Coal gasification-based integrated coproduction energy facilities
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Coal gasification is a technology that has been developed and utilized for over a half century. It was first used in Europe as an alternative to petroleum since coal was very plentiful. Several projects in the U.S. in the last decade have led to the commercial demonstration and verification of the coal gasification process. The Electric Power Research Institute embarked on a program to research, evaluate, and potentially demonstrate a coal gasification-based integrated coproduction energy facility, and released an RFP in mid 1990 as Phase I of that program. The primary goal of the program was to examine the opportunity to reduce the cost of electricity from an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Plant. Houston Lighting & Power Company is conducting a two site-specific study for the coproduction of electric power, industrial-grade methanol, agricultural grade ammonia and industrial and agricultural grade urea in a Coal Gasification-Based Integrated Coproduction Energy Facility (CG-BICEF). Several utilities responded with a desire to perform studies. HL&P recognized the opportunities available to them in coproduction because of their close proximity to the world's largest petrochemical complex located on the Houston Ship Channel. Houston Lighting & Power Company responded with a proposal in its ongoing effort to study these and other emerging technologies for electricity production. Co-participant utilities with HL&P were Central & South West Services and TU Electric. HL&P selected two sites for study, a Houston Ship Channel site, utilizing barge-delivered Illinois No. 6 coal blended with petroleum coke, and to satisfy C&SWS and TU needs, a central Texas site utilizing Texas lignite. Stone & Webster Engineering and InterFact, Inc. were engineers and consulting partners in the study. In order to cover the range of operational interests and dispatching capabilities, HL&P developed eight cases to cover the various possibilities for coproduction. Four cases involved utilizing Texas lignite and four cases involved utilizing Illinois No. 6 as fuel with petroleum coke. Each of the cases utilized the Shell coal gasification system, and were evaluated for either base load operation using G.E. 7F gas turbines and a spare gasifier or for cyclic operation using the G.E. 7E gas turbines and no spare gasifier. The sum of the coproducts produced over all eight cases were electricity, methanol ammonia, and urea, depending on location and economics