Coal Gasification

Hydrogen shows considerable potential for satisfying our future energy and fuel demands. Hydrogen’s capacity to be created from a diverse range of resources is one of its greatest qualities. Coal is one of these resources. Using carbon capture technology, the manufacture of hydrogen from coal may deliver a low-cost, low-emission, high-volume stream of hydrogen to power anything from buildings and laptop computers to automobiles and buses with clean energy.
Coal-derived hydrogen is not yet generated economically, although the required technology is well-known.
Coal’s availability and cheap cost as a raw material make it a key role in the development of a hydrogen future.

HYDROGEN PRODUCTION USING COAL GASIFICATION

The most probable method for converting coal into hydrogen is known as gasification. Coal gasification goes back to the middle of the 19th century, when it was used to produce “town gas” for local cooking, heating, and lighting—many of the same applications that natural gas now fulfills. Coal is gasified by combining it with oxygen, air, or steam at very high temperatures without allowing combustion to occur. The majority of modern pulverized coal power plants produce steam for use in a turbine by burning coal (combustion).
Currently, only two power plants use the more efficient and cleaner gasification process.
In general, the emission profiles of coal gasification facilities are superior to those of traditional pulverized coal power plants for many kinds of emissions. Greater gasification plant operational efficiency allow for large pollution reductions. Carbon dioxide emissions are decreased by around 20%. By using carbon capture and sequestration technology, this can be reduced to nearly nothing.

THE PROCESS

First, gasification
Syngas consists of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide, as well as trace quantities of other gases and particles. Mixing pulverized coal with an oxidant, often steam, air, or oxygen, accomplishes this.
Second Step: Cooling and Cleaning
The remaining components of syngas are carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen. Syngas emissions are simpler to clean than pulverized coal emissions. Mercury, sulfur, trace pollutants, and particles are removed during syngas cleaning.
Third Step: Shifting
The syngas is then transported to a shift reactor. Carbon monoxide is transformed to additional hydrogen and carbon dioxide by combining it with steam during the shift reaction. Following this, the syngas is mostly composed of hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
Fourth Step: Purification
After shifting the syngas, it is split into hydrogen and carbon dioxide streams. After purification, the hydrogen is ready for usage. The collected carbon dioxide is transferred for sequestration.
Step 5: Usage
Now, a steady supply of pure hydrogen is available for a multitude of applications. It may be burnt in a gas turbine to generate power, converted to electricity in a fuel cell, used as a fuel for an internal combustion engine, or used as a chemical for the production of fertilizer, semiconductors, and many other goods.