Wabash River Integrated Methanol and Power Production from Clean Coal Technologies (IMPPCCT)

The Wabash River Integrated Methanol and Power Production from Clean Coal Technologies (IMPPCCT) project was established to evaluate integrated electrical power generation and methanol production through clean coal technologies. The project was under the leadership of ConocoPhillips Company (COP), after it acquired Gasification Engineering Corporation (GEC) and the E-Gas gasification technology from Global Energy Inc. in July 2003. The project has completed both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of development. The two project phases include the following: (1) Feasibility study and conceptual design for an integrated demonstration facility at SG Solutions LLC (SGS), previously the Wabash River Energy Limited, Gasification Facility located in West Terre Haute, Indiana, and for a fence-line commercial embodiment plant (CEP) operated at the Dow Chemical Company or Dow Corning Corporation chemical plant locations. (2) Research, development, and testing (RD&T) to define any technology gaps or critical design and integration issues. Phase 1 of this project was supported by a multi-industry team consisting of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., The Dow Chemical Company, Dow Corning Corporation, Methanex Corporation, and Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation, while Phase 2 was supported by Gas Technology Institute, TDA Research Inc., and Nucon International, Inc. The SGS integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) facility was designed, constructed, and operated under a project selected and co-funded under the Round IV of the United States Department of Energy's (DOE's) Clean Coal Technology Program. In this project, coal and/or other carbonaceous fuel feedstocks are gasified in an oxygen-blown, entrained-flow gasifier with continuous slag removal and a dry particulate removal system. The resulting product synthesis gas (syngas) is used to fuel a combustion turbine generator whose exhaust is integrated with a heat recovery steam generator to drive a refurbished steam turbine generator. The gasifier uses technology initially developed by The Dow Chemical Company (the Destec Gasification Process), and now acquired and offered commercially by COP as the E-Gas technology. In a joint effort with the DOE, a Cooperative Agreement was awarded under the Early Entrance Coproduction Plant (EECP) solicitation. GEC, and later COP and the industrial partners investigated the use of syngas produced by the E-Gas technology in a coproduction environment to enhance the efficiency and productivity of solid fuel gasification combined cycle power plants. The objectives of this effort were to determine the feasibility of an EECP located at a specific site which produces some combination of electric power (or heat), fuels, and/or chemicals from syngas derived from coal, or, coal in combination with some other carbonaceous feedstock. The intended result of the project was to provide the necessary technical, economic, and environmental information that would be needed to move the EECP forward to detailed design, construction, and operation by industry. The EECP study conducted in Phase 1 of the IMPPCCT Project confirmed that the concept for the integration of gasification-based (E-Gas) electricity generation from coal and/or petroleum coke and methanol production (Liquid Phase Methanol or LPMEOH{trademark}) processes was feasible for the coproduction of power and chemicals. The results indicated that while there were minimal integration issues that impact the deployment of an IMPPCCT CEP, the major concern was the removal of sulfur and other trace contaminants, which are known methanol catalyst poisons, from the syngas. However, economic concerns in the domestic methanol market which is driven by periodic low natural gas prices and cheap offshore supplies limit the commercial viability of this more capital intensive concept. The objective of Phase 2 was to conduct RD&T as outlined in the Phase 1 RD&T Plan to enhance the development and commercial acceptance of coproduction technology. Studies were designed to address the technical concerns that would make the IMPPCCT concept competitive with natural gas-based systems in the commercial marketplace. Efforts in Phase 2 investigated the cleanup of the syngas by removing contaminants, particularly sulfur species, to a level acceptable for the methanol synthesis catalyst, and reducing the cost of the current sulfur removal system such as via warm gas cleanup methods. Laboratory testing followed by on-site field testing at SGS with bench-scale slipstream units was conducted. Actual syngas produced by the facility was evaluated at system pressure and temperature

SCA2003-22: TRAPPED VERSUS INITIAL GAS SATURATION TRENDS FROM A SINGLE CORE TEST

ABSTRACT When gas is displaced by liquid in porous media, the saturation at which gas becomes immobile is referred to as the trapped gas saturation. Trapped gas saturation magnitude is important in reservoir scenarios such as water invasion into a gas reservoir, WAG, or water flooding with pressure below the oil bubble point pressure

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTIVE STRESS COEFFICIENT FOR VARIOUS HIGH POROSITY OUTCROP CHALKS

ABSTRACT The contribution of the pore fluid pressure in reducing the effective stress during loading of fully saturated high porosity chalk (>40%) has often been assumed to be represented by an effective stress coefficient close to unity. This assumption entails the differential stress; the difference between the total stress and the pore fluid pressure, to equal the stress the rock matrix is exposed to. Laboratory experiments were conducted by simultaneously increasing the total stress and pore pressure. These tests resulted in substantial strains that should not occur if the assumption of an effective stress coefficient close to unity was true. Different explanations for these strains have been discussed, among these consolidation effects, partial saturation effects, micro damage and possible laboratory equipment effects. The strains that were observed during the above mentioned test phase, resulted in a focus on the effective stress coefficient for porous chalk material. The results presented in this study suggest that the effective stress coefficient for high porosity outcrop chalks depends on the applied stress and the pore fluid, and is not a constant nor close to unity as commonly presumed