David Harris

CSIRO ENERGY TECHNOLOGY

Gasification and Syngas R&D: Underpinning clean and efficient energy products from fossil and renewable fuels

Continuing role of coal in world energy mix

Gasification for power, chemicals and fuels

Gasification of other hydrocarbon feedstocks

R&D Challenges • Feedstock properties and performance impacts

on gasification technologies – Coal & alternative feedstocks – wastes, biomass etc – Optimising design and operation of gasification and syngas technologies

• Supporting technology development and deployment – appropriate scale and cost

Outline

World energy consumption increases by 56% from 2010-2040

Fossil fuels currently 82% of world energy • Expected to decrease to ~75% by 2040

Global energy demand continues to increase Coal remains a core power source

Source: US Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2013

World energy consumption World electricity generation 2010-2040

Coal-fired electricity decreases from 40 to 35%

Gasification

Brown

EOR and CO2 storage opportunities

Gasification: a flexible enabling technology

Source: Shell 2007

• World coal gasification capacity projected to grow 120% in 2013-2016. • Plans for 250% growth by 2020.

Coal gasification capacity and planned growth

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

1940 1960 1980 2000 2020 2040

Cum

ulat

ive

Syng

as C

apac

ity

(MW

th)

Gasification Capacity

Data source: Gasification Technologies Council (2013)

2010

Gasification capacity expected to grow 70% by 2015

Strongest activity: • coal gasification • Asia & North America • Power, chemicals & synfuels products

World Gasification Capacity and Planned Growth (2010)

Feedstock Product

Region

Source: Gasification Technologies Council (2010)

2013 • Major expansion of plans in China

– 140,000MWth syngas planned in China alone • Strong emphasis on chemicals and gaseous fuels (SNG, fuel gas)

Coal Gasification Capacity and Planned Growth (2013)

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

Asia Africa North America

Europe

Syng

as (M

Wth

)

Planned

Installed

Region

0

25000

50000

75000

100000

Chemicals Liquid fuels

Power Gaseous fuels

Syng

as (M

Wth

)

Planned

Installed

Product

Source: Gasification Technologies Council (2013)

Source: IEA World Energy Outlook, 2012, 2013

Electricity demand increases by 70%

Total coal fired electricity generation increases by ~35% • Share reduces from 41% to 33% by 2035

Strong growth in China and India • China to add nearly 500GW new coal capacity

– exceeds total US and Japan capacity – 46% of world coal power generation by 2035

Renewables and gas increase significantly

World electricity production Coal remains the core fuel in future scenarios

Regional coal-fired power generation projections

• Average efficiency increases from ~35% to ~40% by 2035

• 1 percentage point improvement in efficiency for current ‘average’ plant results in 2-3% reduction in CO2 emissions

• CCS remains limited - only 56GW or 3% of total coal power with CCS by 2035.

Technology mix drives global efficiency improvements

Source: IEA World Energy Outlook 2013

(IEA, 2006)

China dominates ongoing growth in chemicals and pulp & paper • current per capita consumption in China and SE Asia is ~ 0.25 of OECD level.

Growth rates in steel & cement reduces • construction boom in China reduces, improved technology efficiency

Gasification has strong role in chemicals and plastics industries • Coal especially important as gas prices rise

Industrial energy demands Continuing growth in chemicals & fuels

Source: IEA World Energy Outlook 2013

Coal conversion pathways Syngas platform enables many commercial options

Some early projects in Australia • New Hope Coal (Qld)

– Two technologies being evaluated - direct & indirect CtL – Pyrolysis of New Acland coal for diesel, jet fuel, power – 1 tonne/h pilot scale pyrolysers being commissioned

• Latrobe Fertilisers Ltd (partner with Hubei Yihua, China) – Victorian brown coal (low cost $1-2/GJ) (2mtpa -5mtpa) – 520,000 tpa urea (stage 1), 1.3mtpa (stage 2) – Siemens gasifier(s) (Chinese build) – Planned commissioning Dec 2015

• Perdaman Chemical Company – On hold due to coal contract negotiations

• KHI – Brown coal to Hydrogen (Vic) – CCS in association with CarbonNet project – Feasibility study in progress

Coal to Products in Australia Increasing gas prices driving innovation

* Yoshino et al, Feasibility study of CO2 free hydrogen chain utilizing Australian brown coal linked with CCS, Energy Procedia 29 (2012) 701-9

KHI “CO2 free hydrogen chain” Gasification of Australian brown coal with CCS

Source: Yoshino et al, Feasibility study of CO2 free hydrogen chain utilizing Australian brown coal linked with CCS, Energy Procedia 29 (2012) 701-9

30JPY ~ US$0.30

Gasification

Brown

EOR and CO2 storage opportunities

Gasification: a flexible enabling technology

Source: Shell 2007

Gasification and syngas research

Gasification Research Topics

High pressure, high temperature coal conversion measurements • Effects of reaction conditions and coal type • Feedstock - technology matching

Fundamental investigations of gasification reactions • mechanisms, kinetics, models

Slag formation and flow

Syngas cleaning & processing

Gas separation (H2/CO2)

Technology performance models

Understanding fuel performance in gasification technologies, supporting: • Use of Australian coals in new technologies • Implementation of advanced gasification technologies in Australia • Removal of barriers to industrial scale biomass and waste gasification • Development of high efficiency IGCC-CCS and CtX systems

Interrogating the Gasification Process Laboratory investigations to understand the important processes that combine to gasify coal under practical conditions.

Larger-scale testing to ‘recombine’ process steps under process conditions

Predictive capability of gasification behaviour

Assess coals for specific gasification technologies

Develop operating strategies

Troubleshooting gasification processes

Support technology development & cost reduction

flux

O2

CO/CO2

slag

CO2 and H2O

CO + H2

Gas Analysis

Its not all about simulating the industrial process!

1/Temperature (1/K)

0.0004 0.0005 0.0006 0.0007 0.0008 0.0009 0.0010

ln(s

pecif

ic ra

te (g

g-1

s-1

))

-12

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

0

2

particle sizewall thickness

PEFR dataFBR data

CO2-char reaction rate at ‘high’ temperature CRC252

Residence time (s)

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0

Cha

r con

vers

ion

(%)

0

20

40

60

80

100

CRC272

Residence time (s)

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0

CRC281

Residence time (s)

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

1273 K1373 K1473 K1573 K1673 K

Semi anthracite Bituminous Sub bit, high vol

20 bar total pressure, 5 bar CO2 partial pressure

Thiele modulus and effectiveness factor based on observed particle morphology

‘effective’ diffusion length

Low T ‘intrinsic’ and high T ‘practical’ rate data can be reconciled when a detailed understanding of char structure is available

• Exploring technique to try and overcome well known limitation of gas adsorption and other techniques

• SAXS can probe relevant range of pore size (~0.5µm – 3Å)

• Method development – Particle size & sample density important – Representative nature of the

measurement given size of x-ray spot (~240x120µm)

– validity of the analytical methods • Preliminary results indicate measurable

changes in pore size during conversion • Opportunities for in-situ measurement

during reaction

Small and Wide Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS/WAXS) Investigation of microporosity in chars

• Volatile species (in syngas): • requirements for syngas cleaning

• Condensed phases (slag, fly ash): • Operational: slag viscosity • Utilisation/handling of slag byproducts • Physical & chemical properties: trace elements,

leaching

Slag formation and flow Coal mineral matter

Liquid slag

Condensed phases

Volatile species

Coarse slag

Fine slag

Solid ash

Quench water and/ or gas cleaning

Wall slag

Tapped slag

Fly ash

• Entrained-flow reactor – Application of transportable fundamental kinetics and

structure data

• Pilot and full scale modelling – Integration of coal performance data into process flow sheets

Coal gasification models

Gas T Particle flow

θ

(D_burner)

(L_WSR)

Conical PFR 1

PFR_width

PFR_length (i)

Conical PFR 2

WSR 2

WSR1

6 (a)

Distance from reactor top (m)

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0

Car

bon

conv

ersi

on (%

)

0

20

40

60

80

100

CRC-358 (Expt) CRC-274 (Expt) CRC-252 (Expt) CRC-358 (Model)CRC-274 (Model)CRC-252 (Model)

H2

High performance alloys have been developed: • These meet DoE performance and

cost targets

Catalytic Membrane reactor • Durability testing and performance

with ‘real’ syngas ongoing

•commercial WGS catalyst • syngas inlet temperature 350°C • > 99% CO conversion • > 85% H2 yield

Gas separation membranes Catalytic membrane reactor concept demonstrated

Energy from Waste Enabling a waste to energy industry in Australia

Fuel flexibility of gasification systems • Biomass, Wastes • Co-firing options

– Reduce seasonal and scale inefficiencies • Thermochemical technology integration

– Solar thermal/fossil fuel hybrid technologies

Transforming energy efficiency of biomass systems – Double the energy yield from sugarcane biomass – Support commercial demo plant (eg Brazil: 800,000 tpa bagasse)

Research • Waste conversion technologies; matching technologies to waste

types • Fuel preparation and handling • Demonstration of waste to syngas processes

– integration with power, SNG and FT systems etc

Increasing renewables penetration Leveraging scale and efficiency of coal R&D

Agricultural Waste • Bagasse • Cotton gin trash

Timber and forestry waste • Sawdust, woodchips etc

Urban Waste • Municipal solid waste • Green (garden) waste • Biosolids

Commercial and Industrial waste • Treated construction timber

Priority waste streams

Food and garden

Paper

Plastics

Glass

Metals

Concrete

Timber

Other

Current global MSW generation levels are approximately 1.3 billion tonnes per year The rate of production of MSW in Australia has doubled over the last decade 2 million tonnes of MSW are sent to landfill in Queensland alone each year • Energy content of MSW ≥ 6MJ/kg (LHVw)

International best practice Landfill is unsustainable

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

100

Japa

n

Tiaw

an

Sing

apor

e

Kore

a

Chin

a US

Aust

ralia

Vict

oria

New

Sou

th

Wal

es

Que

ensl

and Fu

nctio

nal E

lem

ents

of M

SW

(%)

Lanfilled

Composting

Recycling

WTE

Source: Hla et al 2014

Nippon Steel • The Largest supplier of gasification based WTE plants in Japan

• 33 in Japan, 2 in South Korea.

• Fixed bed, updraft gasifier, Co gasification.

• 23% overall efficiency

Oxygen enriched air

Reference: Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering Co., Ltd, 2013

New facility for studying gasification behaviour of wood-based material • Designed for forestry & green waste • integrated with gas-to-liquid test facilities • Can be integrated with a 25kW microturbine

CSIRO’s Research Biomass Gasifier Down draft fixed bed

High efficiency coal technologies will play a key role in achieving long term greenhouse abatement targets • Increasing efficiency is a prerequisite for effective CO2 capture and storage

Strong economic drivers for increased gasification for chemicals and fuels • Increasing domestic gas prices as export facilities come on line • ‘Waste’ to energy becoming more important

Coal properties and performance issues affect many aspects of gasification technology development, deployment and optimisation • Advanced coal science capabilities needed to support improved coal

characterisation, preparation and utilisation

R&D challenges to increase efficiency, improve reliability, reduce costs • Gasification provides a high efficiency technology platform for low emissions

energy systems – Development pathway for power, hydrogen & polygeneration systems – New research in key areas where breakthroughs will improve cost and reliability

National and international partnerships are needed to facilitate research, development, demonstration and deployment • Coordination and ‘critical mass’ are essential

Summary

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Thank you CSIRO Energy Technology David Harris Deputy Chief t +61 7 3327 4617 e david.harris@csiro.au w www.csiro.au/energy

ENERGY TECHNOLOGY