Clean Coal Technology Project Produces First Methanol from Coal

July Dedication Planned in Kingsport, TN

A unique commercial facility is now testing a process for producing methanol from coal which lowers costs and demonstrates environmental stewardship.

Operation of the Liquid Phase Methanol (LPMEOH^TM) Process facility is now underway at Eastman Chemical Company's coal gasification facility in Kingsport, Tennessee. The latest facility to begin test runs in the Department of Energy's (DOE) Clean Coal Technology Program has met with immediate success.

The demonstration facility, a 25 to 1 size scale-up of a liquid phase coal-to-methanol conversion system pioneered in DOE's R&D program, quickly achieved one of its initial performance targets by producing methanol at an 80,000 gallon-per-day rate. The demonstration facility has also met expectations by completing over 700 hours of stable operation.

The facility's dedication will be held on July 25th.

Coal-derived methanol, free of sulfur and other impurities, can be used today for producing MTBE, an octane improving additive for reformulated gasoline. In the future, the methanol could serve as a replacement for petroleum in transportation, a peaking fuel in combustion turbines at gasification combined cycle power plants, a fuel which could be used in remote locations -- such as a hydrogen source for small fuel cells -- or as a chemical feedstock.

The next operational goal at the facility is to maximize methanol production beyond 80,000 gallons-per-day, and to demonstrate long-term catalyst life while operating with the coal-derived synthesis gas. Over the next four years, the liquid phase reactor system will be tested over a wide range of operating conditions to gain commercial acceptance of the LPMEOH^TM technology.

The LPMEOH^TM Demonstration Project at Kingsport, Tennessee, is the result of a cooperative agreement under the Clean Coal Technology Program between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Air Products Liquid Phase Conversion Company, L.P., a partnership between Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., and Eastman. This demonstration represents a major achievement in more than 10 years of joint federal/industry research in indirect coal liquefaction.

The concept was proven by Air Products in over 8,000 hours of operation in the Energy Department's 3,200 gallon-per-day facility in LaPorte, Texas. Design of the LPMEOH^TM demonstration facility in Kingsport began in October 1995 -- construction was completed in January 1997 -- and demonstration operations began in April. The total cost for this phase of the project was $35 million.

The Energy Department's Federal Energy Technology Center manages this commercial demonstration of the LPMEOH^TM process as part of the Clean Coal Technology Program. The project was selected in the Third Round of the Clean Coal Technology Program to enhance the economics and efficiency of integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) electric power generation.

The IGCC technology is being demonstrated in four other Clean Coal Technology Program project sites as one of the cleanest and most efficient of 21st century power-generating options. The LPMEOH^TM technology strengthens the IGCC option by allowing the manufacture and sale of two products: electricity and methanol.

As developed under the Clean Coal Technology Program, these technologies, either individually or in combination, will be able to fill local needs for electric power, transportation fuels, and manufactured chemical products, all from a domestic -- and locally produced -- resource.

Because Eastman's coal gasification facility has been commercially producing synthesis gas from Eastern high-sulfur bituminous coal since 1983, the Kingsport demonstration provides an opportunity to show, at full commercial scale, the advantages of liquid phase reactors as a cost-effective alternative to conventional fixed-bed methanol production systems.

The demonstration technology's novel reactor combines the reaction and heat-removal systems, distinguishing the LPMEOH^TM process from other commercial methanol-production processes which send synthesis gas through a fixed bed of dry catalyst particles. In contrast to fixed beds, the liquid phase consists of a micron-size, temperature-sensitive methanol catalyst suspended in an inert mineral oil. The liquid phase reactor provides a significant improvement, particularly for methanol catalysts where strict temperature control is needed. Because of this superior heat management capability, the LPMEOH^TM reaction vessel can directly handle the carbon monoxide-rich synthesis gas typically produced in modern gasifiers.

Liquid phase reactor technology can be used to lower costs for other indirect liquefaction applications to produce no-sulfur aromatic-free, high-octane diesel transportation fuels such as Fischer-Tropsch diesel or dimethyl ether.

A carefully prepared test plan will allow the LPMEOH^TM facility operations at Kingsport to simulate the typical electric power demand cycles in coal-based IGCC facilities. The LPMEOH^TM process can take advantage of periods of low electricity power demand by producing, and storing, methanol. This methanol is immediately available to generate electricity when the utility faces its next period of high power demand. This step will increase the utilization of gasifier capacity and lower the utility's costs.

The operations will also demonstrate the enhanced stability and heat dissipation of the conversion process, its reliable on/off operation when the cyclical power demand decreases and increases, and its ability to produce methanol suitable for use as a fuel -- or a precursor to MTBE -- without additional upgrading.

Cost-savings are realized when utilities manufacture and sell two products: electricity and methanol. Based on recent economics, a commercial-scale IGCC coproduction facility generating 426 MWe of electric power could also manufacture 152,000 gallons per day of methanol at a cost of about 45 to 50 cents per gallon. This compares favorably to new world-scale chemical-grade methanol plants -- producing 700,000 to 900,000 gallons-per-day -- having a U.S. Gulf Coast delivered cost of 55 to 60 cents per gallon.

Joining Air Products and Eastman in the demonstration project is Acurex Environmental Corporation, providing co-funding and methanol fuel testing services, and the Electric Power Research Institute, providing guidance for commercial acceptance. While Eastman will use a majority of the methanol produced as a chemical feedstock on site, methanol product testing will be conducted to demonstrate how a centrally located clean coal electric power plant with methanol coproduct could provide energy services to local communities.

Off-site testing will be conducted for small modular power generators, including fuel cells; and in mobile applications to illustrate the advantages of using a clean-burning substitute fuel for buses and van pools. Methanol will also be analyzed to determine its suitability in producing methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline octane enhancer and a valuable additive in reformulated gasoline, now being used to help reduce auto emissions in heavily polluted areas in the United States.

Air Products has been actively marketing the LPMEOH^TM process for the coproduction of methanol and electric power since its successful test runs at the DOE-owned process development unit at LaPorte, Texas, in 1989.

As a result of the LPMEOHTM demonstration at Kingsport, several parties are studying the possibility of coproducing methanol with electric power using IGCC both domestically and internationally. While many of these potential projects are coal-based electric power plants, a number address different petroleum feedstocks such as coke or other high-sulfur, environmentally disadvantaged feedstocks.

Of the $213.7 million estimated cost of the LPMEOH^TM demonstration project, DOE is providing $92.7 million, or 43 percent of the cost, and the private industry participants are financing the remaining $121 million. The LPMEOH^TM process demonstration is the one of nine Clean Coal Technology projects currently in operation. Twenty-nine projects are now in operation or have completed test runs. Another 11 projects are either still in design or construction.

-End of TechLine-