Hybrid Gasification is the New Choice - Hot Topic Hour July 16, 2009
Four strong speakers provided a very informative session covering coal gasification in the Hot Topic Hour conducted yesterday. The consensus was that gasification for the combined purpose of syngas and electricity is the near term choice rather than just electricity production. There are a number of these hybrid plants in advanced stages while the projects just to make electricity have been delayed or cancelled with only a few exceptions.
Steve Jenkins, Vice President Gasification Services, CH2M HILL, Inc, provided a good overview of IGCC with a range of fuels. One of the winners could be biomass gasification and then ethanol production.
David Wakefield, President Econo-Power International Corp. (EPIC), talked from the experience of many industrial gasifier installations. Several of these smaller gasifiers can be used in tandem for utility scale.
Thomas Reynolds, a Senior Principal Project Director in the ConocoPhillips Commercial Gasification Group, said that feedstock impact on capital cost is around 15 percent of a variable. Fuel transportation cost is significant.
Jeff Reid, Manager Business Development Gasification, Burns & McDonnell, explained the advantages of hybrid gasification and the ability to meet the characteristics of natural gas. He also volunteered that experts have been telling them that gas will be $8-10/million Btu in a year or two. So the economics of gasification will be attractive.
The bios, abstracts and photos can be viewed as follows: July 16, 2009 - Bios, Photos, Abstracts.htm
The individual slides are can be viewed as follows:
EPIC Gasification Introduction, presented by David Wakefield – Econo-Power (EPIC)
Feedstock Impact on an IGCC Plant with CO2 Capture, presented by Tom Reynolds - ConocoPhillips
What is Hybrid IGCC? Presented by Jeff Reid – Burns & McDonnell
Gasification for Power, Chemicals and Fuels, presented by Steve Jenkins – CH2M Hill