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DOE - Fossil Energy Techline - Issued on: October 16, 1995 Methanol-Producing Clean Coal Technology Project Moves into Construction in Kingsport, TennesseeDOE, Air Products, Eastman Chemical Join in Groundbreaking for First-of-a-Kind Chemical FacilityKingsport, TN - The 31st project in the Department of Energy's Clean Coal Technology Program is now under construction. Federal, state and local officials joined with representatives of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., and Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, TN, today to officially mark the start of construction of a first-of-a-kind, demonstration facility that will make methanol from coal-derived synthesis gas. Methanol is a clean-burning liquid that can be used to power electricity-generating turbines or as a fuel for automobiles and other vehicles. It can also be a valuable feedstock for a variety of chemicals. Although most methanol today is produced from natural gas, Eastman has pioneered commercial technology at its Kingsport facility for producing it from coal. The Clean Coal Technology project will demonstrate a new, more cost-effective technology that could significantly enhance future prospects for coal-based methanol production combined with the generation of electricity. The Department of Energy's industrial partner in the project is the Air Products Liquid Phase Conversion Company, L.P., a joint venture between Air Products and Eastman. As part of the Clean Coal Technology Program, the company has designed and is now constructing the liquid phase methanol (LPMEOH) process demonstration facility as an add-on to the Kingsport complex. Following 14 months of construction, test operations of the demonstration facility are targeted to begin in December 1996 and continue until January 2001. At full output, the demonstration facility will produce 260 tons per day of methanol. The methanol will be used in a variety of applications. Eastman will use a portion of the product on site as a chemical feedstock. The company uses methanol as an intermediate chemical in the manufacture of acetic anhydride and dimethyl terephthalate. These materials, in turn, are used to produce certain plastics and chemicals. The methanol will also be tested off-site as an alternative fuel in packaged electric generators and as a transportation fuel in buses and van pools in California and West Virginia. Off-site testing of the methanol will occur from January 1998 to August 1999. In laboratory tests, the methanol product will be analyzed as a suitable feedstock for producing methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), an octane enhancer used in gasoline. MTBE is also an important additive in reformulated gasoline which is now being used to help clean the air in heavily polluted areas of the United States. Outgrowth of Federal R&D ProgramThe liquid phase methanol synthesis technology is an outgrowth of more than a decade of federally-sponsored research. The unique feature of the technology is that it converts coal-derived synthesis gas to methanol in a single vessel containing catalyst particles suspended in mineral oil. Conventional technology, by contrast, sends the synthesis gas through a fixed bed of dry catalyst particles. The liquid phase process is much better suited for directly processing the gases produced by modern-day coal gasifiers. The liquid phase technology offers other advantages over conventional technologies including greater stability and heat dissipation in the conversion process, reliable on/off operation, and the ability to use the product methanol directly as a fuel without further upgrading. In future commercial facilities, advanced coal-to-methanol processes may be a cost-enhancing option for coal gasification-based power plants. Other demonstration projects in the Clean Coal Technology Program are showing the attractiveness of the "integrated gasification-combined-cycle technology." In this approach, gas made from coal is burned in a gas turbine to generate electricity and the exhaust heat is used in a conventional steam generator. In future facilities of this type, producing methanol as a co-product during times of low-electricity demand (during night time, for example) would allow the gasifiers to operate at steady, peak performance. Methanol contains no sulfur and produces very little nitrogen oxide pollutants when burned, making it one of the cleanest combustion fuels. At a power generating facility, it could be used as a supplemental fuel for gas turbines to meet peak electricity generation requirements, or it could be sold &over the fence& to commercial fuel and chemical companies. A commercial-scale power facility might generate 200 to 350 megawatts of electricity, while also producing 150 to 1,000 tons per day of methanol. The Kingsport project may also demonstrate the production of dimethyl ether (DME) as a mixed coproduct with methanol if laboratory and pilot-scale research show promising results. If implemented, the DME would be produced during the last six months of the four-year demonstration period. DME has several commercial uses. In a storable blend with methanol, the mixture can be used as a peaking fuel in gasification-based electric power generating facilities. DME can also be used to increase the vapor pressure of methanol, making it suitable for use as a diesel engine fuel. Blends of methanol and DME can be used as chemical feedstocks for synthesizing chemicals, including new oxygenated fuel additives. The estimated cost of the advanced Clean Coal Technology project is $213.7 million. The Department of Energy is providing $92.7 million, or 43 percent of the costs, and the private sector participants are contributing $121 million, representing 57 percent. The Clean Coal Technology Program is the most ambitious joint government-industry initiative ever undertaken to develop environmentally-clean energy options for the Nation's abundant coal reserves. The Kingsport facility is the latest of the 43 projects in the program to move into construction. Currently, 26 of the projects are either operating or have completed their test runs. With demonstration facilities built or planned in 20 States, the program represents nearly $2.3 billion in federal funds, matched by more than $4.8 billion in private sector cost sharing. The Department's Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center is managing the Federal involvement in the Kingsport project. - End of TechLine - Information Contacts: Hattie Wolfe, DOE Fossil Energy Headquarters |