealand, New Zealand Managing and Eliminating UCG Risks / Mr Mike Beeslaar - Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, South Africa 12:30-14:00 Hawthorn AB Lunch 14:00-15:20 Wildrose salon C Session III The Options for Carbon Capture and Storage with UCG / Dr Michael Green UCG Engineering Ltd, United Kingdom Assessing CO2 Storage Potential in Coal Chars for UCG-CCS System / Dr Shanmuganathan Ramasamy University of Alberta, Canada Hydrogeological Numerical Modeling to Simulate UCG Processes / Mr. Mihai Muresan - Golder Associates Africa, South Africa European Underground Coal Gasification Projects: HUGE and HUGE2 / Prof. Krzysztof Stańczyk Glowny Instytut Gornictwa, Poland 5

6 15:20-15:50 Wildrose prefunction space Break 15:50-17:10 Wildrose salon C Session IV Coal to Transportation Fuels: Commercial Development / Mr Daryl Rattai - Linc Energy Ltd, Australia A case study of Carbon Energy's UCG pilot in Queensland, Australia / Dr Cliff Mallett Carbon Energy Limited, Australia 550 metres of coal that has defied development: could UCG be the key? / Rick Richardson CanZealand Geoscience Ltd. New Zealand Wildhorse Energy's UCG Progress: the Mecsek Hills UCG Project / Johan Brand - Wildhorse Energy Hungary Thursday, 23 August :00-10:20 Wildrose salon C Session V Technology Management for UCG Optimization / Mr Richard (Dick) Wright Norwest Corporation, Canada Technical-Economical Comparison between UCG and Surface Gasification / MSc Marc Mostade Clean Coal Ltd, United Kingdom UCG Commercialisation what are the silent issues? / Mr Terence Abboo - Eskom, South Africa 10:20-10:50 Wildrose prefunction space Break 10:50-12:10 Wildrose salon C Session VI Modeling Efforts of UCG in Alberta, Canada / Professor Zhangxing John Chen - University of Calgary Canada Simulation Study of UCG Process Applying Porous Medium Approach / Mojtaba Seifi University of Calgary, Canada A Numerical Study of Factors Affecting Cavity Growth in Underground Coal Gasification / Ahad Sarraf Shirazi - University of Alberta, Canada A numerical UCG model for the sub-bituminous coal of Vietnam / Dr Thanh Son Nguyen Vinacomin,Viet Nam 12:10-13:40 Wildrose salon A Lunch 13:40-15:00 Wildrose salon C Session VII Sensitivity Analysis of Geomechanical Response of UCG Cavity Considering Syngas Pressure and Therma Stress / Mr. Hossein Akbarzadeh - University of Alberta, Canada A Fully Integrated, 3-D Multiphysics Simulator Applied to the Rocky Mountain 1 UCG Field Test / Dr. David Camp - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, United States 15:00-15:30 Wildrose salon C Close and discussion 6