Gasification commercially available technologies

Today, different processes (steam reforming, autothermal reforming, partial oxidation, gasification) are available and commercially mature for hydrogen production from natural gas or coal. These processes would have to be combined with technologies for C02 capture and storage (CCS), to keep the emissions profile low. A power plant that combines electricity and hydrogen production can be more efficient than retrofitted C02 separation systems for conventional power plants. 

The bottom left quadrant in Figure 16 shows the applications for which new markets must be developed based on the expected success of a few key projects, which are now in the demonstration phase. Commercial IQCC, medium scale gasification and hot air gas turbines are expected to become commercially available in the short to medium term of about 4-6 years. If this happens, then the gasification technology will be able to address all basic requirements for energy applications... 

Low BTU gasification technology is commercially available for most types of biomass feedstocks and can be expected to have an impact on energy supplies by 1985. Many of these commercial processes are based on low BTU coal gasification technologies and the gas produced can best be used as fuel for supplying process heat, process steam or for electrical power generation. 

Gasification is an emerging technology, therefore, any cost estimates of full scale systems must be used with caution. However, since full scale gasifier systems are now commercially available in the United States ( 16 and 17), tentative cost estimates can be made. 

Commercial coal gasification processes are those that have a long history of commercial operation and are currently available to an electric utility for the routine production of fuel gas without further commercial-scale testing or demonstration except when testing specific coals. This category includes four gasification processes or technologies ... 

Second-generation biofuel technologies make use of a much wider range of biomass feedstock (e.g., forest residues, biomass waste, wood, woodchips, grasses and short rotation crops, etc.) for the production of ethanol biofuels based on the fermentation of lignocellulosic material, while other routes include thermo-chemical processes such as biomass gasification followed by a transformation from gas to liquid (e.g., synthesis) to obtain synthetic fuels similar to diesel. The conversion processes for these routes have been available for decades, but none of them have yet reached a high scale commercial level. 

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