State of the Gasification Industry: Commercial Applications & Research and Development ECUST OMB Technology Conference Nanjing, 7 th November, 2016 Chris Higman
Overview Introduction Gasification database Evaluations by different criteria Worldwide R&D activities Conclusions 2
GSTC Gasification Database Maintained since 1999 by Gasification and Syngas Technologies Council Total 1014 projects, 2559 gasifiers not counting spares, of which: Commercial Projects Gasifiers GWth Syngas Operating 356 863 154 Construction 108 322 96 Planned 134 685 250 Total 598 1,870 370 Note: Total database includes shutdown gasifiers, gasifiers never built or only in pre-planning stage, as well as pilot and demonstration gasifiers. 3
Cumulative Capacity with Probable Increase 400.000 350.000 MW th Synthesis Gas 300.000 250.000 200.000 150.000 100.000 50.000 0 Planned (2020) Construction (2017) Operating (2015) 4 Source: GSTC Database, 2016
Gasification by Region 300.000 MWth Synthesis Gas 250.000 200.000 150.000 100.000 Planned (2020) Construction (2017) Operating (2015) 50.000 0 Africa/ ME Asia/ Austr. Cen./So. America Europe No. America 5 Source: GSTC Database, 2016
End Use Applications of Syngas 180,000 160,000 140,000 Planned (2020) Construction (2017) Operating (2015) MWth Synthesis Gas 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 Chemicals Liquid fuels Power Gaseous fuels 6 Source: GSTC Database, 2016
Primary Feedstocks for Gasification 350,000 MWth Synthesis Gas 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 Planned (2020) Construction (2017) Operating (2015) 50,000 0 Coal Petroleum Gas Petcoke Biomass Waste 7 Source: GSTC Database, 2016
Number of Gasifiers by Primary Feedstocks 1,600 Numbers of Gasifiers 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 Planned (2020) Construction (2017) Operating (2015) 200 0 Coal Petroleum Gas Petcoke Biomass Waste 8 Source: GSTC Database, 2016
Gasification by Technology 50,000 45,000 Planned (2020) MW th Synthesis Gas 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 Construction (2017) Operating (2015) BGL Choren MHI Prenflo TPRI TRIG Tsinghua U-Gas 0 GE Shell Lurgi ECUST SEDIN Siemens E-Gas HT-L MCSG Others 9 Source: GSTC Database, 2016
Current R&D Areas for Coal-to-Chemicals Coal Properties Relevant to Gasification Coal Preparation and Feeding Gasification Reactors Contaminant Species in Raw Syngas Syngas Coolers Primary Gas Cleaning Alternative Configurations Gas Treating Chemicals from Syngas 10
Coal Reactivity No clear standard, so difficult to compare results. Usually measured at atmospheric pressure with CO 2 or steam atmosphere. Gasifiers operate at medium to high pressure in syngas atmosphere (recycled CO present in gas). Char preparation is also critical. Much published work is routine analysis, but some fundamental work is being carried out. CSIRO, AUS; Calgary, CA; INCAR, ES; ICC, CN 11
Ash melting point issues Entrained flow Viscosity behaviour T cv Fluid temperature Temperature No-go zone Tar content Sticky ash Softening temperature Fluid bed Fixed bed Sintering behaviour Tar content in raw gas 12
Coal Ash Properties Relevant to Gasification Ash melting point prediction with FactSage ECUST, CN; Sheffield, UK Slag viscosity prediction CSIRO, AUS; ECUST, CN Sintering studies North West University, ZA; Sasol, ZA; ICC, CN Char-Slag transition Utah, US Other issues include kinetics and ash surface tension 13
Gasifier feeding Existing processes can all benefit from improvement Slurry feed: increase coal content of slurry ECUST, CN; SCUT, Guangzhou, CN; Zhejiang University, CN; KIER, KR; CSIR, Bubaneswar, IN EPRI, US Dry feed ECUST, CN; Shell, NL North West University, ZA (breakage losses for fixed beds) Solids pumps GE (Stamet); GTI R-Gas (Rocketdyne); Synfuels China, Freiberg 14
Gasification Reactors Generally proprietary development with limited release of information. Lurgi Mark Plus (DE) Shell Hybrid (NL/CN) GTI R-Gas (Rocketdyne) (US) Tsinghua (CN) ECUST Dry Feed ECUST SE (CN) Uhde Prenflo PDQ (DE) CB&I ESTR (US) 15
Trace elements in coal Partitioning (Entrained flow) CSIC, Barcelona, ES; (Fixed bed) North West University, ZA ; Sasol,ZA; Taiyuan University of Technology,CN Removal at higher temperatures (Hg) NETL, US; RTI, US (As) NETL, US; RTI, US; FZ Jülich, DE (Se) RTI, US (Alkalis) FZ Jülich, DE 16
Other systems Catalytic gasification process Original work by Exxon 1978-1981 Now pursued by Great Point Energy Other work by CRIEPI, JP; ECUST, CN; NIAIST, JP Chemical Looping Elegant solution for CO 2 capture, but much work still to be done. Easiest application is combustion of gaseous fuel. Concepts for solid fuels are being developed. Chalmers, SE; Ohio State, US; CSIC, ES; TU Vienna, AT 17
Gas treating RTI HT Desulfurization Adsorption of sulfur species on zinc oxide in transport reactor at over 230 C Regeneration by combustion of sulfur species to SO 2 Tested at 0.3 MW e with real syngas under industrial conditions Demonstration at 50 MW e for Polk IGCC now completed 18 Source: Gupta, GTC 2009
Chemical from Syngas Ammonia Hydrogen Methanol and derivatives (DME, Olefins, Aromatics, Gasoline etc.) Ethanol Oxo-alcohols MEG SNG and LPG Fischer-Tropsch liquids 19
Conclusion Gasification industry is growing fast particularly in China. Chemicals synthesis is most important application. R&D is continuing at fundamental level in many parts of the world. Improved understanding at fundamental level will help industry to improve performance. 20