WABASH RIVER IMPPCCT, INTEGRATED METHANOL AND POWER PRODUCTION FROM CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGIES

In a joint effort with the U.S. Department of Energy, working under a Cooperative Agreement Award from the ''Early Entrance Coproduction Plant'' (EECP) initiative, the Gasification Engineering Corporation and an Industrial Consortium are investigating the application of synthesis gas from the E-GAS{trademark} technology to a coproduction environment to enhance the efficiency and productivity of solid fuel gasification combined cycle power plants. The objectives of this effort are to determine the feasibility of an Early Entrance Coproduction Plant located at a specific site which produces some combination of electric power (or heat), fuels, and/or chemicals from synthesis gas derived from coal, or, coal in combination with some other carbonaceous feedstock. The project's intended result is to provide the necessary technical, financial, and environmental information that will be needed to move the EECP forward to detailed design, construction, and operation by industry. The Wabash River Integrated Methanol and Power Production from Clean Coal Technologies (IMPPCCT) project is evaluating integrated electrical power generation and methanol production through clean coal technologies. The project is conducted by a multi-industry team lead by Gasification Engineering Corporation (GEC), and supported by Air Products and Chemicals Inc., The Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Methanex Corporation, and Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation. Three project phases are planned for execution, including: (1) Feasibility Study and conceptual design for an integrated demonstration facility and for fence-line commercial plants operated at The Dow Chemical Company or Dow Corning Corporation chemical plant locations (i.e. the Commercial Embodiment Plant or CEP) (2) Research, development, and testing to address any technology gaps or critical design and integration issues (3) Engineering design and financing plan to install an integrated commercial demonstration facility at the existing Wabash River Energy Ltd., plant in West Terre Haute, Indiana. During the reporting period work was furthered to support the development of capital and operating cost estimates associated with the installation of liquid or gas phase methanol synthesis technology in a Commercial Embodiment Plant (CEP) utilizing the six cases previously defined. In addition, continued development of the plant economic model was accomplished by providing combined cycle performance data. Performance and emission estimates for gas turbine combined cycles was based on revised methanol purge gas information. The economic model was used to evaluate project returns with various market conditions and plant configurations and was refined to correct earlier flaws. Updated power price projections were obtained and incorporated in the model. Sensitivity studies show that break-even methanol prices which provide a 12% return are 47-54 cents/gallon for plant scenarios using $1.25/MM Btu coal, and about 40 cents/gallon for most of the scenarios with $0.50/MM Btu petroleum coke as the fuel source. One exception is a high power price and production case which could be economically attractive at 30 cents/gallon methanol. This case was explored in more detail, but includes power costs predicated on natural gas prices at the 95th percentile of expected price distributions. In this case, the breakeven methanol price is highly sensitive to the required project return rate, payback period, and plant on-line time. These sensitivities result mainly from the high capital investment required for the CEP facility ({approx}$500MM for a single train IGCC-methanol synthesis plant). Finally, during the reporting period the Defense Contractor Audit Agency successfully executed an accounting audit of Global Energy Inc. for data accumulated over the first year of the IMPPCCT project under the Cooperative Agreement