America's Future
Fuel: Coal-Derived SNG or Foreign LNG Imports? Fredrick D. Palmer,
senior vice president, government relations, Peabody
Energy
US natural gas end-users are betting on secure,
domestic production of substitute natural gas
(SNG) to meet future fuel and feedstock requirements
because of mounting concern over projected LNG-import
shortfalls and meeting future CO2 management regulations.
Although several IGCC projects will eventually
be built, US utilities and independent power producers
will need SNG to meet future baseload power-generation
requirements using clean, reliable and affordable
pipeline-quality SNG.
Petrochemical and fertilizer producers are determined
to keep the US domestic industries competitive
by using a steady supply of SNG at a fixed price.
US industrial consumers will be able to use SNG
in the existing natural-gas pipeline grid system.
Peabody Energy and ConocoPhillips (COP) are now
hard at work developing a commercial SNG plant
using E-Gas technology to produce 50 to 70 billion
cubic feet per year of SNG from over 2.5 million
tons per year of Kentucky coal. The plant's future
production represents as much as 1.5 trillion
cubic feet of SNG over the project's life. The
$3 billion plant will create 175 jobs at the site
and 375 coal-mining jobs. A 1,200-person peak-construction
force will build the plant, resulting in a one-time,
$229.1 million direct-economic impact.
Palmer will discuss the importance of supplementing
the US natural-gas supply with SNG and the project's
feasibility study that examines development opportunities
and reviews optimum project designs and specific
sites. A detailed engineering and design study
and a final investment decision will follow the
study.
The study will assess new design standards that
meet or exceed environmental-protection regulations,
including technology designed to lower the facility's
carbon footprint. Peabody and COP are also working
with the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium
and the Kentucky Geological Survey to examine
carbon capture and storage options.
The companies are pursuing the development of
new, US coal-derived energy supplies to meet tomorrow's
energy demand, requiring innovative ways to use
existing resources that meet US needs today. Such
efforts help strengthen energy security by increasing
and diversifying supplies in an environmentally
responsible manner.
9:30 - 10:15 AM
Siemens Receives
First US Gasifier Order from Secure Energy Harry Morehead, manager,
IGCC business development, Siemens Power Generation,
Inc. Interest in gasification continues to increase
across the World as option for power generation
and chemicals production. With the recent acquisition
of the Siemens' SFG gasification technology, Siemens
has developed the SFG-500 gasifier for IGCC and
other gasification applications where a wide range
of feedstock flexibility is needed.
This presentation will first provide an update
of Siemens gasification activities including a
review of current projects in North American and
China including the Secure Energy, Decatur, IL
SNG Project. Siemens gasification technology will
also be reviewed including development status
and results from recent gasification tests.
10:15 - 10:45 AM
Break
10:45 - 11:30 AM
Increased US SNG
Production Could Keep NatGas Prices Down Harold "Skip"
York, principal, chemicals & petroleum practice,
CRA International
Importing cheap LNG in the US has been touted
as a way to reduce pressure on domestic natural
gas prices. However, near-term LNG capacity is
unlikely to deliver sufficient volume to significantly
reduce price. A number of constraints limiting
LNG supply will remain for several years because
there is little spare liquefaction capacity globally,
contractual obligations, technical specifications
of US infrastructure and the resistance by local
population.
Given ever-tightening emission and regulatory
constraints, US power generators will continue
to turn to natural-gas combined-cycle plants to
meet future baseload requirements. This projected
growth in power-generation demand combined with
growing space heating requirements, the petrochemical
industry need for competitive feedstocks, and
the potential for natural gas to penetrate further
in the transportation-fuel market will all contribute
to significant growth in natural gas demand.
This tight supply/demand balance in the US requires
a price high enough to continue demand conservation.
US gas market price of at least $6/MMBtu makes
SNG and IGCC competitive at $3/MMBtu coal and
cheaper petroleum-coke feedstock. US production
of substitute natural gas (SNG) made from gasification
plants fed by coal, petcoke or biomass could provide
an additional economic supply source.
11:30 - 12:15 AM
SNG Could Prevent
a US Natural Gas Supply Shortfall Chris Buehler, senior
managing engineer, Exponent
The US natural gas market needs additional sources
such as coal-derived substitute natural gas (SNG)
to meet the expected shortfall and provide market
stability. Domestic natural gas demand for electric
power generation, petrochemical and fertilizer
feedstocks, and industrial, commercial and residential
heating is increasing while production remains
relatively constant.
The shortfall in US natural gas supply is expected
to grow from 3.2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in
2006 to 4.1 Tcf in 2010 and 4.6 Tcf by 2015 while
pipeline imported natural gas, predominantly from
Canada, is expected to decline from 2.9 Tcf to
2.0 Tcf over this period. Five new liquefied natural
gas (LNG) regasification facilities are currently
under construction, but LNG may not be available
because uncertainties in the global market remain.
Competition for global LNG supplies is strong
and the supplies available to the US may vary
considerably from year to year.
Increasing electric power demand and legislation
limiting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from electric
power producers will only exacerbate a natural
gas shortfall as new natural gas combined cycle
rather than coal-based integrated gasification
combined cycle plants are built to meet future
baseload demand while emitting less CO2. Nuclear
power generation is gaining traction with the
first application to build and operate a new nuclear
power plant in 30 years, but the review and approval
process is expected to take almost five years
and concerns regarding the waste remain.
The technology to produce SNG from coal and petroleum
coke is well established. The US has ample supplies
of coal and is often referred to as the "Middle
East" of coal. Prices of coal are even expected
to decrease slightly between 2006 and 2015 while
the CO2 generated during SNG production could
be used for enhanced oil recovery. Clearly, coal-derived
SNG presents an opportunity to alleviate a natural
gas shortfall.
12:15 - 1:15 PM
Lunch
1:15 - 2:00 PM
Technical Challenges
and Solutions for SNG Production Jim Jurczak, director
of gasifcation projects and senior project manager
in the energy global practice, Burns & McDonnell
Burns & McDonnell has been working with clients
on a flexible alternative to a standard IGCC project,
underlying operational flexibility to maximize
revenue potential. Jim Jurczak, Director of Gasification
projects for Burns & McDonnell, will discuss
the technical challenges associated with SNG production
and how Burns & McDonnell has worked to overcome
these challenges. Challenges include making pipeline
quality SNG, dealing with CO2 issues, requirements
of higher purity oxygen than a traditional IGCC
facility, and the challenges inherent with the
shift reaction process.
To maximize flexibility in power block operations,
the SNG plant will be able to turn down the SNG
production as much as possible to be able to have
a daily hot swing between power and SNG. Technical
considerations include meeting pipeline-quality
gas requirements, minimizing inerts in the syngas
feed to the SNG unit, as well as optimizing the
H2 / CO ratio and reactor temperatures. The design
allows for maximum SNG turndown with water / steam
side integration using steam from the shift reactor’s
SNG process.
2:00 - 2:45 PM
Convert Coal, Petcoke
into Valuable SNG Niels R. Udengaard,
principal technology specialist, Haldor Topsoe
Inc.
Rising natural gas prices have created a strong
interest in producing substitute natural gas (SNG)
from the cheaper and much more abundant coal and
petroleum coke. Coal / petcoke gasification-based
syngases is an essential step in SNG production.
SNG process technologies and catalysts were developed
and tested extensively during the 1970s until
energy cost dropped substantially in the 1980s.
A renewed interest today in basing more energy
consumption on coal and petcoke has resulted in
a revival of several older technologies that have
been enhanced to improve efficiency and lower
investment cost. Methanation is used as the final
syngas-purification step in the production of
ammonia, but methanation for SNG production is
more complex involving much higher concentrations
of CO and CO2. The high reaction heat results
in large potential adiabatic temperature rises
that may cause catalyst sintering and a possible
potential for carbon formation.
The methanation catalyst should be active and
stable at both high and low temperatures for the
methane-production processes because this is the
key problem in optimizing the coal-based SNG methanation
process. The optimal heat recovery of the reaction
heat from the methanation reaction is also critical.
The ability of the methanation catalyst to operate
at high reactor exit temperatures allows for the
production of valuable, superheated high-pressure
steam.
The Haldor Topsoe TREMP methanation process and
catalysts is characterized by its simple layout,
low investment cost, high efficiency, high SNG
product quality, and export of high-pressure superheated
steam. Power Holding's $1 billion, coal-to-SNG
plant near Mount Vernon, IL in Jefferson County,
which is scheduled to begin construction in 201008,
will be using GE gasifiers and the TREMP methanation
technology to convert over 4.0 million tons per
year of coal into pipeline-quality SNG.
2:45 -3:15 PM
Break
3:15 - 4:00 PM
Development of Enabling
Technologies: SNG Production from Coal Dr. Brian Turk, director,
RTI International
US coal reserves represent a large energy resource
that is virtually untapped, because of availability
of oil and natural gas and the convenience associated
with using these as both energy and raw chemical
resources. The infrastructure already exists to
effectively distribute these resources throughout
the country. Furthermore, US industry already
has and uses equipment and processes specifically
designed for oil and natural gas as both an energy
and raw chemical resource. Switching directly
to coal will require dramatic changes in infrastructure
and equipment within industrial plants. However,
if a methane product meeting the specifications
of pipeline natural gas can be effectively produced
from coal, this methane product (SNG) can effectively
utilize the existing infrastructure and operate
existing industrial equipment without making large
capital investments. In this scenario, the challenge
becomes managing the cost and environmental performance
of this coal conversion process. Further extrapolation
of this idea allows leveraging this technology
for coal to other energy resources, like petroleum
coke and biomass.
RTI
International (RTI) is developing a number of
enabling technologies for this conversion of coal
into methane. Because gasification will be the
primary conversion process, effective separation
technologies will be critical for separating out
the undesirable components. In field testing with
actual coal-derived synthesis gas at Eastman Chemicals
in Kingsport, TN, RTI has recently demonstrated
many elements of its warm syngas cleaning technologies
at the pilot plant-scale. RTI is also looking
at technologies to effectively separate CO2, CO,
and H2 for production of SNG meeting exiting pipeline
specifications. RTI is also exploring novel gasification
approaches and catalysts that target increased
conversion to methane and/or process intensification.
A summary of RTI's development of these enabling
technologies will be presented.
4:00 - 4:45 PM
Coal Derived Liquid
Fuels Burn As Cleanly As Natural Gas Leo Eskin, president
and chief operating officer, LPP Combustion LLC
The LPP Combustion System converts alternative
liquid fuels such as coal-derived liquids (Fischer-Tropsch
liquids), petroleum based light distillate fuel
oils (naphtha, kerosene, JP-8, diesel) and renewable
fuels (biodiesel and ethanol) into a synthetic
or substitute natural gas (SNG). This SNG (or
LPP-Gas) can be burned with low emissions in virtually
any combustion device in place of natural gas
including gas turbines, boilers, industrial burners
and process dryers.
By
combining LPP Technology with IGCC (integrated
gasification combined cycle) and the CTL (coal-to-liquids)
process, power generation and fuels production
is made more flexible and the overall plant economics
are improved. The capital cost of the plant can
be reduced because a spare gasifier train is not
be needed for coal gasification when the LPP Technology
is used. This technology allows for separation
of the ownership and operation of the CTL and
power blocks. LPP Technology also has a synergistic
relationship with IGCC technology by utilizing
the waste nitrogen stream from the air separation
unit of the coal gasification plant.
During
the production of liquid transportations fuels
from coal using the Fischer-Tropsch process, a
significant amount of byproduct naphtha is created.
This byproduct naphtha can be as much as 25% to
40% of the total amount of coal-derived-liquids
produced. This naphtha represents an opportunity
fuel for use in gas turbines to generate steam
and electricity using the LPP Combustion System.
Coal-derived naphtha can meet the current California
emission performance standard (EPS) of 1,100 lbs
CO2/MWhr if CO2 is sequestered during the CTL
process. Blending biofuels with coal-derived liquids
can also reduce a coal-based facility's CO2 footprint.
Utilities
and power producers can use coal-based liquid
fuels including naphtha and diesel to produce
SNG for gas turbines while achieving emissions
comparable to burning natural gas. Modification
of the gas turbine combustion hardware is not
required when using the LPP Technology. The LPP
System provides a solution for utilizing US coal
reserves to produce clean, reliable and cost effective
electric power while reducing the US dependence
on foreign energy sources.
