Coal Gasification policy on anvil to exploit vast coal resources sustainably
India has already started coal gasification, for which it is setting aside 85 billion rupees ($1 billion) in subsidies to help get projects off the ground.
While today , there is a target for coal gasification by 2030, it is just too little as compared to the vast potential of coal reserve that would last for 350.years at the current rate of consumption.
While as per the current indigenous technology available in India, the coal gadification.of Indian high ash coal results in lesser emissions than the coal.fired units. As the technology evolves, it would further enhance efficiency and the Govt may make it mandatory for100% coal gasification in future.
The policy is expected to be unveiled later this year â should Prime Minister Narendra Modiâs government retain power in upcoming elections â and will include incentives for companies to Trap, Recycle and wherever possible store their emissions underground as being done by several other nations.
The power sector generates 42% of Indiaâs total emissions and that atleast 70% of that can be captured and recycled through carbon capture.
Around 40 Carbon Capture and Storage units are currently operational globally, and 50 more are expected to enter operation by 2030, a pace far too slow to reach carbon neutrality by mid century, according to the International Energy Agency.
Coal waste to critical minerals- A game changing opportunity
The transition to green energy will require scaling up of the worldâs production and processing of critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements. These strategic minerals are essential ingredients of renewable technologies like electric vehicles Batteries , solar panels, and wind turbines.
A recent report from the International Energy Agency estimates that overall demand for critical minerals will increase by a factor of 6 as the world works to achieve climate goals. The report makes it clear that there is currently a mismatch between climate ambitions and the future availability of critical minerals. Further, these supply issues will likely be compounded by the fact that these strategic minerals are spatially concentrated in a small number of countries. Indeed, China has largely cornered the critical minerals market, controlling over 60% of the global production and processing capacity.
Extraction of critical minerals from coal waste products like fly ash, coal rejects, and acid mine drainage has emerged as a game changing strategy. For example, the U.S. has funded numerous research and pilot projects that aim to extract rare earth elements from acid mine drainage
In India, A study in North Eastern coalfield shows that 714.7 ug/L amounts of critical minerals such as rare earth elements are found in acid mine drainage.
This is comparable to the concentrations in the United States where this technology is reaching commercial stages. Another study in Jharia coalfield has shown the presence of critical minerals such as Copper (32.3 ug/L) and Nickel (17.6 ug/L). This shows the promising presence of critical minerals in the Indian coal fields.
ONGC, OIL to use depleted oil fields for carbon Capture & storage
ONGC has already signed an MoU with global oil major Shell for co-operation on Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). Under the ambit of the MoU, the two companies plan to focus on joint CO2 storage study and Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) assessments for key basins with depleted oil and gas fields and saline aquifers.Shell is a global leader on CVUS.
OIL looking to collaborate with thermal power, steel plants for carbon capture,
Is it possible to have a list of contributory processes for Coal to Methane Steps.
There are three different technologies for natural gas methane production from coal - (1)the two-steps method, (2) the hydrogenation, and (3) the catalytic coal gasification,
1st and the 3rd method has been used commercially in China and many other countries and the second method is still under development
(1) The first step is to convert coal to synthesis gas (CO+H2) and the second step is to use CO2 and hydrogen for the natural gas synthesis.
(2) For the hydrogenation, coal is directly gasified with hydrogen to produce natural gas.
(3) For the catalytic coal gasification, the catalyst is used to accelerate the gasification reaction rate and in-situ methane synthesis
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258891332100020X#b0030)
OmâŚiâd wish to know if coal gasification could someway has any direct/impact benefits to oil india ? considering its participation in the Projects like India-Bangladesh pipe & Indradhanush pipe.
Apart from its traditional oil ,& Gas exploration , They are taking active part in energy transitionâŚfew more to the best of my knowledge :
(1) They are diversifying in to CCUSâŚnot only for Thermal power plant , but also for steel, cement and other industries which have massive carbon emissions
(2) Renewables like CBG, LBG
(3) establishing a biorefinery to produce Ethanol from Bamboo - Noth east is full of bamboo in rain forest.
âOIL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Dr Ranjit Rath said that the Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) is looking to collaborate with thermal power, cement and steel plants and petrochemical plants from where carbon can be captured. He said that multiple studies are underway to assess the feasibility and identify gaps in the transportation and monitoring, and storage of captured carbon dioxide and monetising it as a source of revenueâ
âWe are looking at our depleted fields, abandoned wells and exploring using these fields for storing either carbon or gas"
Coal to Syn Gas
While GAIL Q3 results net profit jump of 700% could be misleading , as it is on a low base effect , but it is worth mentioning here that the future prospects of Gail looks bright if the PSU can put its act together and delivers what it is expected to deliver.
The government has already approved the Coal Gasification project by setting up of a Coal-to-SNG (Synthetic Natural Gas) project through a joint venture between Coal India and GAIL at a cost of Rs 13000 crore. ( as earlier posted in this thread)
We have abundant coal to last for next 300 years and GAIL need not have to depend upon LNG imports in future.
Apart from Methane - natural gas, GAIL can also produce Blue hydrogen through Coal gasification route which may have tremendous potential due to its huge requirement for all user industries such as Fertiliser , steel , refineries , Auto fuel , kitchen fuel , even producing electricity in India with huge export potential.
Discl : Invested in CoaL India and GAIL both. i may be biased. This is not an investment advice. PSU stocks in general are highly volatile and subject to frequent govt change policy⌠Moreover , QoQ performance may be erratic.
Also the project may take time to complete its commissioning or even be abandoned.
please do your own assesment before investing.
The problem here is we do not have any anticipated revenue numbers of this investment.
Secondly, we do not have an timeline of commisioning. So, itâs still wait and watch on the entire thing.
Invested in both GAIL and Coal India but not for above reason.
GMDC blue Hydrogen - members any developments in this regard?
Surface coal gasification (SCG) technology route for production of Ammonium Nitrate
A Big Step Towards National Coal Gasification Mission, the Plant is expected to Produce 2000 tons of Ammonium Nitrate per day
The Coal Gasification Projects seem to be running faster. i thought the projects may take off post election.
Anyway , there are 3 stages in Govt tendering process.
RFF- "Request for feed back"from intersted entities.
RFP- âRequest for Proposalâ
RFQ- " Request for Quotationââ
Let us track and find out the intersted companies
.To the best of my knowledge it is Thermax & BHEL which has developed technology on Coal Gasification with Carbon capture (CCUS) for producing Blue hydrogen and a series of other chemicals of utility such as Ammonia, Ammonium nitrate , urea, DAP, methanol , ethanol etc
But there could be more foreign collaborations with infra giants like L&T, ABB, Siemens.
Great news indeed.
There is a vast opportunity in coal gasification. utilising our Lignite and other coal reserves through gasification and it is the only way to become atma nirbhar Bharat. Syn Gas so produced is versatile in its use.
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Syn gas it self can be used to produce power from thermal power plant
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with CCUS can reduce carbon foot print by 80-90%
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To produce Grey hydrogen & Blue hydrogen (no electrolyser required) for a series of end uses in refineries , fertiliser plants, steel plants and other industries
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Hydrogen so produced can fuel automobiles
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Hydrogen so produced can be mixed with CNG methane both for automobiles and PNG
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Coal gasification can serve as import substitute to Natural gas
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currently India imports anthracite coal just because our coal are said to be of inferior quality. However , Syn Gas produced from lignite gasification would serve the purpose and thereafter would serve as import substitute
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From syn gas , a no of chemicals can be produced , methane , methanol , Ammonium nitrate, Ammonia , Urea , DAP.
Coal gasification from Lignite with CCUS poses some technological challenges and I thought only Thermax and BHEL have it. But it appears L &T has also quietly achieved this
There is nothing in engineering L&T can not do from capability perspective. It is just that many things may not make commercial sense.