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By David Treadwell
Mercersburg Magazine
Pennsylvania’s governor calls him “one of America’s most extraordinary energy pioneers.” An employee once said that working with him is like working with Thomas Edison. Other labels fit as well. Shrewd entrepreneur. Pragmatic environmentalist. Savvy energy guru. Persuasive visionary. What matters is not what John W. Rich Jr. ’71 is called but what he calls for: a realistic solution to easing American dependence on foreign energy sources. And he’s skillfully gathering an army of influential supporters to embrace and advance his solution.
What if someone could come up with a way to convert coal waste to ultraclean diesel fuel? Then, if a solution is developed, what if someone could get the federal government and the state government to help fund a pilot plant? And what if someone could get buyers in advance for a significant portion of the new diesel fuel, even before ground breaking has begun on the new plant? And what if someone armed with public funding and signed contracts could convince major investment banks to provide additional private financing? And what if someone could get people from other states interested in the same concept, creating first a ripple, then a wave of national acceptance? Good questions. Good answer: John W. Rich Jr., President of WMPI Pty. LLC, in Gilberton, Pa. Combining the entrepreneurial vision of Henry Ford with the patience of Job, he has slowly but surely seen his dream inch ever closer to reality. But…back to the beginning.
John Rich didn’t come to Mercersburg to learn how to convert coal waste to ultraclean diesel fuel. He came to play football for one postgraduate year before going on to college. “Mercersburg was more academic, more regimented than my high school,” John says. “The students had to work at a higher level. Living with students from all over the country gave me a whole new perspective.”
After Mercersburg, John attended American University for a year before transferring to the University of Colorado, from which he earned a business degree in 1975.
A Pioneering Precedent
After graduation and a rite-of-passage foray through the South Pacific and Far East, John moved back to Pennsylvania to work in the coal business at the Gilberton Coal Company, which was founded by his grandfather in 1941. “I started out on the coal preparation side: taking raw coal through the plant, cleaning it up, sizing it, and preparing it.”
Then, in the 1970s, the federal government began to respond to the nation’s energy crisis. As an example, the government created incentives to build cogeneration facilities that generated both electricity and steam.
WMPI, propelled by John’s vision, developed a process to convert the anthracite coal waste (culm) left over from the anthracite industry into electricity and steam. “We worked for six years on the development stage,” says John, “and then in December 1985 we got the funding to build one of the nation’s first independently owned waste-coal power plants in an anthracite coal region.
“We got rid of an eyesore on the terrain while producing electricity at a cheap fixed price,” says John, with justified satisfaction. And then, he adds, “When we first developed the concept, people thought we were kidding. Now, converting culm to electricity and steam has become an established industry.”
On to a Bigger Idea
Then John had an even bigger and better idea: combine two already-established technologies to convert coal waste to diesel fuel. The first process is to gasify the coal waste; the second process is to liquify the material through a technology known as Fischer-Tropsch, named after its German inventors. Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch, working in a government-funded science institute in Berlin, perfected the method in the 1920s, and the Nazis relied on it to feed their war machine.
The only company employing Fischer-Tropsch on a major scale today is South Africa’s Sasol Ltd. Over the last 50 years, the government-affiliated firm has produced nearly 1.5 billion barrels of synthetic fuel from coal, saving the country more than $5.1 billion annually in foreign exchange.
In the late 1990s, John went to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge to discuss the concept. His overtures eventually resulted in a commitment by the State of Pennsylvania to help fund $47 million of the new coal-to-oil plant costs.
The Planets Come into Alignment
Good things were happening on the federal front, even as John was dealing with Pennsylvania authorities and beginning to establish partnerships for his global venture. The Department of Energy invited firms to apply for some of the $300 million in funds available for projects that would help alleviate the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. WMPI’s application for funding ran to—this is not a misprint—3,700 pages and weighed over 80 pounds. Even more important, the in-depth proposal paid off. In August 2005, WMPI was awarded a $100 million federal grant (termed a “Clean Coal Power Initiative Grant”) and loan guarantees for its planned coal-to-oil plant. “It’s great for the area, the county, and the nation,” enthused John at the time.
John and WMPI are not going it alone. The sophisticated international team, assembled to implement a coal gasification-based liquid fuels production facility, includes:
• Shell Global Solutions U.S., as gasification technology supplier;
• Uhde GmbH, a Dortmund, Germany-based global engineering company and authorized Shell Coal Gasification Process Technology, as engineering, procurement and construction contractor;
• SASOL, a world leader in synthesis gas-based Fischer-Tropsch Liquefaction Technology, as liquefaction technology provider;
• Nexant, Inc., a Bechtel Company, as owner’s engineer;
• Chevron Texaco Products Company as work-up technology provider.
30,000 Hits and Counting
“Our website (www.ultracleanfuels.com) got 30,000 hits the day after being awarded the $100 million grant,” says John. In addition to appearing in numerous stories in the local and state media, John has been interviewed on ABC, CNBC, and the BBC. Clearly, the intriguing cost-efficient solution to easing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil has captured the public imagination.
Political Leaders on the Bandwagon
When WMPI won the $100 million Clean Coal Power Initiative grant, Pennsylvania’s political leaders weighed in.
“I am pleased my colleagues in Congress have provided this provision to develop the first coal-to-liquid fuel program in the United States,” said U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.
U.S. Senator Rick Santorum added his voice: “This provision will greatly assist our national security by improving our domestic energy supply. I am pleased this technology has the added benefit of producing environmentally friendly, ultraclean, zero-sulfur diesel fuel from waste coal.”
In a speech to the National Press Club on December 1, 2005, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell said, “Our state is home to one of America’s most extraordinary energy pioneers. John Rich is building the nation’s first waste-coal-to-diesel fuel plant in Pennsylvania. Once built, this will be the first new refinery in the United States in nearly 30 years. And it will fill tanker trucks with diesel and jet fuels and generate enough electricity to power more than 40,000 homes….Understanding that this plan has the potential to be our next Titusville, I agreed to have the state make a 10-year pledge to purchase some of the products of this plant. Of course, that was a win-win: we locked in a below-market price for diesel fuel and he locked in a purchaser. And on top of that, by using the million tons of coal waste spread across my state, this plant will vastly improve Pennsylvania’s environment.”
A Dream Is Born
Groundbreaking for the $612 million Gilberton Integrated Fuels Plant is scheduled for the spring of 2006. Construction and start-up will take three years and create 1,000 temporary jobs. Once in operation, the plant will provide 600 permanent jobs regionally.
The facility will produce 5,034 barrels per day of ultra-clean transportation liquids and 41 megawatts of electricity for export. The plant will process (reclaim) 1.4 million tons per year of anthracite coal waste.
The enthusiasm of Governor Rendell has been matched by Pennsylvania’s commitment to purchase 15–50 million gallons of clean transportation fuel annually over the next 10 years. Several trucking groups and the Department of Defense plan to buy the rest. Following the successful start-up and operation of this facility, larger-scale commercial plants capable of a 10–12-fold increase in output size are likely to be constructed. Not one to let grass grow under his feet—or coal waste lie fallow—John and members of his global team have discussed possible partnerships with industrial and political leaders in other parts of the United States, including West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming.
Lessons from a Life
Although he spent just one year at Mercersburg, it’s clear that the skills John has brought to his calling match those espoused by his alma mater. Think big. Be patient. Stay focused. See the interrelationships between, say, politics and economics and the environment. Don’t take “can’t be done” as a final answer. And, the point bears emphasis, never give up.
A Visionary Looks Back
“I’m absolutely optimistic,” says John. “We’re making headway at every step. The biggest challenge? Getting financiers comfortable with the technology. The biggest reward? Offering a major solution to the nation’s dependence upon foreign oil. We’re going to stabilize pricing; send a message to OPEC; and produce an environmentally safe product. We can do this!”
If one knows John Rich, one knows not to bet against the fulfillment of this man’s vision.
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Coal Gasification 2006: Roadmap to Commercialization
Utilis Energy, LLC
May 23, 2006
89 Pages - Pub ID: UTIL1287170 Questions About This Report?
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Coal gasification offers one of the most clean and versatile ways to convert the energy contained in coal into electricity, hydrogen, and other sources of power. Turning coal into synthetic gas isn't a new concept, in fact the basic technology dates back to World War II.
During the gasification process, coal is subjected to heat, pressure, and steam - catalysts, breaking the coal down into various gases, mostly hydrogen. The resulting gases can then be burned to generate electricity and the waste heat created by the process used for cogeneration.
Coal gasification plants are cleaner than standard pulverized coal combustion facilities, producing fewer sulfur and nitrogen byproducts, which contribute to smog and acid rain. For this reason, gasification appeals as a way to utilize relatively inexpensive and expansive coal reserves, while reducing the environment impact.
Pioneering coal gasification electric power plants are now operating commercially in the United States and in other nations. These plants produce significant quantities of syngas from a variety of feedstocks and produce a wide variety of products.
The mounting interest in coal gasification technology reflects a convergence of three changes in the electricity generation marketplace. These changes are:
1. The increasing maturity of gasification technology;
2. The extremely low emissions from Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plants, especially air emissions, and the potential for lower cost control of greenhouse gases than other coal-based systems; and
3. The recent dramatic fluctuations in the costs associated with natural gas based power, which is viewed as a major competitor to coal based power.
While the benefits of IGCC have been demonstrated by many public and private projects, there remain significant barriers to further market penetration of this technology, including:
* Price - the technology is around 20% more expensive than competing alternatives; and
* Technology risk - many of the existing systems don’t have long-term operating histories.
Even with these barriers, interest in coal gasification is at an all-time high in the US because the process has the potential to support a sizeable share of America’s future energy needs in an environmentally responsible way.
Gasification permits the utilization of US coal supplies to their fullest potential and the US has more coal than any other country in the world with estimated recoverable reserves of 275 billion tons. This represents approximately 25% of world supply and more than 250 years of supply for domestic consumption. This share of world coal reserves is in sharp contrast to the US share of global oil and natural gas reserves, which are estimated to be less than 2% and 3% respectively.
Power developers, currently faced with rising natural gas prices, increasingly restrictive emissions requirements, and a desire for fuel diversification, are re-examining their power generation portfolios and are looking toward clean coal technologies as a means to alleviate these concerns by producing electricity using US domestic coal resources.
Coal Gasification 2006: Roadmap to commercialization provides an introduction to coal gasification technology and its ability to unlock the huge energy reserves found in coal in an environmentally responsible manner. Working gasification projects in the private and public sector are discussed and recommendations are offered to provide a “roadmap” for the continued successful commercialization of this technology.
Additional Information
The Clean Coal Power Initiative
To develop new energy technologies, the Bush Administration introduced the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI) in 2002. CCPI is a technology demonstration program that fosters the efficient use of clean coal technologies in new and existing electric power generating facilities in the US. The program provides a forum for the testing of these new technologies prior to full-scale commercialization.
Early CCPI demonstrations focused on technologies that apply to existing power plants and construction of new plants. Later demonstrations are expected to include systems comprising advanced turbines, membranes, fuel cells, gasification processes, hydrogen production, and other technologies.
President Bush’s US energy program calls for an additional $2 billion in funding over the next decade for another round of the government’s 20 year old Clean Coal Technology Program. This funding is particularly important when one considers that greater than half of the over 1,000 US coal-fired power plants are more than 30 years old and will require replacement over the next 20 years.
The DOE has provided funding for coal gasification projects that have operated successfully for years in Florida and Indiana and have demonstrated the commercial viability of this technology. At the end of 2004 the DOE granted funding for two additional IGCC projects, in Florida and Minnesota, both of which are expected to further advance industry acceptance of the technology and illustrate its viability.
During President Bush’s second term, coal is expected to play a key role in US energy policy. In August 2005, President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act into law. The Act contains significant incentives to support gasification technology research and development and to accelerate commercial deployment of gasification technologies for both power generation and industrial use.
The primary incentives for this development include:
* Cost share programs (up to 50% direct grants);
* Investment tax credits (20% of project cost); and
* Federal loan guarantees (up to 80% of project costs) that in some cases (specifically tax credits and loan guarantees) can be used in combination.
Additional financial support for IGCC development came from the Bush Administration’s 2006 DOE budget that provides $56.45 million for IGCC research and development, an increase of 23% over the prior fiscal year. In addition, with the President’s ‘Clear Skies’ Initiative requiring 70% reductions of many emissions by 2018, a market for utilizing clean coal technologies over the long term is likely to evolve.
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[ California energy picture montage ]
ENERGY Glossary
Letter C
CALIFORNIA ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT - The state law originally enacted in 1970, expresses the state's concern over California's threatened wildlife, defined rare and endangered wildlife, and gave authority to the Department of Fish and Game to "identify, conserve, protect, restore, and enhance any endangered species or any threatened species and its habitat in California...." The statute is under the state Fish and Game Code as Chapter 1.5.
CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION - The state agency established by the Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act in 1974 (Public Resources Code, Sections 25000 et seq.) responsible for energy policy. The Energy Commission's five major areas of responsibilities are:
1. Forecasting future statewide energy needs
2. Licensing power plants sufficient to meet those needs
3. Promoting energy conservation and efficiency measures
4. Developing renewable and alternative energy resources, including providing assistance to develop clean transportation fuels
5. Planning for and directing state response to energy emergencies
Funding for the Commission's activities comes from the Energy Resources Program Account, Federal Petroleum Violation Escrow Account and other sources.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA - pronounced See' quah) Enacted in 1970 and amended through 1983, established state policy to maintain a high-quality environment in California and set up regulations to inhibit degradation of the environment.
CSE (CALIFORNIA SEASONAL EFFICIENCY) - See See Seasonal Efficiency.
CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION (CPUC) - A state agency created by constitutional amendment in 1911 to regulate the rates and services of more than 1,500 privately owned utilities and 20,000 transportation companies. The CPUC is an administrative agency that exercises both legislative and judicial powers; its decisions and orders may be appealed only to the California Supreme Court. The major duties of the CPUC are to regulate privately owned utilities, securing adequate service to the public at rates that are just and reasonable both to customers and shareholders of the utilities; including rates, electricity transmission lines and natural gas pipelines. The CPUC also provides electricity and natural gas forecasting, and analysis and planning of energy supply and resources. Its main headquarters are in San Francisco.
CALIFORNIA UTILITY RESEARCH COUNCIL (CURC) - Public Utilities Code, Sections 9201-9203 requires the California Energy Commission, the California Public Utilities Commission, and the investor-owned utilities (Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric) to coordinate and promote consistency of research, development and demonstration (RD&D) programs with state energy policy. The CURC provides coordination for and sharing of information on energy RD&D in California to avoid duplication of efforts.
CALL-BACK - A provision included in some power sale contracts that lets the supplier stop delivery when the power is needed to meet certain other obligations.
CALORIE - One energy calorie is equivalent to 4.2 joules. Thus, it takes 500,000 calories of energy to boil a pot of coffee. One food calorie equals 1,000 energy calories.
CALORIE (energy calorie - small "c" - as opposed to food Calorie - capital "C") Any of several approximately equal values of heat, each measured as the quantity of heat require to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius from a standard initial temperature, esp. from 3.98 degress Celsius. 14.5 degrees Celsius, or 19.5 degrees Celsius, at 1 atmosphere pressure. A calorie is the unit of heat equal to 4.184 joules.
CAPACITY - The amount of electric power for which a generating unit, generating station, or other electrical apparatus is rated either by the user or manufacturer. The term is also used for the total volume of natural gas that can flow through a pipeline over a given amount of time, considering such factors as compression and pipeline size.
There are various types of electricity capacity.:
Dependable Capacity: The systems's ability to carry the electric power for the time inrval and period specific, when related to the characteristics of the load to be supplied. Dependable capacity is determined by such factors as capability, operating power factor, weather, and portion of the load the station is to supply.
Installed (or Nameplate) Capacity: The total manufacturer-rated capacities of equipment such as turbines, generators, condensers, transformers, and other system components.
Peaking Capacity: The capacity of generating equipment intended for operation during the hours of highest daily, weekly or seasonal loads.
Purchased Capacity: The amount of energy and capacity available for purchase from outside the system
Reserve Capacity: Extra generating capacity available to meeet peak or abnormally high demands for power and to generate power during scheduled or unscheduled outages. Units available for service, but not maintained at operating temperature, are termed "cold." those units ready and avaiable for service, though not in actual operation, are termed "hot."
CAPACITY FACTOR - A percentage that tells how much of a power plant's capacity is used over time. For example, typical plant capacity factors range as high as 80 percent for geothermal and 70 percent for cogeneration.
CAPACITY RELEASE - A secondary market for capacity that is contracted by a customer which is not using all of its capacity.
CAPTIVE CUSTOMER - A customer who does not have realistic alternatives to buying power from the local utility, even if that customer had the legal right to buy from competitors.
CAULKING - Material used to make an air-tight seal by filling in cracks, such as those around windows and doors.
CARBON DIOXIDE - A colorless, odorless, non-poisonous gas that is a normal part of the air. Carbon dioxide, also called CO2, is exhaled by humans and animals and is absorbed by green growing things and by the sea.
CARBON MONOXIDE (CO) - A colorless, odorless, highly poisonous gas made up of carbon and oxygen molecules formed by the incomplete combustion of carbon or carbonaceous material, including gasoline. It is a major air pollutant on the basis of weight.
CARCINOGENS - Potential cancer-causing agents in the environment. They include among others: industrial chemical compounds found in food additives, pesticides and fertilizers, drugs, toy, household cleaners, toiletries and paints. Naturally occurring ultraviolet solar radiation is also a carcinogen.
CATALYTIC CRACKING - A refinery process that converts a high-boiling range fraction of petroleum (gas oil) to gasoline, olefin feed for alkylation, distillate, fuel oil and fuel gas by use of a catalyst and heat.
CCR - California Code of Regulations.
CELSIUS - A temperature scale based on the freezing (0 degrees) and boiling (100 degrees) points of water. Abbreviated as C in second and subsequent references in text. Formerly known as Centigrade. To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply the number by 9, divide by 5, and add 32. For example:
10 degrees Celsius x 9 = 90; 90 / 5 = 18; 18 + 32 = 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
CERTIFICATION - process by which a motor vehicle, motor vehicle engine, or motor vehicle pollution control device satisfies the criteria adopted by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) for the control of specified air contaminants from vehicular sources (Health & Safety Code, Section 39018). Certification constitutes a guarantee by the manufacturer that the engine will meet certain standards at 50,000 miles; if not, it must be replaced or repaired without change.
CFCs (CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS or CHLORINATED FLUOROCARBONS) - A family of artificially produced chemicals receiving much attention for their role in stratospheric ozone depletion. On a per molecule basis, these chemicals are several thousand times more effective as greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. Since they were introduced in the mid-1930s, CFCs have been used as refrigerants, solvents and in the production of foam material. The 1987 Montreal protocol on CFCs seeks to reduce their production by one-half by the year 1998.
CHEMICAL ENERGY - The energy generated when a chemical compound combusts, decomposes, or transforms to produce new compounds.
CHILLER - A device that cools water, usually to between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit for eventual use in cooling air.
CIRCUIT - One complete run of a set of electric conductors from a power source to various electrical devices (appliances, lights, etc.) and back to the same power source.
CLEAN FUEL VEHICLE - is frequently incorrectly used interchangeably with "alternative fuel vehicle." Generally, refers to vehicles that use low-emission, clean-burning fuels. Public Resources Code Section 25326 defines clean fuels, for purposes of the section only, as fuels designated by ARB for use in LEVs, ULEVs or ZEVs and include, but are not limited to, electricity, ethanol, hydrogen, liquefied petroleum gas, methanol, natural gas, and reformulated gasoline.
CLERESTORY - A wall with windows that is between two different (roof) levels. The windows are used to provide natural light into a building.
CLIMATE ZONE - A geographical area is the state that has particular weather patterns. These zones are used to determine the type of building standards that are required by law.
CLUNKERS - also known as gross-polluting or super- emitting vehicles, i.e., vehicles that emit far in excess of the emission standards by which the vehicle was certified when it was new.
COAL - Black or brown rock, formed under pressure from organic fossils in prehistoric times, that is mined and burned to produce heat energy.
COAL CONVERSION - Changing coal into synthetic gas or liquid fuels. See GASIFICATION.
COAL OIL - Oil that can be obtained by distilling bituminous coal.
COAL SEAM - A mass of coal, occurring naturally at a particular location, that can be commercially mined.
COAL SLURRY PIPELINE - A pipe system that transports pulverized coal suspended in water.
COP (COEFFICIENT OF PERFORMANCE) - - Used to rate the performance of a heat pump, the COP is the ratio of the rate of useful heat output delivered by the complete heat pump unit (exclusive of supplementary heating) to the corresponding rate of energy input, in consistent units and under specific conditions. [See California Code of Regulations, Title 24, Section 2-1602(c)(4)]
COGENERATOR - Cogenerators use the waste heat created by one process, for example during manufacturing, to produce steam which is used, in turn, to spin a turbine and generate electricity. Cogenerators may also be QFs.
COGENERATION - Cogeneration means the sequential use of energy for the production of electrical and useful thermal energy. The sequence can be thermal use followed by power production or the reverse, subject to the following standards:
(a) At least 5 percent of the cogeneration project's total annual energy output shall be in the form of useful thermal energy.
(b) Where useful thermal energy follows power production, the useful annual power output plus one-half the useful annual thermal energy output equals not less than 42.5 percent of any natural gas and oil energy input.
COKE - A porous solid left over after the incomplete burning of coal or of crude oil.
COKE OVEN GAS - Gas given off by coke ovens. Coke oven gas is interchangeable with goal gas.
COMBINED CYCLE PLANT - An electric generating station that uses waste heat from its gas turbines to produce steam for conventional steam turbines.
COMBINED HYDRONIC SPACE/WATER HEATING - a system in which both space heating and domestic water heating are provided by the same water heater(s).
COMBUSTION Burning - Rapid oxidation, with the release of energy in the form of heat and light.
COMFORT CONDITIONING - The process of treating air to simultaneously control its temperature, humidity, cleanliness, and distribution to meet the comfort requirements of the occupants of the conditioned space.
COMFORT ZONE - The range of temperatures over which the majority of persons feel comfortable (neither too hot nor too cold).
COMPETITIVE TRANSMISSION CHARGE - A non-bypassable charge that customers pay to a utility for the recovery of its stranded costs.
COMMERCIALIZATION - Programs or activities that increase the value or decrease the cost of integrating new products or services into the electricity sector. (See "Sustained Orderly Development.")
COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS (CNG) - natural gas that has been compressed under high pressure, typically between 2,000 and 3,600 pounds per square inch, held in a container. The gas expands when released for use as a fuel.
CONDENSATE - Liquid fuel obtained by burning gas or vapor produced from oil and gas wells.
CONDENSER - A heat exchanger in which the refrigerant, compressed to a hot gas, is condensed to liquid by rejecting heat.
CONDITIONED FLOOR AREA - The floor area of enclosed conditioned spaces on all floors measured from the interior surfaces of exterior partitions for nonresidential buildings and from the exterior surfaces of exterior partitions for residential buildings. [See California Code of Regulations, Title 24, Section 2-5302]
CONDITIONED SPACE - Enclosed space that is either directly conditioned space or indirectly conditioned space. [See California Code of Regulations, Title 24, Section 2-5302]
CONDITIONED SPACE, DIRECTLY -- An enclosed space that is provided with heating equipment that has a capacity exceeding 10 Btus/(hr-ft2), or with cooling equipment that has a capacity exceeding 10 Btus/(hr-ft2). An exception is if the heating and cooling equipment is designed and thermostatically controlled to maintain a process environment temperature less than 65 degrees Fahrenheit or greater than 85 degrees Fahrenheit for the whole space the equipment serves. [See California Code of Regulations, Title 24, Section 2- 5302]
CONDITIONED SPACE, INDIRECTLY --Enclosed space that: (1) has a greater area weighted heat transfer coefficient (u-value) between it and directly conditioned spaces than between it and the outdoors or unconditioned space; (2) has air transferred from directly conditioned space moving through it at a rate exceeding three air changes per hour.
CONDUCTANCE - The quantity of heat, in Btu's, that will flow through one square foot of material in one hour, when there is a 1 degree F temperature difference between both surfaces. Conductance values are given for a specific thickness of material, not per inch thickness.
CONDUCTION - The transfer of heat energy through a material (solid, liquid or gas) by the motion of adjacent atoms and molecules without gross displacement of the particles.
CONDUCTIVITY (k) - The quantity of heat that will flow through one square foot of homogeneous material, one inch thick, in one hour, when there is a temperature difference of one degree Fahrenheit between its surfaces.
CONGESTION - A condition that occurs when insufficient transfer capacity is available to implement all of the preferred schedules simultaneously.
CONGESTION MANAGEMENT - Alleviation of congestion by the ISO.
CONSERVATION - Steps taken to cause less energy to be used than would otherwise be the case. These steps may involve improved efficiency, avoidance of waste, reduced consumption, etc. They may involve installing equipment (such as a computer to ensure efficient energy use), modifying equipment (such as making a boiler more efficient), adding insulation, changing behavior patterns, etc.
CONTRACTS FOR DIFFERENCES (CFD) -- A type of bilateral contract where the electric generation seller is paid a fixed amount over time which is a combination of the short-term market price and an adjustment with the purchaser for the difference. For example, a generator may sell a distribution company power for ten years at 6-cents/kilowatt-hour (kWh). That power is bid into Poolco at some low /kWh value (to ensure it is always taken). The seller then gets the market clearing price from the pool and the purchaser pays the producer the difference between the Poolco selling price and 6-cents/kWh (or vice versa if the pool price should go above the contract price).
CONTRACT PATH - The most direct physical transmission tie between two interconnected entities. When utility systems interchange power, the transfer is presumed to take place across the "contract path," notwithstanding the electrical fact that power flow in the network will distribute in accordance with network flow conditions. This term can also mean to arrange for power transfer between systems. (See also Parallel path flow)
CONTINENTAL SHELF - The portion of the sea bottom that slopes gradually from the edge of a continent. Usually defined as areas where water is less than 200 meters or 600 feet deep.
CONTROL AREA - An electric power system, or a combination of electric power systems, to which a common automatic generation control (AGC) is applied to match the power output of generating units within the area to demand. The control area of the ISO is the state of California.
CONTINGENCY PLANNING - The Energy Commission's strategy to respond to impending energy emergencies such as curtailment or shortage of fuel or power because of natural disasters or the result of human or political causes, or a clear threat to public health, safety or welfare. The contingency plan specifies state actions to alleviate the impacts of a possible shortage or disruption of petroleum, natural gas or electricity. The plan is reviewed and updated at least every five years, with the last plan being adopted in 1993. Legislative authority for the California Energy Shortage Contingency Plan is found in Public Resources Code, Section 25216.5.
CONVECTION - Transferring heat by moving air, or transferring heat by means of upward motion of particles of liquid or gas heat from beneath.
CONVECTION - Heat transfer by the movement of fluid.
CONVENTIONAL GAS - Natural gas occurring in nature, as opposed to synthetic gas.
CONVERSION - device or kit by which a conventional fuel vehicle is changed to an alternative fuel vehicle.
CONVERTED VEHICLE - a vehicle originally designed to operate on gasoline that has been modified or altered to run on an alternative fuel.
CONVERSION FUEL FACTOR - A number stating units of one system in corresponding values of another system.
CONVERTER - Any technology that changes the potential energy in a fuel into a different from of energy such as heat or motion. The term also is used to mean an apparatus that changes the quantity or quality of electrical energy.
CONVECTION - Transfer by the movement of fluid.
COOLING CAPACITY, LATENT -- Available refrigerating capacity of an air conditioning unit for removing latent heat from the space to be conditioned.
COOLING CAPACITY, SENSIBLE -- Available refrigerating capacity of an air conditioning unit for removing sensible heat from the space to be conditioned.
COOLING CAPACITY, TOTAL - Available refrigerating capacity of an air conditioner for removing sensible heat and latent heat from the space to be conditioned.
COOLING DEGREE DAY - A unit of measure that indicates how heavy the air conditioning needs are under certain weather conditions.
COOLING LOAD - The rate at which heat must be extracted from a space in order to maintain the desired temperature within the space.
COOLING LOAD TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE (CLTD) - A value used in cooling load calculations for the effective temperature difference (delta T) across a wall or ceiling, which accounts for the effect of radiant heat as well as the temperature difference.
COOLING TOWER - A device for evaporatively cooling water by contact with air.
CO-OP - This is the commonly used term for a rural electric cooperative. Rural electric cooperatives generate and purchase wholesale power, arrange for the transmission of that power, and then distribute the power to serve the demand of rural customers. Co-ops typically become involved in ancillary services such as energy conservation, load management and other demand-side management programs in order to serve their customers at least cost.
COOPERATIVE (Electric utility) - A joint venture organized by consumers to make electric utility service available in their area.
CORD --A measure of volume, 4 by 4 by 8 feet, used to define amounts of stacked wood available for use as fuel. Burned, a cord of wood produces about 5 million calories of energy.
CORPORATE AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY (CAFE) - A sales-weighted average fuel mileage calculation, in terms of miles per gallon, based on city and highway fuel economy measurements performed as part of the federal emissions test procedures. CAFE requirements were instituted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (89 Statute. 902) and modified by the Automobile Fuel Efficiency Act of 1980 (94 Statute. 1821). For major manufacturers, CAFE levels in 1996 are 27.5 miles per gallon for light-duty automobiles. CAFE standards also apply to some light trucks. The Alternative Motor Fuels Act of 1988 allows for an adjusted calculation of the fuel economy of vehicles that can use alternative fuels, including fuel-flexible and dual-fuel vehicles.
CRUDE OIL - Petroleum as found in the earth, before it is refined into oil products. Also called CRUDE.
CRUDE OIL STOCKS - Stocks held at refineries and at pipeline terminals. Does not include stocks held on leases (storage facilities adjacent to the wells). In California, crude oil stocks in 1990 are approximately 18 million barrels on any given day.
CUBIC FOOT - The most common unit of measurement of natural gas volume. It equals the amount of gas required to fill a volume of one cubic foot under stated conditions of temperature, pressure and water vapor. One cubic foot of natural gas has an energy content of approximately 1,000 Btus. One hundred (100) cubic feet equals one therm (100 ft3 = 1 therm).
CFM (cubic feet per minute) - A measure of flow rate. CURIE - A measure of radioactivity.
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We provide Coal-Gasification project development services, as well as clean coal technologies, coal liquefaction, and integrated gasification combined cycle project development. Unlike most companies, we are equipment supplier/vendor neutral. This means we help our clients select the best equipment for their specific application. This approach provides our customers with superior performance, decreased operating expenses and increased return on investment.
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What is Coal-Gasification?
Coal gasification offers one of the most versatile and cleanest ways to convert the energy content of coal into electricity, hydrogen, and other energy forms.
The first pioneering coal gasification electric power plants are now operating commercially in the United States and in other nations, and many experts predict that coal gasification will be at the heart of the future generations of clean coal technology plants for several decades into the future. For example, at the core of the U.S. Department of Energy's FutureGen power plant of the future will be an advanced coal gasifier.
Rather than burning coal directly, gasification breaks down coal - or virtually any carbon-based feedstock - into its basic chemical constituents. In a modern gasifier, coal is typically exposed to hot steam and carefully controlled amounts of air or oxygen under high temperatures and pressures. Under these conditions, carbon molecules in coal break apart, setting into motion chemical reactions that typically produce a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and other gaseous compounds.
Gasification, in fact, may be one of the best ways to produce clean-burning hydrogen for tomorrow's automobiles and power-generating fuel cells. Hydrogen and other coal gases can also be used to fuel power-generating turbines or as the chemical "building blocks" for a wide range of commercial products.
The Energy Department's Office of Fossil Energy is working on coal gasifier advances that enhance efficiency, environmental performance, and reliability as well as expand the gasifier's flexibility to process a variety of feedstocks (including biomass and municipal/industrial waste).
Environmental Benefits
The environmental benefits stem from the capability to cleanse as much as 99 percent of the pollutant-forming impurities from coal-derived gases. Sulfur in coal, for example, emerges as hydrogen sulfide and can be captured by processes used today in the chemical industry. In some methods, the sulfur can be extracted in a form that can be sold commercially. Likewise, nitrogen typically exits as ammonia and can be scrubbed from the coal gas by processes that produce fertilizers or other ammonia-based chemicals.
The Office of Fossil Energy is also exploring advanced syngas cleaning and conditioning processes that are even more effective in eliminating emissions from coal gasifiers. Multi-contaminant control processes are being developed that reduce pollutants to parts-per-billion levels and are effective in cleaning mercury and other trace metals in addition to other impurities.
Coal gasification may offer a further environmental advantage in addressing concerns over the atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide.. If oxygen is used in a coal gasifier instead of air, carbon dioxide is emitted as a concentrated gas stream. In this form, it can be captured more easily and at lower costs for ultimate disposition in various sequestration approaches. (By contrast, when coal burns or is reacted in air, 80 percent of which is nitrogen, the resulting carbon dioxide is much more diluted and more costly to separate from the much larger mass of gases flowing from the combustor or gasifier.)
Efficiency Benefits
Efficiency gains are another benefit of coal gasification. In a typical coal combustion plant, heat from burning coal is used to boil water, making steam that drives a steam turbine-generator. Only a third of the energy value of coal is actually converted into electricity by most combustion plants, the rest is lost as waste heat.
A coal gasification power plant, however, typically gets dual duty from the gases it produces. First, the coal gases, cleaned of their impurities, are fired in a gas turbine - much like natural gas - to generate one source of electricity. The hot exhaust of the gas turbine is then used to generate steam for a more conventional steam turbine-generator. This dual source of electric power, called a "combined cycle," converts much more of coal's inherent energy value into useable electricity. The fuel efficiency of a coal gasification power plant can be boosted to 50 percent or more.
Future concepts that incorporate a fuel cell or fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid could achieve even higher efficiencies, perhaps in the 60 percent range, or nearly twice today's typical coal combustion plants. And if any of the remaining waste heat can be channeled into process steam or heat, perhaps for nearby factories or district heating plants, the overall fuel use efficiency of future gasification plants could reach 70 to 80 percent.
Higher efficiencies translate into more economical electric power and potential savings for ratepayers. A more efficient plant also uses less fuel to generate power, meaning that less carbon dioxide is produced. In fact, coal gasification power processes under development by the Energy Department could cut the formation of carbon dioxide by 40 percent or more compared to today's conventional coal-burning plant.
The capability to produce electricity, hydrogen, chemicals, or various combinations while virtually eliminating air pollutants and potentially greenhouse gas emissions makes coal gasification one of the most promising technologies for the energy plants of tomorrow.
Clean Coal Technology & The President's
Clean Coal Power Initiative
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During his campaign for the Presidency, George W. Bush pledged to commit $2 billion over 10 years to advance clean coal technology - a pledge he has subsequently carried out in the National Energy Policy and in budget requests to Congress.
"Clean coal technology" describes a new generation of energy processes that sharply reduce air emissions and other pollutants compared to older coal-burning systems. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the U.S. Department of Energy conducted a joint program with industry and State agencies to demonstrate the best of these new technologies at scales large enough for companies to make commercial decisions. More than 20 of the technologies tested in the original program achieved commercial success.
The early program, however, was focused on the environmental challenges of the time - primarily concerns over the impact of acid rain on forests and watersheds. In the 21st century, additional environmental concerns have emerged - the potential health impacts of trace emissions of mercury, the effects of microscopic particles on people with respiratory problems, and the potential global climate-altering impact of greenhouse gases.
With coal likely to remain one of the nation's lowest-cost electric power suppliers for the foreseeable future, President Bush has pledged a new commitment to even more advanced clean coal technologies. As the President said in presenting his National Energy Policy to the American public on May 17, 2001 , "More than half of the electricity generated in America today comes from coal. If we weren't blessed with this natural resource, we would face even greater [energy] shortages and higher prices today. Yet, coal presents an environmental challenge. So our plan funds research into new, clean coal technologies."
Building on the successes of the original program, the new clean coal initiative encompasses a broad spectrum of research and large-scale projects that target today's most pressing environmental challenges.
Initially, the demonstration portion of the program, the Clean Coal Power Initiative, is providing government co-financing for new coal technologies that can help utilities meet the President's Clear Skies Initiative to cut sulfur, nitrogen and mercury pollutants from power plants by nearly 70 percent by the year 2018. Also, some of the early projects are showing ways to reduce greenhouse gases from coal plants by boosting the efficiency at which they convert coal to electricity or other energy forms.
Coal gasification offers one of the most versatile and cleanest ways to convert the energy content of coal into electricity, hydrogen, and other energy forms.
The first pioneering coal gasification electric power plants are now operating commercially in the United States and in other nations, and many experts predict that coal gasification will be at the heart of the future generations of clean coal technology plants for several decades into the future. For example, at the core of the U.S. Department of Energy's FutureGen power plant of the future will be an advanced coal gasifier.
Rather than burning coal directly, gasification breaks down coal - or virtually any carbon-based feedstock - into its basic chemical constituents. In a modern gasifier, coal is typically exposed to hot steam and carefully controlled amounts of air or oxygen under high temperatures and pressures. Under these conditions, carbon molecules in coal break apart, setting into motion chemical reactions that typically produce a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and other gaseous compounds.
Gasification, in fact, may be one of the best ways to produce clean-burning hydrogen for tomorrow's automobiles and power-generating fuel cells. Hydrogen and other coal gases can also be used to fuel power-generating turbines or as the chemical "building blocks" for a wide range of commercial products.
The Energy Department's Office of Fossil Energy is working on coal gasifier advances that enhance efficiency, environmental performance, and reliability as well as expand the gasifier's flexibility to process a variety of feedstocks (including biomass and municipal/industrial waste).
Environmental Benefits
The environmental benefits stem from the capability to cleanse as much as 99 percent of the pollutant-forming impurities from coal-derived gases. Sulfur in coal, for example, emerges as hydrogen sulfide and can be captured by processes used today in the chemical industry. In some methods, the sulfur can be extracted in a form that can be sold commercially. Likewise, nitrogen typically exits as ammonia and can be scrubbed from the coal gas by processes that produce fertilizers or other ammonia-based chemicals.
The Office of Fossil Energy is also exploring advanced syngas cleaning and conditioning processes that are even more effective in eliminating emissions from coal gasifiers. Multi-contaminant control processes are being developed that reduce pollutants to parts-per-billion levels and are effective in cleaning mercury and other trace metals in addition to other impurities.
Coal gasification may offer a further environmental advantage in addressing concerns over the atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide.. If oxygen is used in a coal gasifier instead of air, carbon dioxide is emitted as a concentrated gas stream. In this form, it can be captured more easily and at lower costs for ultimate disposition in various sequestration approaches. (By contrast, when coal burns or is reacted in air, 80 percent of which is nitrogen, the resulting carbon dioxide is much more diluted and more costly to separate from the much larger mass of gases flowing from the combustor or gasifier.)
Efficiency Benefits
Efficiency gains are another benefit of coal gasification. In a typical coal combustion plant, heat from burning coal is used to boil water, making steam that drives a steam turbine-generator. Only a third of the energy value of coal is actually converted into electricity by most combustion plants, the rest is lost as waste heat.
A coal gasification power plant, however, typically gets dual duty from the gases it produces. First, the coal gases, cleaned of their impurities, are fired in a gas turbine - much like natural gas - to generate one source of electricity. The hot exhaust of the gas turbine is then used to generate steam for a more conventional steam turbine-generator. This dual source of electric power, called a "combined cycle," converts much more of coal's inherent energy value into useable electricity. The fuel efficiency of a coal gasification power plant can be boosted to 50 percent or more.
Future concepts that incorporate a fuel cell or fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid could achieve even higher efficiencies, perhaps in the 60 percent range, or nearly twice today's typical coal combustion plants. And if any of the remaining waste heat can be channeled into process steam or heat, perhaps for nearby factories or district heating plants, the overall fuel use efficiency of future gasification plants could reach 70 to 80 percent.
Higher efficiencies translate into more economical electric power and potential savings for ratepayers. A more efficient plant also uses less fuel to generate power, meaning that less carbon dioxide is produced. In fact, coal gasification power processes under development by the Energy Department could cut the formation of carbon dioxide by 40 percent or more compared to today's conventional coal-burning plant.
The capability to produce electricity, hydrogen, chemicals, or various combinations while virtually eliminating air pollutants and potentially greenhouse gas emissions makes coal gasification one of the most promising technologies for the energy plants of tomorrow.
COAL is our most abundant fossil fuel. The United States has more coal than the rest of the world has oil. There is still enough coal underground in this country to provide energy for the next 200 to 300 years.
But coal is not a perfect fuel.
Trapped inside coal are traces of impurities like sulfur and nitrogen. When coal burns, these impurities are released into the air.
While floating in the air, these substances can combine with water vapor (for example, in clouds) and form droplets that fall to earth as weak forms of sulfuric and nitric acid – scientists call it "acid rain."
There are also tiny specks of minerals – including common dirt – mixed in coal. These tiny particles don't burn and make up the ash left behind in a coal combustor. Some of the tiny particles also get caught up in the swirling combustion gases and, along with water vapor, form the smoke that comes out of a coal plant's smokestack. Some of these particles are so small that 30 of them laid side-by-side would barely equal the width of a human hair!
Also, coal like all fossil fuels is formed out of carbon. All living things - even people - are made up of carbon. (Remember - coal started out as living plants.) But when coal burns, its carbon combines with oxygen in the air and forms carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a colorless, odorless gas, but in the atmosphere, it is one of several gases that can trap the earth's heat. Many scientists believe this is causing the earth's temperature to rise, and this warming could be altering the earth's climate (read more about the "greenhouse effect").
Sounds like coal is a dirty fuel to burn. Many years ago, it was. But things have changed. Especially in the last 20 years, scientists have developed ways to capture the pollutants trapped in coal before the impurities can escape into the atmosphere. Today, we have technology that can filter out 99 percent of the tiny particles and remove more than 95 percent of the acid rain pollutants in coal.
We also have new technologies that cut back on the release of carbon dioxide by burning coal more efficiently.
Many of these technologies belong to a family of energy systems called "clean coal technologies." Since the mid-1980s, the U.S. Government has invested more than $2 billion in developing and testing these processes in power plants and factories around the country. Private companies and State governments have been part of this program. In fact, they have contributed more than $4 billion to these projects.
How do you make coal cleaner?
Actually there are several ways.
Take sulfur, for example. Sulfur is a yellowish substance that exists in tiny amounts in coal. In some coals found in Ohio , Pennsylvania , West Virginia and other eastern states, sulfur makes up from 3 to 10 percent of the weight of coal.
For some coals found in Wyoming , Montana and other western states (as well as some places in the East), the sulfur can be only 1/100ths (or less than 1 percent) of the weight of the coal. Still, it is important that most of this sulfur be removed before it goes up a power plant's smokestack.
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Coal Molecule
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Although coal is primarily a mixture of carbon (black) and hydrogen (red) atoms, sulfur atoms (yellow) are also trapped in coal, primarily in two forms. In one form, the sulfur is a separate particle often linked with iron (green) with no connection to the carbon atoms, as in the center of the drawing. In the second form, sulfur is chemically bound to the carbon atoms, such as in the upper left.
One way is to clean the coal before it arrives at the power plant. One of the ways this is done is by simply crushing the coal into small chunks and washing it. Some of the sulfur that exists in tiny specks in coal (called "pyritic sulfur " because it is combined with iron to form iron pyrite, otherwise known as "fool's gold) can be washed out of the coal in this manner. Typically, in one washing process, the coal chunks are fed into a large water-filled tank. The coal floats to the surface while the sulfur impurities sink. There are facilities around the country called "coal preparation plants" that clean coal this way.
Not all of coal's sulfur can be removed like this, however. Some of the sulfur in coal is actually chemically connected to coal's carbon molecules instead of existing as separate particles. This type of sulfur is called "organic sulfur," and washing won't remove it. Several process have been tested to mix the coal with chemicals that break the sulfur away from the coal molecules, but most of these processes have proven too expensive. Scientists are still working to reduce the cost of these chemical cleaning processes.
Most modern power plants — and all plants built after 1978 — are required to have special devices installed that clean the sulfur from the coal's combustion gases before the gases go up the smokestack. The technical name for these devices is "flue gas desulfurization units," but most people just call them "scrubbers" — because they "scrub" the sulfur out of the smoke released by coal-burning boilers.
How do scrubbers work?
Most scrubbers rely on a very common substance found in nature called "limestone." We literally have mountains of limestone throughout this country. When crushed and processed, limestone can be made into a white powder. Limestone can be made to absorb sulfur gases under the right conditions — much like a sponge absorbs water.
In most scrubbers, limestone (or another similar material called lime) is mixed with water and sprayed into the coal combustion gases (called "flue gases"). The limestone captures the sulfur and "pulls" it out of the gases. The limestone and sulfur combine with each other to form either a wet paste (it looks like toothpaste!), or in some newer scrubbers, a dry powder. In either case, the sulfur is trapped and prevented from escaping into the air.
The Clean Coal Technology Program tested several new types of scrubbers that proved to be more effective, lower cost, and more reliable than older scrubbers. The program also tested other types of devices that sprayed limestone inside the tubing (or "ductwork') of a power plant to absorb sulfur pollutants.
But what about nitrogen pollutants? That's another part of the Clean Coal story.
Knocking the Nitrogen Oxides Out of Coal
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How Nitrogen Oxides Form
Formation of NOx
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Air is mostly nitrogen molecules (green in the above diagram) and oxygen molecules (purple). When heated hot enough (around 3000 degrees F), the molecules break apart and oxygen atoms link with the nitrogen atoms to form NOx, an air pollutant.
Nitrogen is the most common part of the air we breathe. In fact, about 80% of the air is nitrogen. Normally, nitrogen atoms float around joined to each other like chemical couples. But when air is heated — in a coal boiler's flame, for example — these nitrogen atoms break apart and join with oxygen. This forms "nitrogen oxides" — or, as it is sometimes called, "NOx" (rhymes with "socks"). NOx can also be formed from the atoms of nitrogen that are trapped inside coal.
In the air, NOx is a pollutant. It can cause smog, the brown haze you sometimes see around big cities. It is also one of the pollutants that forms "acid rain." And it can help form something called "groundlevel ozone," another type of pollutant that can make the air dingy.
NOx can be produced by any fuel that burns hot enough. Automobiles, for example, produce NOx when they burn gasoline. But a lot of NOx comes from coal-burning power plants, so the Clean Coal Technology Program developed new ways to reduce this pollutant.
One of the best ways to reduce NOx is to prevent it from forming in the first place. Scientists have found ways to burn coal (and other fuels) in burners where there is more fuel than air in the hottest combustion chambers. Under these conditions, most of the oxygen in air combines with the fuel, rather than with the nitrogen. The burning mixture is then sent into a second combustion chamber where a similar process is repeated until all the fuel is burned.
This concept is called "staged combustion" because coal is burned in stages. A new family of coal burners called "low-NOx burners" has been developed using this way of burning coal. These burners can reduce the amount of NOx released into the air by more than half. Today, because of research and the Clean Coal Technology Program, more than half of all the large coal-burning boilers in the United States will be using these types of burners. By the year 2000, more than 3 out of every four boilers will have been outfitted with these new clean coal technologies.
There is also a family of new technologies that work like "scubbers" by cleaning NOx from the flue gases (the smoke) of coal burners. Some of these devices use special chemicals called "catalysts" that break apart the NOx into non-polluting gases. Although these devices are more expensive than "low-NOx burners," they can remove up to 90 percent of NOx pollutants.
But in the future, there may be an even cleaner way to burn coal in a power plant. Or maybe, there may be a way that doesn't burn the coal at all.
Fluidized Bed Boilers
A "Bed" for Burning Coal?
It was a wet, chilly day in Washington DC in 1979 when a few scientists and engineers joined with government and college officials on the campus of Georgetown University to celebrate the completion of one of the world's most advanced coal combustors.
It was a small coal burner by today's standards, but large enough to provide heat and steam for much of the university campus. But the new boiler built beside the campus tennis courts was unlike most other boilers in the world.
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A Fluidized Bed Boiler
Fluidized Bed Combustor
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In a fluidized bed boiler, upward blowing jets of air suspend burning coal, allowing it to mix with limestone that absorbs sulfur pollutants.
It was called a "fluidized bed boiler." In a typical coal boiler, coal would be crushed into very fine particles, blown into the boiler, and ignited to form a long, lazy flame. Or in other types of boilers, the burning coal would rest on grates. But in a "fluidized bed boiler," crushed coal particles float inside the boiler, suspended on upward-blowing jets of air. The red-hot mass of floating coal — called the "bed" — would bubble and tumble around like boiling lava inside a volcano. Scientists call this being "fluidized." That's how the name "fluidized bed boiler" came about.
Why does a "fluidized bed boiler" burn coal cleaner?
There are two major reasons. One, the tumbling action allows limestone to be mixed in with the coal. Remember limestone from a couple of pages ago? Limestone is a sulfur sponge — it absorbs sulfur pollutants. As coal burns in a fluidized bed boiler, it releases sulfur. But just as rapidly, the limestone tumbling around beside the coal captures the sulfur. A chemical reaction occurs, and the sulfur gases are changed into a dry powder that can be removed from the boiler. (This dry powder — called calcium sulfate — can be processed into the wallboard we use for building walls inside our houses.)
The second reason a fluidized bed boiler burns cleaner is that it burns "cooler." Now, cooler in this sense is still pretty hot — about 1400 degrees F. But older coal boilers operate at temperatures nearly twice that (almost 3000 degrees F). Remember NOx from the page before (go back)? NOx forms when a fuel burns hot enough to break apart nitrogen molecules in the air and cause the nitrogen atoms to join with oxygen atoms. But 1400 degrees isn't hot enough for that to happen, so very little NOx forms in a fluidized bed boiler.
The result is that a fluidized bed boiler can burn very dirty coal and remove 90% or more of the sulfur and nitrogen pollutants while the coal is burning. Fluidized bed boilers can also burn just about anything else — wood, ground-up railroad ties, even soggy coffee grounds.
Today, fluidized bed boilers are operating or being built that are 10 to 20 times larger than the small unit built almost 20 years ago at Georgetown University. There are more than 300 of these boilers around this country and the world. The Clean Coal Technology Program helped test these boilers in Colorado , in Ohio and most recently, in Florida .
Ohio Power Company's Tidd Fluidized Bed Boiler
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The Ohio Power Company built this advanced pressurized fluidized bed boiler near the town of Brilliant , OH, as part of a joint project with the U.S. Department of Energy.
(Click on photo for larger version.)
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A new type of fluidized bed boiler makes a major improvement in the basic system. It encases the entire boiler inside a large pressure vessel, much like the pressure cooker used in homes for canning fruits and vegetables — except the ones used in power plants are the size of a small house! Burning coal in a "pressurized fluidized bed boiler" produces a high-pressure stream of combustion gases that can spin a gas turbine to make electricity, then boil water for a steam turbine — two sources of electricity from the same fuel!
A "pressurized fluidized bed boiler" is a more efficient way to burn coal. In fact, future boilers using this system will be able to generate 50% more electricity from coal than a regular power plant from the same amount of coal. That's like getting 3 units of power when you used to get only 2.
Because it uses less fuel to produce the same amount of power, a more efficient "pressurized fluidized bed boiler" will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) released from coal-burning power plants.
"Pressurized fluidized bed boilers" are one of the newest ways to burn coal cleanly. But there is another new way that doesn't actually burn the coal at all.
Don't think of coal as a solid black rock. Think of it as a mass of atoms. Most of the atoms are carbon. A few are hydrogen. And there are some others, like sulfur and nitrogen, mixed in. Chemists can take this mass of atoms, break it apart, and make new substances — like gas!
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The Tampa Electric Polk Power Station
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One of the most advanced - and cleanest - coal power plants in the world is Tampa Electric's Polk Power Station in Florida . Rather than burning coal, it turns coal into a gas that can be cleaned of almost all pollutants.
How do you break apart the atoms of coal? You may think it would take a sledgehammer, but actually all it takes is water and heat. Heat coal hot enough inside a big metal vessel, blast it with steam (the water), and it breaks apart. Into what?
The carbon atoms join with oxygen that is in the air (or pure oxygen can be injected into the vessel). The hydrogen atoms join with each other. The result is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen — a gas.
Now, what do you do with the gas?
You can burn it and uses the hot combustion gases to spin a gas turbine to generate electricity. The exhaust gases coming out of the gas turbine are hot enough to boil water to make steam that can spin another type of turbine to generate even more electricity. But why go to all the trouble to turn the coal into gas if all you are going to do is burn it?
A major reason is that the impurities in coal — like sulfur, nitrogen and many other trace elements — can be almost entirely filtered out when coal is changed into a gas (a process called gasification). In fact, scientists have ways to remove 99.9% of the sulfur and small dirt particles from the coal gas. Gasifying coal is one of the best ways to clean pollutants out of coal.
Another reason is that the coal gases — carbon monoxide and hydrogen — don't have to be burned. They can also be used as valuable chemicals. Scientists have developed chemical reactions that turn carbon monoxide and hydrogen into everything from liquid fuels for cars and trucks to plastic toothbrushes!
Today, in Tampa , Florida , and West Terre Haute , Indiana , there are power plants generating electricity by gasifying coal, rather than burning it. At a plant in Kingsport , Tennessee , coal gas is being used to make plastic for photographic film and to make methanol (a fuel that can be burned in automobile engines).
Coal gasification could be one of the most promising ways to use coal in the future to generate electricity and other valuable products. Yet, it is only one of an entirely new family of energy processes called "Clean Coal Technologies" — technologies that can make fossil fuels future fuels.
What is a Circulating Fluidized Bed?
A Circulating Fluidized Bed is a relatively new and evolving technology that has become a very efficient method of generating low-cost electricity while generating electricity with very low emissions and environmental impacts.
In a Circulating Fluidized Bed combustion process, crushed coal is mixed with limestone and fired in a process resembling a boiling fluid. The limestone removes the sulfur and converts it into an environmentally-benign powder that is removed with the ash.
Fluidized bed boilers are capable of burning a wide range of fuels cleanly, including biomass fuels such as wood waste.
Coal-Gasification
www.Coal-Gasification.com
Fluidized Bed Boiler
www.FluidizedBedBoiler.com
Fluidized Bed Boilers
www.FluidizedBedBoilers.com
Clean Coal Technology
www.CleanCoalTechnology.com
Zero Emission Energy
www.ZeroEmissionEnergy.com
Zero Emission Power
www.ZeroEmissionPower.com
* From the Department of Energy website with permission
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