Gasification Plays Crucial Role in Future Coal, Biomass Use

The World CTL (coal to liquids) Conference takes place in Paris on 1-3 March 2011. A wide range of thermochemical processes will be presented, including the U-Gas system licensed by Synthesis Energy Systems from GTI.

The U-GAS?gasification process produces syngas utilizing a single-stage fluidized bed gasifier. This process is highly efficient at separating carbon from waste ash, which allows for the efficient processing of all low rank coal and many coal waste products that cannot otherwise be utilized in the entrained flow and fixed bed gasifiers offered by our competitors. The ability to gasify these lower quality fuels unlocks economic advantages by allowing the use of lower quality feedstocks while maintaining high carbon conversion and clean syngas outputs. _SES

On the biomass front, Chicago will host the tcbiomass conference on 27-30 September 2011.

Building on the success of tcbiomass2009 that hosted representatives from 22 countries and 130 organizations, tcbiomass2011 will be the platform for the world's leading energy innovators to present the latest results that shape the future of biomass conversion. The conference will explore the topics of pretreatment, gasification, pyrolysis, and upgrading.

Conference participants will include industry experts, technology developers, entrepreneurs, investors, engineering companies, feedstock suppliers, government policymakers, and researchers.

Many of the same technologies to convert coal and gas to liquids (CTL and GTL) will also be used to convert biomass to liquids (BTL). The U-Gas technology is one example which can be used for multiple feedstocks.

Biomass in nature is less energy dense than coal, but can be densified using pyrolysis, torrefaction, and other methods. Such densification can be carried out near collection sites, making transportation to more central processing, combustion, or gasification plants much more economical.

Here is an example of a pyrolysis plant being built next to a Massachusetts paper plant, to provide power and heat from waste. Much early adoption of pyrolysis and gasification power plants will utilise such synergy. Many others will simply be used as a more economical alternative in the long run to landfills and simple incinerators.

But the technologies of CTL and BTL will become very important as the stifling straightjacket of faux environmentalism is thrown aside in favour of a cleaner, more abundant energy future.