Coal Liquefaction

CTL - Liquefaction of coal & Technologies, Status - world & India

3. Coal Liquefaction
Coal can be converted to liquid fuels either by
removal of carbon or addition of hydrogen.
The first approach is known as carbonization,
and the second is known as liquefaction.
The major objective of coal liquefaction is to
produce synthetic oil to supplement the
natural sources of petroleum.

4. Coal Liquefaction
Coalliquefactionistheconversionofcoalintoa
syntheticoilinordertosupplementnatural
sourcesofpetroleum.
Itisanattractivetechnologybecause
1)Itiswelldevelopedandthuscouldbe
implementedfairlyrapidlyand
2)Therearerelativelylargequantitiesofcoal
reserves.

5. Coal Liquefaction
3.Stablesuppliesofcoal,however,arereadily
availableworldwide,andtheknown
resourcesofminablecoalarefourtimesthat
ofoil.
Hence,technologyisrequiredtomakefossil
energyconsumptionefficientand
environmentallyfriendly.

6. Why CTL……………?

7. A bit of something………
Coalliquefactionofferspromisefornationsthatare
richincoal,yetscarceinoil.
TherearefourplantsintheUnitedStatesandSouth
Africacurrentlyusingcoalasfeedstocktocreate
liquidfuels.
Aplantusingmorethan6milliontonsofcoal
annuallycouldproducemorethan3.6millionbarrels
ofDieselandNapthaannually,makingdiesel
liquefactioncompetitiveat$35to$40perbarreloil
prices.

8. Conti…..
Chinahasearmarked$15billionforcoal-to-
diesel-fuelconversionplantsandhas
targetedreplacing10percentofitsoil
importswithcoal-liquifiedoilby2013.

10. Main Funda….
Coalliquefactioncanbeaccomplishedeitherdirectly
orindirectly.
Thedifferencebetweenthesetwodifferenttypesof
coalliquefactionliesinthat
1.Indirectcoalliquefactionneedstogothrough
gasificationfirst,
2.whiledirectcoalliquefactioninvolvesmakinga
partiallyrefinedsyntheticcrudeoilfromcoal.
Itiswidelybelievedthatindirectliquefactionismore
efficientthandirectcoalliquefactiontechniques
currentlyavailable.

11. Direct Liquefaction
SingleStage
TwoStage
1.Asingle-stagedirectliquefactionprocess
producesdistillatesviaoneprimaryreactoror
atrainofreactorsinseries.
2.Atwo-stagedirectliquefactionprocessis
designedtoproducedistillatesviatwo
reactorsorreactortrainsinseries.

12. Direct Liquefaction
Theprimaryfunctionofthefirststageiscoal
dissolutionandisoperatedeitherwithouta
catalystorwithonlyalow-activitydisposable
catalyst.
Theheavycoalliquidsproducedinthisway
arehydrotreatedinthesecondstagewitha
high-activitycatalysttoproduceadditional
distillate.

15. Indirect liquefaction
Indirectliquefactioninvolvestwosteps.
Thefirststepisthecompletebreakdownofthe
coalstructurebygasification.
Thecompositionofthegasificationproductsisa
mixtureofH2andCOreferredtoassyngas.
Sulfur-containingcompoundsarealsoremoved
inthisstep.

17. Indirect liquefaction
Theresultinggasificationproductsare
reactedinthepresenceofacatalystat
relativelylowpressureandtemperature.
Thesyntheticliquidproductsinclude
paraffin's,olefinhydrocarbonsoralcohols
(particularlymethanol),dependingonthe
catalystselectedandthereactionconditions
used.

19. Types of Processes
Alternatively, coal can be converted into a
gas first, and then into a liquid, by using the
1.Fischer-Tropschprocess
2.Bergius process
3.Low Temperature Carbonization (LTC)

20. Bergius Process
TheBergiusProcessisamethodof
productionofliquidhydrocarbonsforuseas
syntheticfuelbyhydrogenationofhigh-
volatilebituminouscoalathightemperature
andpressure.
ItwasfirstdevelopedbyFriedrichBergiusin
1913.

21. Bergius Process
This process was used by Germany during
World War I and World War II and has been
explored by SASOL in South Africa.
Several other by GULF oil:-
1.SRC-I
2.and SRC-II (Solvent Refined Coal)

22. Bergius Process
Thecoalisfinelygroundanddriedinastreamof
hotgas.
Thedryproductismixedwithheavyoilrecycled
fromtheprocessalongwiththecatalystlike
tungstenormolybdenumsulfides,tinornickel
oleate.
Themixtureispumpedintoareactor.Thereaction
occursatbetween400to500°Cand20to70MPa
hydrogenpressure.Thereactionproducesheavy
oils,middleoils,gasoline,andgases.

23. Fischer-TropschProcess (FTP)
Itisanindirectroute,coalisfirstgasifiedtomake
syngas.
Next,Fischer-Tropschcatalystsareusedtoconvert
thesyngasintolighthydrocarbons(likeethane)which
arefurtherprocessedintogasolineanddiesel.
Thismethodwasusedonalargetechnicalscalein
Germanybetween1934and1945andiscurrently
beingusedbySasolinSouthAfrica.
Inadditiontocreatinggasoline,syngascanalsobe
convertedintomethanol,whichcanbeusedasafuel,
orintoafueladditive.

25. Low Temperature Carbonization (LTC)
Thisalsoconvertcoalintoaliquidfuel.
Coaliscokedattemperaturesbetween450and700°C
comparedto800to1000°Cformetallurgicalcoke.
Thesetemperaturesoptimizetheproductionofcoal
tarsricherinlighterhydrocarbonsthannormalcoal
tar.Thecoaltaristhenfurtherprocessedintofuels.
ThisprocesswasdevelopedbyLewisC.Karrick,anoil
shaletechnologistattheU.S.BureauofMinesinthe
1920s.

26. Significance of Coal Liquefaction
Coalliquefactioncansignificantlyimprove
nationalandeconomicsecuritybylessening
dependenceonforeignoilandsubstituting
plentiful,moreaffordablecoal.
canbeusedincurrentengines,leadingto
reductioninallregulatedemissions
providesafuelplatformfordevelopmentof
newgenerationcompressionignitionengines
Idealhydrocarbonfuelforfuelcells

29. World Status

30. 1.Coalliquefactionisamoresecurewayto
produceliquidfuelsthatcanhelptheU.S.
decreaserelianceonoilimports.

31. •AccordingtoarecentforecastbytheEIA,liquid
fuelsfromcoalwillaccountforabout3%ofthe
totalU.S.supplyofpetroleumproductsby2030

33. Chinabegandevelopingcoal-to-liquidfuel
technologiesinthe1980s.
Thecoalliquefactionprojectwasgivenstrategic
significanceinthemid-1990s,afterChinabecame
anetoilimporterin1993.
In1999,Chinalauncheditsfirstcoal-to-liquid
projectinPingdingshan,CentralChina'sHenan
Province.
In2001,ahigh-techresearchproject,the863
Programme,pickedupthepaceoncoal-to-liquid
fuelprojects.

34. ShenhuaGrouptooktheleadintheprocessinAugust2004.
Theprojectisdesignedtohaveanannualcapacityof5million
tons
Thefirst,designedtoproduce3.2milliontonsofoilproducts,
isscheduledforproductionby2007.
Thesecondphaseisscheduledforproductionby2010,witha
designedannualproductioncapacityof2.8milliontons.
InFebruary2006,acoalliquefactionprojectwithadesigned
initialannualcapacityof160,000tonswaslaunchedbyLu'an
GroupinTunliu,ShanxiProvince.
 Twomonthslater,YankuangGroupinitiatedahugetwo-
phasecoalliquefactionprojectinYulin.Theprojectisexpected
toreachanannualoutputof10milliontonsofoilproductsby
2020.

35. SyntroleumCorporationandLincEnergyare
planningtodevelopacoal-to-liquids(CTL)projectin
AustraliathatintegratesFischer-Tropschtechnology
withLincEnergy’sundergroundcoalgasification
(UCG)technology.
Thiswillbethefirstsuchprojecttocombinethetwo
technologiesfortheproductionofsyntheticdiesel
fromcoal.
TheCTLworkwillbepartofLincEnergy’songoing
ChinchillaProject(350kmwestofBrisbane)which
alsoincludesearlydevelopmentofanintegrated
powerplant.

36. Sasolcurrentlysuppliesabout28%ofSouthAfrica’sfuelneeds
fromcoal,savingthecountrymorethanR29billion(US5,1
billion)ayearinforeignexchange.
TheSouthAfrica’spetrochemicalsgiantispromotingits
ambitiousCoaltoLiquidtransportationfueltechnologyin
Indiathatboastsof248billiontonnesofcoalreserves.
ObservingthataCTLplantcouldproduce500-1000MWof
exportelectricitydependingontheconfiguration,hesaidfive
suchplantscouldreplace20%ofIndia’sfuelimportsby2020.
ACTLplanthavingacapacityofthreemilliontonneper
annumcouldofferacleandieselproductionof68%,Naphtha
productionof30%andLPG2%

37. Current and Potential Future CTL Worldwide
GTL Qatar: 800,000 BPD (Shell, Sasol,
ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Marathon)
Other GTL Worldwide: 480,000 BPD (includes
existing
plants and proposed plants in Iran, Russia, Australia,
and Nigeria)
CTL Sasol South Africa 150,000 BPD
CTL Sasol Potential Plants in China 160,000 BPD
Bench & pilot facilities at Rentech, Syntroleum, and
ConocoPhillips

38. Indian Scenario
OILcarriedoutin-depthstudiesregarding
conversionofvariousshalesandcoalsfromNE
Indiaintoliquidfuelandfoundthatthehigh
sulfur,lowashbituminouscoalofNEIndiais
quiteamenableforliquefaction
OILhadembarkedoncoalliquefactionproject
basedonHRI’sCoaloilco-processing
technologyandsetupa25Kg/daypilotplant
inDuliajan,Assam.

42. OIL Project Milestone

43. OIL’s Coal liquefaction Pilot Plant
Pilot plant in collaboration with HRI, USA
Coal processing capacity of the plant -25 kg/day
Plant is equipped with ebullatedbed reactor,
high pressure pumps
and vessels
Highly sophisticated -process monitoring,
control and data
acquisition with the help of PLC based control
system
Plant commissioned in March 1999
Total cost of the project -Rs. 15 crores

44. Why Coal to Liquid
Energy Security:
–Size of coal resources
–Distribution of resources
Environment
–Utilization of clean coal technology
–Sequestration technology expected
Flexibility
–Advanced technology
–Co-production capability
Economics
–Competitive with alternatives
–World oil price volatility

45. Barriers to Coal-To-Liquids
Technical
–Integrated operations of advanced CTL technologies have never been
demonstrated
Economic
–Uncertainties about future world oil production
–High capital and operations costs
–Investment risks
–Energy price volatility
Environmental
–CO2 and criteria pollutant emissions
–Expansion of coal production and requisite infrastructure (railroads, railcars,
etc.)
–Water use

46. Barriers to Coal-To-Liquids
Commercial Deployment
–Competition for critical process equipment, engineering,
and skilled labour
–Who would take the lead in commercial deployment? Part
power part liquid fuels
Social
–public resistance to coal use

47. Conclusions
ManycomplexenergychallengesfaceAmericaoverthe
nextseveraldecades
Coalcanplaykeyroleinwaysthatgobeyondpower
Generation
Technologiesexisttousecoalasfeedstockforproductionof
liquidfuels,chemicals,andhydrogen
Successfuldemonstrationsofadvancedtechnologiescould
leadtoanewgenerationofcoalplantsthatcoproduce
power,liquidfuels,chemicals,and/orhydrogenwhile
capturingandsequesteringcarbondioxide