Underground coal gasification research
The underground coal gasification (UCG) pilot plant
celebrated its first birthday on 20 January 2008. During the
first year of operation, it produced more than 13 million
cubic metres of gas, or enough to supply the heating and
cooking requirements of 330 medium-sized houses.
Extensive monitoring of the environmental impact of
operations has indicated no significant effects,
but monitoring
will continue to ensure that this remains the case.
While the output of the plant is presently fairly modest
(100kW of electricity), the engineering, procurement,
and construction of a demonstration plant are under
way to increase the scale by some for ty-fold. This will
see sufficient gas produced for co-firing into Majuba
power station’s coal boilers and will prove the first gas
production module.
The engineering, procurement, and construction of the
demonstration plant are already under way,
with plans to
produce 70 000Nm3/h by mid-2009. Following approvals,
production will proceed to
125 000Nm3/h by the end of
2009 and with approvals again to 625 000Nm3/h by the end
of 2010. This gas will be co-fired with coal at the existing
Majuba power station, until approvals are received for a
new 350MW UCG-integrated gasification combined-cycle
(IGCC) ultra-high-efficiency power station, which could
potentially be commissioned in the 2012 timeframe.
In parallel with the research and development phases,
a motivation is being compiled for a new
2 400MW
commercial power station, which will be proposed to Eskom
and stakeholders.
An EIA has also been commissioned for this new concept. It
is proposed that the new power station shares gas with the
existing Majuba power station, so as to maintain UCG gas
production flexibility.
Eskom’s Corporate Services division is developing this project
with UCG technology experts, Ergo Exergy Technologies
Inc. (Canada), who are providing their proprietary eUCG
technology.
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Eskom’s underground coal gasification demonstration plant
in the
foreground. |
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Click here for more detail on
the underground coal gasification research. |
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