Advanced Gasification Technologies Development and Gasification Scoping Studies for Innovative Initiatives

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Gasification is used to convert a solid feedstock?such as coal, petcoke or biomass?into a gaseous form, referred to as syngas, which is composed primarily of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO). With gasification-based technologies, pollutants can be easily captured and then disposed of or converted to useful products. In the Department of Energy?s vision for clean power using gasification, steam is added to syngas in a water-gas shift (WGS) reactor to convert the CO to carbon dioxide (CO2) and to produce additional hydrogen. The hydrogen and CO2 are separated?the hydrogen is combusted to make power and the CO2 is captured and sent to storage, converted to useful product, or used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The Gasification Systems Technology Area takes full advantage of the flexibility inherent in gasification. For instance, technologies designed to clean syngas to chemical production standards also clean syngas for power production (i.e., integrated gasification combined cycle [IGCC]), often with significantly lower contaminant levels than the Environmental Protection Agency?s (EPA) criteria for power plant emissions. Technologies that lower the cost of producing high-hydrogen syngas for fuels or chemical production will also reduce the carbon footprint of IGCC. Advanced technologies being developed under the Gasification Systems Technology Area will provide a more efficient and economical platform for the capture and utilization of CO2. In addition to efficiently producing electric power, a wide range of liquids and/or high-value chemicals and fuels (especially diesel and gasoline) can be produced from cleaned, high-hydrogen syngas, thereby providing flexibility capable of capitalizing on a range of dynamic changes to either domestic energy markets or global economic conditions. Continued advances in gasification-based technology will enable the conversion of our Nation?s abundant coal reserves into energy resources (power and liquid fuels) needed to support the national economy with unprecedented environmental performance.

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