WABASH RIVER INTEGRATED METHANOL AND POWER PRODUCTION FROM CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGIES (IMPPCCT)

Abstract

The Wabash River Integrated Methanol and Power Production from Clean Coal Technologies (IMPPCCT) project is evaluating integrated electrical power generation and methanol production through clean coal technologies. The project is conducted by a multi-industry team lead previously by Gasification Engineering Corporation (GEC). The project is now under the leadership of ConocoPhillips Company (COP) after it acquired GEC and the E-Gas{trademark} gasification technology from Global Energy in July 2003. The Phase I of this project was supported by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Methanex Corporation, and Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation, while the Phase II is supported by Gas Technology Institute, TDA Research, Inc., and Nucon International, Inc. The two project phases planned for execution include: (1) Feasibility study and conceptual design for an integrated demonstration facility at Global Energy's existing Wabash River Energy Limited (WREL) plant in West Terre Haute, Indiana, and for a fence-line commercial embodiment plants (CEP) operated at Dow Chemical or Dow Corning chemical plant locations (2) Research, development, and testing (RD&T) to define any technology gaps or critical design and integration issues. The WREL facility was designed, constructed, and operated under a project selected and co-funded under the Round IV ofmore » the United States Department of Energy's (DOE's) Clean Coal Technology Program. In this project, coal and/or other solid fuel feedstocks are gasified in an oxygen-blown, entrained-flow gasifier with continuous slag removal and a dry particulate removal system. The resulting product synthesis gas is used to fuel a combustion turbine generator whose exhaust is integrated with a heat recovery steam generator to drive a refurbished steam turbine generator. The gasifier uses technology initially developed by The Dow Chemical Company (the Destec Gasification Process), and now acquired and offered commercially by COP as the E-GAS{trademark} technology. In a joint effort with the DOE, a Cooperative Agreement was awarded under the Early Entrance Coproduction Plant (EECP) solicitation. GEC, and now COP and the industrial partners are investigating the use of synthesis gas produced by the E-GAS{trademark} technology in a coproduction environment to enhance the efficiency and productivity of solid fuel gasification combined cycle power plants. The objectives of this effort are to determine the feasibility of an EECP located at a specific site which produces some combination of electric power (or heat), fuels, and/or chemicals from synthesis gas derived from coal, or, coal in combination with some other carbonaceous feedstock. The project's intended result is to provide the necessary technical, economic, and environmental information that will be needed to move the EECP forward to detailed design, construction, and operation by industry.« less