Coal Gasification for Power, Fuels and Chemicals is the Hot Topic on July 16, 2009

The Obama Administration and the public at large are focused on renewable fuels as the answer to our energy needs while decreasing our reliance on import oil and reducing greenhouse gases. However, 52 percent of our electric power is currently generated by burning coal and with energy demand constantly increasing it is likely that coal will continue to be a very important source of our energy and a replacement for imported oil throughout the 21st century.

The question is: How do we utilize our vast coal resources and reduce the pollution and GHG's associated with burning coal? Gasification of coal offers one of the most versatile and clean ways to utilize our most abundant natural resource to provide power, fuels and chemical feedstock. The benefits of coal gasification are well known. An Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant can operate with emissions well below those from a conventional PC boiler and at increased efficiency which means less CO2 emitted. Add carbon capture technology to the IGCC and it becomes very environmentally friendly. This Hot Topic Hour will explore the issues related to the planning, permitting designing and operating coal gasification for all applications and IGCC plants.

The presenters are:

Steve Jenkins, Vice President, Gasification Services, CH2M HILL, Inc., will provide highlights of the capabilities of gasification technologies to use coal, pet coke, biomass and other feedstocks for producing electricity, transportation fuels, synthetic natural gas, and chemicals. He will include comparisons of the performance and environmental footprints of IGCC and PC technologies, as well as impacts of CO2 capture on IGCC technology.

David Wakefield, President, Econo-Power International Corp. (EPIC) (The Clean Coal Gasification Company), will discuss "Industrial Coal Gasification - Small-to-Large Systems with Scalable Technology". Industrial-scale coal gasification has been used for more than 50 years in other countries but, until recent years when EPIC improved the technology, was not available in the US. EPIC offers the system for industrial gas and for power generation from 80 MMBtu/hr. to greater than 1,000 MMBtu/hr. by adding gasifiers. The use of the EPIC coal gas also has significant environmental benefits including SOx reduction, NOx reduction and relatively easy carbon capture. His presentation will review the technology and some environmental aspects of coal gas use.

Thomas Reynolds, a Senior Principal Project Director in the ConocoPhillips Commercial
organization, provides project management and business development for ConocoPhillips' E-Gas gasification technology. His presentation will review the impact of various feedstocks on IGCC performance including output and heat rate. The feedstocks evaluated will include a petroleum coke, two bituminous coals, a sub-bituminous coal and a petroleum coke/sub-bituminous coal blend.

Michael Beltran, President, Beltran Technologies, Inc.

Jeff Reid, Manager, Business Development, Gasification, Burns & McDonnell

To register for the "Hot Topic Hour" on Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. CDT, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/FGDnetoppbroch/Default1.htm .

Bob McIlvaine
847 784-0012 ext. 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com