Coal gasification for low-emission power generation

CSIRO’s gasification and syngas research is supporting the transition to high-efficiency coal-based energy systems capable of operating with near-zero emissions.

• 22 February 2010 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Sustainable energy from coal
• The future of gasification
• Collaboration
• Research areas 

With demand for electricity in Australia continually increasing, it is crucial that we seek solutions to improve power generation technologies while supporting the sustainable use of Australian coal in international energy markets.

Sustainable energy from coal

Gasification is a key enabling technology for advanced, high-efficiency, low-emission energy generation.

The coal gasification process uses the reaction of coal with oxygen and steam to create syngas, a combustible mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plants combust this syngas in a combined-cycle turbine system to produce electricity. 

Syngas is also widely used as a feedstock for the production of chemicals and liquid fuels. 

Next-generation IGCC systems will produce hydrogen for use as a fuel, for example in fuel cells, and capture the CO2 produced by this process in a form ready for sequestration.

CSIRO’s gasification research program performs the required fundamental and applied research to support and inform gasification plant development, and facilitate the adoption of high-efficiency power generation technologies by industry and government nationally and around the world.

This work is part of CSIRO’s coal technology research, which is focused on the development of technologies to improve the safety and efficiency of underground coal mining, and accelerate the deployment of low emission coal-based power technologies.

The future of gasification

Advanced IGCC plants that incorporate carbon capture and storage will play an important role in reducing the carbon intensity of power generation in the future.

CSIRO’s syngas cleaning, processing and membrane-based gas separation research aims to improve the performance, reduce costs and increase the scale of these systems so they can be implemented economically in competitive low-emissions energy markets.

We are also conducting a range of fundamental research projects which examine the complex processes that occur during gasification.

These findings are incorporated into comprehensive models of gasification-based systems.

By continuing to collaborate with international research and gasification technology development organisations, CSIRO ensures that this work continues to be relevant for performance evaluation and planning studies using local and international coals.

Collaboration

CSIRO is working with the Federal Government’s Australian National Low Emissions Coal Research and Development body, as well as State Governments and Universities, to develop a national research program for a range of low-emissions technologies.

We also work with local power generation and coal companies as well as international gasification technology vendors to reduce the risks and costs associated with a transition to gasification-based, low-emissions energy systems.

CSIRO also undertakes a number of Australian Coal Association Research Program projects, and our gasification and syngas expertise is utilised in other CSIRO research groups working in complimentary science areas, such as biomass conversion.

Research areas

Coal gasification behaviour: CSIRO’s Pressurised Entrained Flow Reactor and associated laboratory equipment allow CSIRO scientists to investigate complex high pressure, high temperature coal gasification reaction processes in considerable detail.  Importantly these results can be linked to measurements of coal performance under pilot-scale gasification conditions.

Gasification fundamentals: Fundamental aspects of slag formation and flow, as well as gas–solid reaction processes, are key to the development of accurate and reliable models of the gasification process.

Syngas cleaning: CSIRO is developing innovative technologies to overcome the limitations in existing gas cleaning processes, including advanced techniques for cleaning candle filters and gas cleaning using agglomeration and sorbent techniques.

Syngas processing: CSIRO is developing catalysts for the water gas shift (WGS) reaction between carbon monoxide and steam, which is a key step in hydrogen and liquid fuels based energy systems and in the production of a high pressure CO2 stream suitable for capture and sequestration. CSIRO’s catalyst expertise is also used in related ‘solar gas’ research where catalysts are an important part of capturing solar energy in solar-fossil hybrid systems. 

Membranes for gas separation:  The separation of H2 from CO2 is an important part of advanced IGCC for H2 production and CO2 capture. CSIRO undertakes materials development and testing research to produce alloy membranes for H2 production that are of a scale and cost suitable for coal-based energy systems.

Find out more about CSIRO’s research into Coal gasification: from fundamentals to application.