7 - Current status of coal gasification

Abstract

Coal gasification by which coal is converted into a fuel gas rich in hydrogen and carbon monoxide has been undertaken industrially for over 200 years. The oil crises of the 1970s prompted a renewed interest in advanced coal utilization technologies. One technology, integrated gasification in combined cycle (IGCC), allowed generating power from coal at high efficiency with low emissions. This sparked research, development, and commercialization of these plants during the 1980s and 1990s. More recently, some of the coal gasification plants have addressed not only the issue of carbon capture and sequestration but also polygeneration strategies, varying the usage of the clean syngas between power production and chemical synthesis.

This chapter reviews and summarizes the current status of coal gasification worldwide. Despite the closure of several of the most relevant commercial coal gasification plants in Europe and the United States, gasification has increased in recent years, particularly in China. Moreover, technologies have diversified. In the following sections, the current status of coal gasification is presented and discussed. Information has been compiled according to continent and countries. The most relevant cases are discussed in more detail.