Saturday, December 15, 2012

What Can You Do With Coal Gasification?

Updates

December 18, 2012:  The Weyburn oil field in Canada gets its CO2 from the Dakota Gasification Corporation in Beulah, North Dakota.
The native of Croatia noted that his company operates the world's largest carbon sequestration project, the Weyburn-Midale Carbon Dioxide Project in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. The Weyburn field has been producing since the mid-1950s and currently produces 27,000 gross barrels a day. Researchers representing more than 30 countries estimate about 30 million tonnes of CO2 will be sequestered over the life of the project.
See point #3 below in the original post. 
 
Original Post
Let me count the ways:
  • ammonium sulfate, an agricultural fertilizer
  • anhydrous ammonia, a fertilizer and feedstock for various chemicals
  • carbon dioxide, for EOR
  • dephenolized cresylic acid, for pesticides, enamel solvents, epoxy resins
  • krypton and xenon gases, the former to stop Superman, otherwise specialty lighting
  • liquid nitrogen, for food processing
  • naphtha, a gasoline blend stock
  • phenol, for resins
Now, possibly a ninth: urea, a granular farm fertilizer.

At the Minot Daily News:
One of the most unique energy plants in the nation is looking at the possibility of expanding its portfolio of byproducts, which would be beneficial to not just the plant, but farmers, as well.
Dakota Gasification Co., which is a subsidiary of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, is conducting a study to determine the viability of building a urea plant at the Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah. The main product of the plant is synthetic natural gas, which is manufactured from coal through a gasification process.
The Great Plains Synfuels Plant is the only commercial-scale coal gasification plant in the United States that manufactures natural gas.

6 comments:

  1. Why is the Great Plains Synfuels Plant the only one of its kind?

    If it was a good thing why wouldn't there be more of them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know if it's "such a good thing." It's just unique. Smile.

      It's a long, complicated answer. Going to the Great Plains Synfuels Plant website ("about us") and wiki (coal gasification) you will get a better feeling for the answer to your question. Economics/pricing plays a major role.

      I would like to write much more but the subject is well beyond what I understand. If you go to the links, you will know as much about it as I do.

      If it still does not make sense, go to this site: http://www.infowars.com/forget-the-navys-26-a-gallon-the-air-force-paid-59-for-biofuel/

      Delete
  2. While they are applying all that ammonium sulfate and anhydrous ammonia into the soil they should also take all the BS about climate change spread that around too and the increased agriculture production would be unbelievable.

    ReplyDelete

  3. There are other coal gasification plants, but with different intended products.

    Eastman Chemical in Tennessee has a coal gasification plant that makes ethyl acetate, which in turn is converted into a whole spectrum of plastics and chemicals. With coal prices so low, they have some cost advantages even compared to nat gas liquids.

    Sasol in South Afric also converts coal into higher end petrol products.

    Those companies have a better story than Great Plains. Nat gas was never a higher end product, while plastics and polymers are.

    ReplyDelete