Commercialization of Liquid Coal Technology - 1/26/07

A report examining how the use of coal liquification technologies may help America wean itself of foreign oil imports. CTL fuel is already in use elsewhere, like South Africa, where it meets 30 percent of transportation fuel needs. Coal-based fuels have shown that significant local air quality improvements can be achieved through the reduction of tailpipe emissions. Some studies suggest particulate emissions can be up to 75% less than with traditional diesel, and oxides of nitrogen can be reduced by up to 60%. The optimization of new engines for these fuels will offer even greater reductions, particularly of nitrogen oxides. New engine design, such as direct injection, will offer yet greater efficiencies.

A process of converting solid coal into liquid fuels and/or chemicals, coal can be made into liquid fuel such as gasoline or diesel and used as a substitute for petroleum products. Coal-based fuels can be used directly in today’s vehicles, with no need for modification. Given the large coal reserves in the U.S., coal-based fuels could rapidly replace other sources of transportation fuel to meet future needs.

The report on coal-to-liquids technology looks in detail at the various technologies and methodologies for liquefying coal, the economics of CTL development, key players in the global market, the advantages and disadvantages of liquid coal, and the market outlook for CTL as a fuel source.

Coal itself is a low efficiency fuel and a notorious polluter, advanced gasification technologies can convert over 95 percent of coal fuel into a combustible gas, commonly called syngas. Syngas consists mainly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen and can be used like natural gas to efficiently generate electricity through an integrated gas turbine/steam turbine combined cycle.

The process of coal liquefaction is a clean and efficient one, and there are no harmful gases released into the atmosphere, thus helping the climate.  This will help prevent global warming and is also a lower cost method. This will decrease a country’s dependency on large power plants and reliance on a vulnerable infrastructure in case of natural disasters or terrorist acts.

Hurricane Katrina demonstrated how quickly oil supply disruptions could impact the country. Coal liquefaction has emerged as the perfect solution as it would reduce the dependence on energy imports and also cuts down the reliance of countries on oil, thus reducing vulnerabilities in national security. 

Positive impacts of coal-based fuel include long-term environmental advantages ranging from the reclamation of decades-old coal waste piles and the mining of secondary coal sources, to possible ways to reduce hazardous emissions in coal combustion.

More About Liquid Coal:
Liquid Coal as Transportation Fuel

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