Coal : Fuel of the Past or Fuel for the Future Tomasz S. Wiltowski Advanced Coal and Energy Research Center and Department of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL Clean Coal Technologies

Grand Challenges for Next 50 Years Grand Challenges for Next 50 Years from Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley ( ) 1.ENERGY 2.WATER 3.FOOD 4.ENVIRONMENT 5.POVERTY 6.TERRORISM & WAR 7.DISEASE 8.EDUCATION 9.DEMOCRACY 10.POPULATION Billion People 2050 ~ 10 Billion People

Crowded the United States population on May 15, 2015 was: 315,857,050 the World population on May 15, 2015 was 7,085,613, Mumbai, India - Rush Hour China = 1.37B India = 1.17B America = 0.94B Africa = 0.92B Europe = 0.82B The Rest = 1.56B US growth rate 18 births every 4 minutes World growth rate 615 births every 4 minutes

Our Interest - Sustainable Development “development that meets the needs of the present generation without undermining the capacity of future generations to meet their needs.” Coal’s Sustainability Challenge Economic and social criteria make a compelling case for coal – the issue is environmental performance Climate change concerns present a complex challenge for the continuing use of fossil fuels and coal in particular Climate change concerns present a complex challenge for the continuing use of fossil fuels and coal in particular

Clean Coal Technologies: -Gasification -Oxycombustion -Chemical Looping -Coal to Liquids -CO 2

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) Gasification is essentially partial oxidation under pressure

IGCC + Carbon Capture and Storage

IGCC + CCS + Poly generation

Barriers to IGCC Commercial Deployment Cost → 10-20% penalty for bituminous coal Traditional PC can meet current environmental standards IGCC financing costs higher than PC – perceived risk profile No reward for risk taking – new plants largely being built by regulated utilities Excess capacity in many regions - NGCC overbuild IGCC needs more project development than NGCC or PC – To date no standard IGCC design - this will change with GE entry Lack of familiarity with IGCC in the power industry (it is a chemical plant)

“NOVEL” COAL COMBUSTION

Combustion Efficiency and Pollutants Emission Improving efficiency levels increases the amount of energy that can be extracted from a single unit of coal. Increases in the efficiency of electricity generation are essential in tackling climate change.

Background  In most conventional combustion processes, air is used as the source of oxygen;  Nitrogen is not necessary for combustion and causes problems by reacting with oxygen at combustion temperature;  A high concentration of nitrogen in the flue gas can make CO 2 capture unattractive;  With the current push for CO 2 sequestration to ease climate change, it is imperative to develop cost-effective processes that enable CO 2 capture;  The use of pure oxygen in the combustion process instead of air eliminates the presence of nitrogen in the flue gas, but combustion with pure oxygen results in very high temperatures

Oxycombustion

Coal

Oxycombustion

Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) (CLC) Chemical looping combustion (CLC) has emerged as one of the most promising technologies for low-cost CO 2 capture technologies for solid fuels. CLC provides the possibility of CO 2 capture without the requirement of an air separation unit or an absorption process.

What is Chemical Looping Basic concept

What is Chemical Looping and does it work?

Limestone based Chemical Looping Process

Chemical Looping features:  up to 100% CO 2 capture efficiency,  highly concentrated stream of CO 2 ready for sequestration,  no NOx emissions,  no costs or energy penalties for gas separation,  CLC uses well-established boiler technology, which means that costs can be assessed with great accuracy, and

higher efficiency is because chemical looping systems use solids to carry the oxygen in and out of the process, leaving essentially no thermodynamic penalty associated with either the carbon separation or oxygen production. Efficiency of Chemical Looping CRITICAL PROBLEM WITH SOLID FUEL: Can the fuel particles and oxygen carrier particles be readily separated? If not, there is carryover of solid fuel to the oxidation reactor and emission of CO 2 in the air regenerating the carrier particles. Hence, solids require a modified strategy

FISHER – TROPSCH Synthesis Of Liquid Fuels

Synfuels: 1-2 barrels of oil per ton of coal Coal To Transportation Liquids (CTL) Coal Gasification Fischer-Tropsch

What are the challenges that must be overcome before coal to liquids becomes a reality? 1. Uncertainty regarding crude oil prices-oil at $70, make a bundle: oil at $40 lose your shirt. 2. Reducing the cost of conversion process: some uncertainty remains. 3. Climate change: coal releases more CO 2 than other fuels. CO 2 injection? CO 2 conversion? 4. Usage in engines-who will certify fuels?

CO 2 emissions vs fuel type NREL technical report NREL/TP lbs per MWh Coal Natural gas

CO 2 Chemical Utilization CO 2 High-added Value materials Organic carbonates & carboxylates organics Renewable fuels & chemicals CH 4. CH 4, CH 3 OH, HCOOH h H2OH2O Chemicals Light olefins ODH Synfuels CH 3 OH CH 3 OCH 3 HCOOH H2H2 Syngas H 2 /CO RWGS Synfuels Hydrocarbons & alcohols FT Dry Reforming

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