Siefert et al. publish on Coal Gasification with In-situ Carbon and Sulphur Capture

In July, a collaboration between TPES and the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) yielded a publication in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal, Energy & Environmental Science. The title of the manuscript is "Molten catalytic coal gasification with in situ carbon and sulphur capture," and the authors are Nicholas Siefert, Shawn Litster, Dushyant Shekwehat (NETL/ORD), and David Berry (NETL/ORD). Various aspects of this research will be presented at the 2012 International Pittsburgh Coal Conference and the 2012 AIChE Conference in Pittsburgh, PA.

This work demonstrates a molten catalytic process for converting coal into a fuel gas consisting of roughly 20% methane and 80% hydrogen. The process uses alkali hydroxides as both catalysts and in situ CO₂ capture agents.

The hydrogen and methane rich fuel can be sent to gas turbines or solid oxide fuel cells in order to generate electricity with less than 0.5 lb of CO₂ per kWh of electricity. Recently published EPA regulations for new power plants set a maximum allowable limit of 1.0 lb of CO₂ per kWh of electricity generated. With proper sequestration of the CO₂ and H₂S captured in this process, a coal-fueled power plant could meet these new greenhouse gas emission regulations along with existing regulations on acid gas emissions.