MORE INFO Hydrogen from Coal RD&D Plan (1.72MB PDF) Coal Gasification R&D Carbon Sequestration R&D

Partial oxidation of coal is a promising technology for the production of electric power and hydrogen that uses integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) technology. There currently are no commercial demonstrations of these joint power and hydrogen plants, however. Partial oxidation, or gasification, combines coal, oxygen and steam to produce synthesis gas that is cleaned of impurities such as sulfur or mercury.

To produce hydrogen, this synthesis gas is further processed using mature water-gas shift reactor technology to increase hydrogen and convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. Hydrogen is then separated using PSA technology. Hydrogen production from coal-derived synthesis gas essentially uses the same gasification process steps currently being developed in DOE's coal-based clean electric power generation program.

To reduce costs, novel and advanced technology must be developed in all phases of the gasification through hydrogen separation phases. Carbon dioxide produced in the hydrogen production process is separated and would be removed utilizing storage technology now being developed in DOE's carbon sequestration research program.

R&D Needs

Within DOE's Hydrogen from Coal Program, novel processes need to be developed that include:

• advanced water-gas shift reactors using sulfur-tolerant catalysts to produce more hydrogen from synthesis gas at lower cost;
• novel membranes for advanced, lower cost separations of hydrogen from carbon dioxide and other contaminants;
• advanced technology concepts that combine hydrogen separation and the water-gas shift reaction; and
• technologies that utilize fewer steps to separate carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and other impurities from hydrogen.

Novel catalysts and materials must be developed for these advances to succeed. Technology and engineering studies are also required for co-production and integration of coal gasification for power production with hydrogen production and separation.

To reduce costs to produce coal-derived hydrogen, improvements are needed in the associated clean coal technologies. These include:

• advanced ion transport membrane (ITM) technology for oxygen separation from air;
• advanced cleaning of raw synthesis gas;
• improvements in gasifier design, materials and feed systems, and
• advancements in carbon dioxide capture and sequestration technology.

Joint government/industry research is needed to identify, design and demonstrate these new and advanced technologies that will reduce the cost to produce hydrogen and provide an economic alternative to current, mature technology.