Lead Inventor:
Marco J. Castaldi, Ph.D.
Tech Ventures Reference: IR M06-026
Coal gasification generates hydrogen and carbon monoxide via the steam reforming reaction by heating pulverized coal mixed with water. Hydrogen may be extracted or combined with the carbon monoxide to produce fuels or petrochemicals such as methane. Use of external fuel sources during continuous operation may be avoided by combusting some generated carbon dioxide with oxygen to generate energy needed to perform gasification. Remaining carbon monoxide can be fed to the gasification to produce more hydrogen via the water gas shift reaction; carbon dioxide produced by the latter process is isolated and can be fed back to the gasification reaction to increase hydrogen generation via the Boudouard reaction. Any remaining carbon dioxide can be stored for sequestration.
Separation of gasification from combustion enables use of oxidation catalyst to increase efficiency and flexibility of fuel sources.
High efficiency gasifiers use heat from fuel combustion to power gasification. Separating gasification from combustion enables the use of catalysts incompatible with gasification to increase the oxidation efficiency of the combustion without interfering with gasification. Enabling independent control of combustion and gasification also permits optimization of each process for different fuels.
The increased efficiency of the technology has been demonstrated using an Aspen Plan simulation.
Applications:
* Generates hydrogen and carbon monoxide for various applications.
* Environmentally friendly energy or fuel production from coal or other biomass.
Advantages:
* Produces pure streams of hydrogen for use as fuel for transportation.
* Isolates carbon dioxide generated during gasification for storage or sequestration.
* Gasification and combustion can be optimized for a variety of different fuels.
* Increased efficiency of hydrogen or electricity generation.
* Can generate fuel, petrochemicals, or electricity.
* Modular technology can be scaled over a wide range of plant sizes.
Patent information: ~ see link below ~
Patent Pending (WO/2007/123776)
Licensing Status: Available for licensing and sponsored research support
Related Publications:
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M.J. Castaldi, J.P. Dooher. Investigation into a catalytically controlled reaction gasifier (CCRG) for coal to hydrogen. Intl. Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 32, Issue 17, Dec. 2007, pp. 4170-4179.
