Encoal mild coal gasification project: Encoal project final report, July 1, 1997--July 31, 1997

This document is the summative report on the ENCOAL Mild Coal Gasification Project. It covers the time period from September 17, 1990, the approval date of the Cooperative Agreement between ENCOAL and the US Department of Energy (DOE), to July 17, 1997, the formal end of DOE participation in the Project. The Cooperative Agreement was the result of an application by ENCOAL to the DOE soliciting joint funding under Round III of the Clean Coal Technology Program. By June 1992, the ENCOAL Plant had been built, commissioned and started up, and in October 1994, ENCOAL was granted a two-year extension, carrying the project through to September 17, 1996. No-cost extensions have moved the Cooperative Agreement end date to July 17, 1997 to allow for completion of final reporting requirements. At its inception, ENCOAL was a subsidiary of Shell Mining Company. In November 1992, Shell Mining Company changed ownership, becoming a subsidiary of Zeigler Coal Holding Company (Zeigler) of Fairview Heights, Illinois. Renamed successively as SMC Mining Company and then Bluegrass Coal Development Company, it remained the parent entity for ENCOAL, which has operated a 1,000-ton/day mild coal gasification demonstration plant near Gillette, Wyoming for nearly 5 years. ENCOAL operates at the Buckskin Mine owned by Triton Coal Company (Triton), another Zeigler subsidiary