Integrating Gasification and Gas Turbine Cogeneration in Oilsands and Upgrader Projects
Manfred Klein, chair, Canadian Committee on Industrial Applications of Gas Turbines
Mr. Klein will share some examples of gas turbine cogeneration and integrated energy systems in western Canada, and how oilsands and upgrader projects in Alberta can be planned to include these concepts. He will discuss the prevention of emissions from gas turbine facilities, the importance of gasification and syngas to fuel process and cogeneration plants, and to provide a basis for CO2 capture, delivery and storage. Additional research into alternative fuels and gasification technologies, as well as enhanced gas turbine combustion, performance and reliability, can help meet Canada's developing industrial needs. Cogeneration simultaneously produces electricity and thermal energy from the same fuel in the same facility. Using Combined Heat & Power technologies, much of that heat energy is recovered and used for industrial processes, as well as for heating and cooling. Over the last 30 years, about 150 plants using natural gas and woodwaste producing over 8000 MWe have been installed across Canada, with another 5000 MWe installed or planned for the next decade in the oilsands, petrochemicals, oil & gas, refineries and other industries to provide 15% of Canada's energy needs. Clean-fueled cogen and gasification systems can have an overall energy efficiency of between 65 and 85%, and offer more than a 60% decrease in CO2 emissions compared to generation from coal-fired power plants, and more than 20% versus gas-fired combined-cycle gas turbines. When combined with gasification, these systems will improve energy efficiency to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as provide local energy security against power disruptions, and promote the wise use of natural gas and water resources.

Lunch

Meeting Canadian Hydrogen Demand Through Gasification
Christopher Buehler, senior manager, Exponent
Dr. Christopher Buehler, senior manager, Exponent, will speak on the challenge of meeting the demand for hydrogen to upgrade bitumen into synthetic crude oil (SCO) in the proposed upgrader projects in Alberta. SCO production is projected to increase significantly from 1 million b/d to 4 million b/d by 2015. To meet this tremendous rise in output, industry will have to turn to the gasification of oilsands residues such as petroleum coke and liquid asphaltenes as well as the province's coal reserves to supplement conventional hydrogen supply produced by steam reforming. Natural gas reserves can then be used primarily for export to the US and petrochemical feedstock.

Gasification System Adds Complexity When Automating Long Lake Project
Dean Taggart, DeltaV SIS technical manager, Emerson Process Management
John Kingston, process control engineer, Spartan Controls
Emerson Process Management is a global supplier of products, services, and solutions that measure, analyze, control, automate, and improve process-related operations.  The company evolved from Fisher-Rosemount, a process-automation products and technology leader.  Automating the very complex startup and shutdown of an oilsands gasification process requires tight integration of the basic process control system and the safety instrumented system (SIS). Dean Taggert, Emerson Process Management, and John Kingston, Spartan Controls, a subcontractor, will discuss how companies implement complex sequences involving tight SIS and digital control system integration.  Systems communication is critical at OPTI Canada/Nexen’s Long Lake Project that will have first production by yearend 2007.  System control at Long Lake will be examined in a case study. An OrCrude process upgrader with hydrocracking and gasification technologies can upgrade bitumen to synthetic crude oil while decreasing natural gas use, significantly reducing the largest and most variable operating cost facing in-situ oilsands project developers. Conventional, standalone steam-assisted gravity drainage operations must purchase natural gas, typically their largest input cost, to generate steam for wells. Many upgraders also need to buy natural gas to form hydrogen.

Break

Gasification R&D Activities at the CANMET Energy Technology Centre
Robin Hughes, research engineer, Natural Resources Canada
The CANMET Energy Technology Centre-Ottawa (CETC-O) houses Canada's foremost R&D facility in the field of gasification. The pilot scale CETC-O high pressure entrained flow slagging gasifier is capable of running as a liquid fed, dry fed or slurry fed gasifier. The reactor is modular in design, allowing the addition or removal of sections to investigate alternate gasification geometries. The gas treating section of the gasification pilot plant has been designed to allow the integration of third-party technologies such as advanced shift reactors, hot gas clean-up facilities, and fuel cells. The gasification research program at CANMET is dedicated to providing breakthrough technologies to improve the availability and reduce the costs of gasification technology. The presentation will provide a description of CANMET's gasification R&D program, facilities, and the results of gasification tests on Canadian oilsands feedstocks. The research program includes research initiatives such as feed preparation, reactor design (burner, refractory, & computational fluid dynamics), fuel characterization (blended & pure), hot gas clean-up (sulphur, particulate matter, trace contaminants), syngas conversion, hydrogen production and by-product utilization.

The Dodds-Roundhill Gasification Project
George White, consultant and senior advisor, Sherritt International Corp.
With the rights to approximately 12 billion tonnes of coal in western Canada, Sherritt International Corporation ("Sherritt") is well positioned to take advantage of new gasification technologies for coal. Sherritt has proposed to develop Canada's first commercial coal gasification plant, the Dodds-Roundhill Coal Gasification Project.The proposed gasification plant, when completed, would be capable of providing a number of reliable and affordable products to Alberta industry, including hydrogen and synthetic natural gas ("syngas"). The hydrogen can be used as an environmentally sustainable feedstock to upgrade bitumen from oilsands producers while the syngas can be used as a cost effective alternative to natural gas for Alberta industry. There would also be the potential to produce electricity through the addition of an Integration Gasification Combine Cycle plant, as well as provision for the capture and sale of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery projects. This environmentally responsible use of Alberta's energy resources has the capability of setting in motion an integrated energy strategy in the province to the benefit of all stakeholders.Coal gasification is a clean alternative for converting coal into energy products. It involves a gasification process that chemically converts the coal to produce hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, collectively known as synthesis gas ("syngas"). Syngas can be used as a fuel, as a petrochemical feedstock, or can be further processed into hydrogen for use by bitumen upgraders and crude oil refineries in Alberta. Other potential products include methanol and synthetic natural gas. The primary by-product of hydrogen production from coal is high-purity carbon dioxide, which can be captured and either be sequestered or used to enhance oil recovery rather than emitted directly into the atmosphere, which has obvious environmental benefits.The proposed project will include a surface coal mine and a coal gasification facility located approximately 80 km southeast of Edmonton, Alberta, and just south of the town of Tofield and village of Ryley and north of the hamlet of Round Hill. Sherritt has a long history of meeting environmental standards at its mining operations in Alberta. The application for development of the Dodds-Roundhill Coal Gasification Plant will be subject to a detailed technical review by local, provincial and federal authorities.