Project Statement

CHBE 760 (Autumn Quarter 2008)

ABC Energy Ltd.
Columbus, OH

To: Student Engineers

From: Dr. L.-S. Fan, President
ABC Energy Ltd., a major hydrogen producer in Ohio, is evaluating the feasibility of a
potential project to produce hydrogen and electricity from coal using state-of-the-art
coal gasification reactor (gasifier). The coal processing rate of the gasifier is set to be
1000 MWth (megawatts thermal). Your group, as the R&D division of the company, is
going to compare two alternative technologies that produce hydrogen from coal. Your
group will need to submit several progress reports and a comprehensive evaluation report
addressing the technological and economic advantages and disadvantages of the
traditional technology (base case) versus one of the two novel technologies (you will
need to choose either process A or process B). You will also need to suggest to the
management the more favorable choice for the new coal to hydrogen project between the
base case technology and the novel technology.
Background
Coal gasification technology is a demonstrated 200-year-old technology. The Coal
Gasification Water Gas Shift process is a well known traditional approach to produce
hydrogen from coal. This process is used as the base case for this project.
Base case: In the gasification-water gas shift process, syngas is obtained from Coal
gasification and is then treated with steam through water gas shift reactions to convert
CO in the syngas to H2 and CO2. CO2 is then separated using solvent to get concentrated
H2 stream (please refer to case 1 and 2 on pages 178 181 of the coal to hydrogen paper
by Stiegel and Ramezan and pages 252 255 of the clean coal conversion paper by Li
and Fan).
Emerging Novel Techniques
Due to the increasing environmental concerns as well as fossil fuel prices, various novel
gasification based coal to hydrogen techniques are currently under development. These
techniques are characterized by high energy conversion efficiency, flexibility for
electricity-hydrogen co-production, as well as minimized energy penalty on CO 2 capture.
Two novel gasification based coal to hydrogen technologies are currently under
consideration by ABC energy Ltd:

Process A. Syngas Chemical Looping (SCL) Process

The Syngas Chemical Looping (SCL) process co-produces hydrogen and electricity from
syngas. The SCL process is based on the cyclic reduction and oxidation of specially
developed metal oxide composite particles. This process produces a pure hydrogen
stream and a concentrated carbon dioxide stream in two separate reactors. Therefore,
additional CO2 separation cost is avoided. Moreover, electricity can be efficiently cogenerated with hydrogen in the SCL process, making it a more flexible novel process
(please refer to pages 133 137 of the chemical looping gasification paper by Fan et al.
and pages 261 262 of the clean coal conversion paper by Li and Fan).
Process B. Calcium Looping Process
The calcium looping technology uses highly reactive calcium oxide based sorbent to
convert syngas in to hydrogen. It is capable of in-situ removal of carbon dioxide, sulfur,
and chloride impurities at high temperatures during the production of high purity
hydrogen. It also produces a sequestration ready CO 2 stream during the regeneration step.
Thus, the calcium looping process not only improves the hydrogen yield but also
integrates a CO2 management scheme in the hydrogen production process (please refer to
pages 139 141 of the chemical looping gasification paper).
The posted reading materials provide an overview on the three coal to hydrogen
technologies. More information on the technologies is available through a thorough
literature search. You are required, in this project, to develop a complete flow-sheet with
clear indication of mass and energy balance, operating conditions and sizes for each unit
according to the directions given by Dr. L.S. Fan. A rigorous economic analysis is also
required assuming a plant life of 20 years and an income tax rate of 35%. Any
assumptions made in the calculations must be clearly stated.
Project Reports
The format and requirements for each report will be announced separately.
Final Group Report Due
The final report is due at 5 pm on Monday Dec. 1st, 2008.
Final Individual Written Examination on Design Project
The exam will be given in the final exam week.
References Posted on Carmen
1. Coal to Hydrogen Paper by Stiegel and Ramezan on International Journal of Coal
Geology
2. Chemical Looping Gasification Paper by Fan, Li, and Ramkumar on Particuology
3. Clean Coal Conversion Progress Paper by Li and Fan on Energy and
Environmental Science
4. Report by Mitretek Systems on Coal to Hydrogen Processes
5. The Future of Coal, MIT, 2007 (use web search) .