Growth and Todays Applications

Based on a survey reported for 2003, there are 163 commercial gasification projects worldwide consisting of a total of 468 gasifiers.4 More than 120 plants began their operations between 1960 and 2000 with the majority (more than 72 plants) commissioned after 1980. Up to 34 new plants are at various stages of planning and construction. 

The majority of the existing plants were designed and constructed to produce a synthetic gas, consisting primarily of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO), which is used for the production of hydrogen or Fischer-Tropsche (F-T) syncrude. Hydrogen is then used to produce a wide variety of chemicals and fertilizers. The Fisher-Tropsch syncrude is used to manufacture transportation fuels, lube oils, and specialty waxes. 

Recent commercial projects use refinery waste or products that no longer have a positive market value, such as petroleum coke (petcoke) or heavy oils. Many of these projects are referred to as trigeneration plants because they produce hydrogen, power, and steam for use within the refinery and 

Department of Energy, http //www.netl.doe.gov/coalpower/gasification/ models. 

European refinery gasification projects include the API project in Falconara, Italy Sarlux project in Sardinia, Italy ISAB project in Sicily, Italy and Shell project in Pemis, Netherlands. Several plants are also reported to gasify biomass to produce gaseous fuels or electric power. 

---