1. Enhancing Lignite’s Future Through Research & Development
Michael Jones Ph.D Vice President, R&D
Lignite Energy Council
6/19/08

2. Agenda State-industry R&D partnership Lignite resource
Current energy conversion technologies
Future energy conversion technologies
Emission Control Technologies
Summary
Lignite Jeopardy Game
6/19/08

3. Lignite Research Council’s R&D Program
An Industry/Government Partnership
State of
North Dakota
Lignite Energy
Council
Public / Private Partnership
6/19/08

4. Cleaner Coal Technology Paths
Coal Cleaning
More efficient power plants
More effective technologies to reduce SO2, NOx, Hg & CO2 emissions
5 main CC technology paths
6/19/08

5. Leveraging State Dollars
For every state dollar, six dollars is invested from industry & other sources in lignite-related R&D projects =
6/19/08

6. Active Lignite Research Projects
Quick Review of Active Projects (24)
1 LEC Lignite Vision 21 Program project
3 Separate LV21P projects
3 Mercury-related projects
1 NOx-related project
4 Lignite gasification-related projects
8 CO2 Carbon Capture & Storage-related projects
1 Regional marketing project (PAE)
1 Lignite-fueled Ag production – Red Trail Project
1 Coal combustion products projects
1 Air toxic metals project – CATM
6/19/08

7. Agenda State-industry R&D partnership Lignite resource
Current energy conversion technologies
Future energy conversion technologies
Controlling emissions
Summary
Lignite Jeopardy Game
6/19/08

8. Future of Lignite R&D holds the key to expanding lignite’s
The resource: 800 year supply of lignite
R&D holds the key
to expanding lignite’s
economic benefits
6/19/08

9. A Look at Lignite 55% Lignite 35% 10% Water Organic Matter
C, H, O, S, N
Lignite
35%
10%
Lignite is a heterogeneous mixture. It contains the decomposed or decomposing parts of plants. Approximately 55% of lignite by weight is organic matter which is comprised of the substances that make up plants - carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen; also, lesser quantities of phosphorus, magnesium and a variety of trace elements that are essential to life as we know it. Approximately 10% of lignite by weight is composed of inorganic matter. Some of the inorganic matter may have been contained in the primordial plants on earth; some may have been a part of the swamp; and some may have washed into the decomposing sediment at a later time. Mostly this fraction is clays, sand and other soil constituents. The remaining 30% is water. Some of the water may be plant derived and some may have come from the ancient swamp. If you find it in nature - you find it in lignite coal.
Inorganic Matter
SiO2, Al2O3 -Clays, FeS2
Water
6/19/08

10. ND Lignite Consumption
Specialty Products
7.5%
Synthetic Natural
Gas %
Now, as we move on to the next area of today’s presentation -- byproducts-- let’s review this slide again. Note that byproducts represent only a small portion of lignite’s market. But they represent an untapped opportunity to instill economic vitality into the lignite industry.
Electric Power
Generation - 79%
6/19/08

11. Agenda State-industry R&D partnership Lignite resource
Current energy conversion technologies
Future energy conversion technologies
Controlling emissions
Summary
Lignite Jeopardy Game
6/19/08

12. Current Energy Conversion Technologies
Pulverized Coal-Fired Boilers
2400 PSI Steam; 1000ºF
Up to 600 MW/unit in ND
30-32% Efficient
Tangential fired boilers uses pulverized coal and are based on a concept of a single flame envelope and project both fuel and combustion air from the corners of the furnace. The flames are directed on a line tangent to a small circle lying in a in a horizontal plane at the center of the furnace. This action produces a fireball that moves in a cyclonic motion and expands to fill the furnace.
6/19/08

13. Current Energy Conversion Technologies
Pulverized Coal-Fired Boilers
Tangential fired boilers uses pulverized coal and are based on a concept of a single flame envelope and project both fuel and combustion air from the corners of the furnace. The flames are directed on a line tangent to a small circle lying in a in a horizontal plane at the center of the furnace. This action produces a fireball that moves in a cyclonic motion and expands to fill the furnace.
Antelope Valley Station
M.R. Young Station
Coal Creek Station
6/19/08

14. Current Energy Conversion Technologies
Pulverized Coal-Fired Boilers
Cyclone furnaces use several water cooled horizontal burners to produce high temperature flames that circulate in a cyclonic pattern. The coal is not pulverized but instead crushed to a 4-mesh size. The crushed coal is fed tangentially, with primary air, to a horizontal cylindrical combustion chamber. In this chamber, small coal particles are burned in suspension while the larger particles are forced against the outer wall. The high temperature of the coal ash, causes the ash to form a molten slag, which is drained from the bottom of the furnace through a slag tap opening.
Coyote Station
Leland Olds Station
Stanton Station
6/19/08

15. Agenda State-industry R&D partnership Lignite resource
Current energy conversion technologies
Future energy conversion technologies
Controlling emissions
Summary
Lignite Jeopardy Game
6/19/08

16. Future Generating Technologies
Advanced Pulverized Coal
Oxy-fuel Combustion
Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC)
The second primary technology path for CC is advanced power systems.
6/19/08

17. Supercritical Pulverized Coal
Future Generating Technologies
Supercritical Pulverized Coal
Power Plant
3500 PSI Steam; 1050ºF
Up to 1300 MW / unit
35-40% Efficient
Traditional pulverized coal and circulating fluidized bed technologies are enhanced to incorporate supercritical (SC) steam cycles around the world. SC units typically operate at 3, psig, with 1,050-1,100°F main steam and reheat steam temperatures. On the average, these SC units have efficiencies of about three to four percentage points higher than sub-critical units, representing an eight to ten percent relative improvement in efficiency. Steam temperatures above 1,050°F are often referred to as ultra-supercritical (USC) conditions. Combustion based technologies are progressively moving to these higher steam cycles with high reliability and modest costs. Ultra-supercritical cycles increase the efficiency of the power plant by as much as 8 percentage points – for almost a 17% reduction in CO2 and other air emissions.
6/19/08

18. Future Generating Technologies
Oxy-combustion
Technology consideration to capture CO2
Energy penalty ~ 1/3 (450 MW Gross yields 300 MW Net)
First demonstrations underway in US and Europe
Although IGCC plants in the U.S. have been unable to achieve high availability factors for routine utility applications, this technology offers the hope of providing the cleanest and most efficient coal-combustion power systems in the world. The IGCC system involves two separate processes. The first is a chemical process that converts coal into a synthetic gas. This clean, synthetic gas is then used as a fuel to generate electricity. The process is highly efficient because the exhaust from the gas turbine is hot enough to boil water. The steam is then used to drive a turbine that creates a second source of electricity – thus the term “combined cycle.”
IGCCs offer real promise, both in terms of environmental performance and efficiency. Pilot gasification units operate at efficiency levels approaching 45 percent while more conventional coal-fired generation technologies offer efficiencies in the range of percent.
On the environmental front, these super-clean units remove as much as 95 to 99 percent of the SO2 and NOx emissions and the increased efficiency helps to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a common greenhouse gas. IGCC units also provide for more economic direct capture of CO2.
6/19/08

19. Future Generating Technologies
IGCC
Up to 300 MW / Unit
40-45% Efficient
Cost, availability & lack of lignite experience are issues
Although IGCC plants in the U.S. have been unable to achieve high availability factors for routine utility applications, this technology offers the hope of providing the cleanest and most efficient coal-combustion power systems in the world. The IGCC system involves two separate processes. The first is a chemical process that converts coal into a synthetic gas. This clean, synthetic gas is then used as a fuel to generate electricity. The process is highly efficient because the exhaust from the gas turbine is hot enough to boil water. The steam is then used to drive a turbine that creates a second source of electricity – thus the term “combined cycle.”
IGCCs offer real promise, both in terms of environmental performance and efficiency. Pilot gasification units operate at efficiency levels approaching 45 percent while more conventional coal-fired generation technologies offer efficiencies in the range of percent.
On the environmental front, these super-clean units remove as much as 95 to 99 percent of the SO2 and NOx emissions and the increased efficiency helps to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a common greenhouse gas. IGCC units also provide for more economic direct capture of CO2.
6/19/08

20. Future Generating Technologies
Gasification End Products
Electric Power
Synthetic Natural Gas
Liquid Transportation Fuels
Hydrogen
Chemicals
The first issue that must be resolved is scalability of the IGCC technology. To date, U.S. deployments of IGCCs have been limited to 300MW or smaller in size. Most of the new coal-based power plants being proposed are larger in size, and additional demonstrations are needed to prove the viability of IGCC technology at these scales. Projects to demonstrate the increased operating scale of IGCCs, as well as potential for deploying fuel cell technologies, are best accomplished through industry/government cost-shared projects that reduce the financial risks to consumers. In addition to scalability, the first-generation IGCC test facilities installed in the U.S. have been plagued by operational performance problems. Plant availabilities in the range of 60 to 80 percent have been reported, but are improving as the technology is perfected and modifications are made. By comparison, the commercially proven technologies (pulverized coal and CFB) commonly report availabilities in the range of percent.
The second issue to consider is the need to balance cost and environmental performance. Capital costs for new IGCC plants are higher than state-of-the-art pulverized coal units equipped with advanced pollution control equipment and may not provide materially superior emissions reductions of CAA pollutants than current technologies in use.
Issues in the West. IGCC research and test demonstration projects have been focused on Midwestern and Eastern bituminous coals, rather than on Western sub-bituminous coals, which are not as well suited to the technology because of the higher moisture and lower BTU content of Western coals and higher ash byproduct. As a consequence, some believe IGCC ultimately may not be applicable for Western coals. Additionally, the combined cycle portion of a IGCC power plant dramatically loses efficiency above 4,000 feet elevation, which raises costs for the plant, requires more coal per unit of energy generated and creates more CO2 emissions per unit of energy generated. For these reasons, IGCC may be prohibitively expensive throughout most of the West. Further, such facilities cost more but don’t always result in emission rates lower than the new proposed pulverized coal-based
power plants.
6/19/08

21. Coal-to-Liquids
Headwaters Inc., North American Coal Corp. & Falkirk Mining Co. are exploring a coal-to-liquid fuels project near Underwood, ND
Will gasify coal and convert it into ultra-clean gasoline, LPG, propane & electricity
12 million tons of coal to produce 30,000 barrels per day of gasoline
Conducting feasibility studies; next step is decision to conduct a front-end engineering & design study ($50+ million)
Construction start – 2012???; commercial start – 2015???
6/19/08

22. Coal-to-Hydrogen-Power
Great Northern Project Development is exploring a coal-to-hydrogen project near South Heart, ND
Will use ~2.4 million tons of lignite / year
To gasify lignite and convert it into hydrogen for use in combustion turbine
Conducting feasibility studies; about to move into a front-end engineering & design study ($30+ million)
Construction start – 2012???; commercial start – 2015???
6/19/08

23. Agenda State-industry R&D partnership Lignite resource
Current energy conversion technologies
Future energy conversion technologies
Controlling emissions
Summary
Lignite Jeopardy Game
6/19/08

24. Emission Control Technologies
Particulate Matter (PM) reduction >99.99%
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) reduction >97%
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) reduction 50% → > 90% goal
Mercury (Hg) reduction 50% -90% → > 90% goal
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) ??? %
6/19/08

25. Emission Control Technologies
Dry Scrubber
Baghouse
Stack
Coal
Boiler
Stack
Overfire Air,
low NOx, burners, injection of ammonia
Electrostatic
Precipitator
Wet
Scrubber
6/19/08

26. Capturing Mercury Is Difficult!
Houston Astrodome
A hypothetical example:
Dome filled with 30 billion ping pong balls
30 mercury balls
Remove 27 balls for 90% Hg capture
6/19/08

27. Mercury Control Options
Dry Scrubber
Baghouse
Stack
Coal
Activated Carbon & Oxidation Chemicals
Oxidation
Chemicals
Boiler
Stack
Electrostatic
Precipitator
Wet
Scrubber
6/19/08

28. Summary of CO2 Capture Technologies
Absorption
Adsorption
Membranes
Cryogenics
Others
Chemical
Looping
Chemical
Chemical
(TSA)
Organic
Amines
Caustics
Amino acid salts
Others
Polysulphone
Cellulose derivatives
Polymide
Liquid Enzyme
Others
Metal oxides
Metal organic frameworks
Others
CO2
Hydrates
Physical
Physical
(PSA, TSA)
Oxycombustion
Inorganic
Zeolites
Activated Carbons
Si/Al gels
Microbial/ Algae
Selexol
Rectisol
Ionic liquids
Others
Metallic
Ceramics
Others
Carbon Capture R&D processes being explored by the National Energy Technology Laboratories
6/19/08

29. Carbon Capture Technologies
EERC Oxyfuel / Amine Scrubbing Study (2/07)
Conclusions assuming 90% capture of CO2:
Amine scrubbing & oxyfuel models were developed and shared with industry
Amine scrubbing results in cost of electricity (COE) of 10.8 cents/kWh (4.6 cents/kWh without carbon capture)
Oxyfuel combustion results in COE of 10.9 cents/kWh (4.6 cents/kWh without carbon capture)
6/19/08

30. DOE CCS Program Goals
By 2020, have available for commercial deployment technologies and best practices for achieving:
90% CO2 capture
99%+ storage permanence
< 10% increase in COE (pre-combustion capture)
< 35% increase in COE (post- and oxy-combustion)
6/19/08

31. CO2 Capture Technology R&D Timeline
2010
2008
2016
2012
2020
2024
Large-Scale Field Testing
Laboratory-Bench-Pilot Scale R&D
Full-Scale Demos
Commercial Deployment
Source: EPRI, Assessment of Post Combustion Capture Technology Developments, 2007
Source: Gottlicher (2004)
6/19/08

32. Carbon Management Initiatives NDIC Investment
NDIC Funding Commitment
Carbon capture-related projects:
Carbozyme membrane technology           $260,000
Partnership for CO2 capture                      300,000
Canadian Clean Power Coalition                130,000
AVS Carbon Capture FEED                    2,700,000
Partnership for CO2 capture II ,000
Oxy-firing Alstom ,000
Evaluation of Novel CO2 Capture ,000
                                                        $4,140,000                             
Carbon storage-related projects:
PCOR Phase II                                       $720,000
PCOR Phase III                                   ,400,000
                                                                  $3,120,000
Total CCS commitment                                               $7,260,000
6/19/08

33. Carbon Management Initiatives
Partnership for CO2 Capture
EERC project approved by LRC/NDIC – May 2008
Develop & demonstrate a range of CO2 capture technologies to include pre-combustion, post-combustion & oxy-combustion technologies
$3.4 million project (DOE/EERC $2.4 M; Industry $750 K; NDIC $300 K)
Start date: 6/08; Completion date: 06/10
Phase II, ~$2M, Start 7/10
6/19/08

34. Carbon Management Initiatives
Plains Carbon Dioxide Reduction Partnership (PCOR)
Phase I – Characterization of sources & sinks ( )
Phase II – Small-scale field validation tests ( )
Phase III – Large volume carbon storage test ( )
6/19/08

35. Carbon Management Initiatives
PCOR Phase III ( )
Large-scale demo projects over 10 years
Capturing CO2 from AVS & storage in geological formations
CO2 storage to include enhanced oil recovery & deep saline aquifer storage
DOE committed $67 million
NDIC committed $2.4 million – 2/08
Total Project Cost (capture & storage) >$300 M
6/19/08

36. Carbon Management Initiatives
Carbon Capture Project at AVS
Demonstration / commercialization project
AVS – two 450 MW units
120 MW slipstream
Capture 90% of CO2 (Powerspan technology)
57 MMSCF or 3,000 tons CO2 / day
CO2 to be used in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in western North Dakota
FEED study in 2010
Construction in 2011 ???
Operational in 2014 ???
6/19/08

37. Carbon Sequestration - EOR
6/19/08

38. Carbon Management Initiatives
Carbon Sequestration
SaskPower CO2 capture & storage project
$1.4 billion, 7-year demonstration project announced 2/27/08
Partnership: Gov. of Canada, Gov. of Sask., SaskPower & industry
Project at Boundary Dam 150 MW Unit III (existing unit)
Designed to capture ~ 1 million tons CO2 / year
CO2 capture technology & vendor to be determined
CO2 to be used for EOR
Expected to be fully operational by 2015
6/19/08

39. Carbon Management Initiatives DOE Carbon Sequestration Program
6/19/08

40. Coal Drying Activity
As mined, lignite is approximately one-third moisture. This makes it uneconomical to transport by rail. However, a coal drying facility is now operational at Coal Creek Station that may make transporting lignite a more economical proposition.
The coal drying project has its roots in a simple experiment that you can simulate in the classroom.
6/19/08

41. Coal Drying Procedure
Weigh about 100 grams of lignite on a paper plate.
Place the coal onto a cookie sheet and place it in an oven set at its lowest temperature – 100 or 120F for four hours.
Reweigh the coal to determine the weight loss due to moisture and calculate the percent of moisture.
6/19/08

42. Coal Drying Procedure Alternative Drying Methods
Dry the lignite using the “waste” heat from a light bulb. This method will model Coal Creek’s use of waste heat from its boiler.
Simply place the lignite in a sunny window and let it dry. Weigh the sample each day until the weight is constant for two days.
6/19/08

43. Coal Drying Activity (Cont.)
Coal Creek pulverizes the coal prior to drying, so students can compare the rate of moisture loss and total amount of moisture lost between crushed and uncrushed coal.
Pulverized coal has greater surface area and should dry faster than coal in larger pieces.
6/19/08

44. Prototype Coal Dryer
Prototype model built adjacent to the plant (1/06)
Used waste heat to dry the coal after it was pulverized
Tests showed how much heat & time needed
Now 8 coal dryers have been installed to dry all of the coal (operational 12/09)
6/19/08

45. Coal Drying – Using Waste Heat
Waste Energy
Lignite
Exhaust Gas
Non Fluidized
Fines
Dried Coal
Dryer
Bag House
Less fuel
Less emissions
Less maintenance
More generation
Greater efficiency
Greater value of lignite
6/19/08

46. Coal Cleaning at the Mine
Air jigging and magnetic separation
Significantly improved overall quality
Increased heat content & reduced ash, Hg & S
Used in conjunction with Coal Creek and Antelope Valley Stations’ operations
6/19/08

47. Coal Technology R&D Pathways Critical R&D Challenges to Near Zero Emissions From Coal
Near Term Plants
Future Plants
Pulverized Coal
Power Generation
Improve Efficiencies
Minimize Criteria Pollutants
Minimize Water Usage
Minimize Greenhouse Gases
Advanced Coal
Power and Multiple Products
Improve Reliability
Maximize Efficiencies
Near Zero Criteria Pollutants
Near Zero Water Usage
Near Zero Greenhouse Gases
Technology Bridge to Near Zero Emissions
Courtesy of NETL
6/19/08

48. Summary
U.S. needs more sources of energy & needs to lessen dependence on foreign sources
Lignite is a valuable source of energy & chemical products
R&D is critical in the wise use of this abundant resource
6/19/08

49. Questions?
???
6/19/08

50. Activity
LIGNITE JEOPARDY
GAME
6/19/08

51. Thanks for Listening!
6/19/08