How are coal conversion projects going ahead despite pressures from environmental policies & global economic conditions? The 7th CTLtec Asia conference in Beijing on 16-17 March offers insights on this key question, covering the entire coal polygeneration value chain including coal to liquids, coal to chemicals, underground coal gasification, carbon capture & storage, IGCC and more.

Beijing, CHINA – January 28 /Press Release/ — 7th CTLtec Asia, CMT’s 7th Annual international forum on coal polygeneration will meet in Beijing on 16-17 March to provide answers to a key question dominating the coal conversion industry today, “How are coal conversion projects going ahead despite intense pressures from an environmental policy environment, and the weak global economy?”

The conference offers participants an opportunity to evaluate the present dynamics of the coal polygeneration sector across Asia-Pacific, and will address issues pertaining to coal gasification, Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), coal to liquids (CTL), and carbon capture and Storage (CCS), with specific focus on developments in China, India and the rest of Asia.

Coal polygeneration has the potential to take off in Asia-Pacific, where coal is still favoured amongst countries rich in this natural resource, especially China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia. 7th CTLtec offers a showcase of current projects in Asia, that include Shenhua’s DCTL project in Inner Mongolia, Yankuang’s coal to Liquids project, China Blue Chemical’s (a subsidiary of CNOOC) “coal to gas” project and more.

The conference also examines the emerging prominence of underground coal gasification (UCG) in Asia Pacific, and showcase pilot projects coming up in China, India, Vietnam and Australia. Experts from VINACOMIN, Linc Energy and more are expected to share project updates at the conference.

There is also an extensive coal to chemicals focus at the conference, with sessions covering coal to gas as a feasible feedstock for urea and methanol production, clean coal chemistry for calcium carbide production, the competitiveness of coal to methanol in China and its application in gasoline blending.

In addition to the above, the conference will also offer a Post-Copenhagen view into coal polygeneration, evaluating the fate of clean coal, and setting the stage for the extensive carbon capture & storage focus at the conference, where Shenhua is expected to deliver an update on CO2 capture at their DCTL plant in Inner Mongolia.

Also on the agenda are sessions by TPRI and GreenGen on their study into creating a post-combustion C02 capture pilot project (power generation), and MasionWorleyParsons on their CCS projects’ status in Asia and China.

Industry leaders expected to attend 7th CTLtec Asia in Beijing include key coal producers, coal polygeneration company representatives, coal-conversion project owners, national oil companies representatives, oil majors, gasification technologies providers and many more. Participants are expected to fly in from all over Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Middle East and Africa.

Those interested in coal polygeneration Issues on coal to liquids, coal to chemicals, carbon capture & storage, underground coal gasification, and IGCC can click here to reserve their seats for the 7th CTLtec Asia.

CMT’s 7th CTLtec Asia will meet in Beijing on 16-17 March to provide answers to a key question dominating the Coal conversion industry today, “How are Coal conversion projects going ahead despite intense pressures from an environmental policy environment, and the weak global economy?”

7th CTLtec Asia will also look at the emerging importance of Coal Polygeneration across Asia-Pacific, and will address issues pertaining to Coal Gasification, Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), Coal-to-Liquids (CTL), and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), with specific focus on developments in China, India and the rest of Asia.

The conference also examines the emerging prominence of Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) in Asia Pacific, and showcase pilot projects coming up in China, Vietnam and Australia.

Coal conversion today, with the aid of technological advances in Coal gasification, has gone beyond traditional coal combustion, to provide a greater scope of economical and environmentally acceptable applications including chemicals and liquid fuels production.

The most promising among these developments, according to a report by Chemsystems, is Polygeneration from Coal, as the integrated process serves to enhance the value of coal as a fuel.

Coal Polygeneration has the potential to take off in Asia-Pacific, where Coal is still favored amongst countries rich in this natural resource, especially China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia. Current projects involve the gasification of coal to produce syngas and methanol, which are then used as feedstocks for the fertilizer, olefins and chemicals sector. There is also increasing interest in synthetic diesel, gasoline, Substitute Natural Gas (SNG) Methanol and dimethyl ether (DME), all derived from coal gasification.

Here’s a round up of what’s happening in Asia Pacific:

CHINA: In the next few years, the Chinese government is expected to put the appropriate policies to encourage IGCC power generation and the further development of polygeneration, and analysts at CBI predict that future investment of IGCC will grow exponentially. In fact, China has already planned over 20 poly generation projects with total investment exceeding tens of billions RMB.

INDIA: The country recently included clean coal and coal gasification in their recently announced ambitious five-point action plan to help the country reduce its emission intensity (emissions per unit of GDP) 20-25% by 2020. This comes in the wake of significant investments by ONGC, Tata Group and the Jindal Group in developing Coal to Liquids projects in India.

INDONESIA: Asia Pacific’s other Coal major Indonesia signed a MOU with Sasol in December 2009 to conduct a feasibility study on a potential coal-to-liquid facility that could generate 80,000 barrels per day, a project that would require US$10 billion in investment.

VIETNAM: Vinacomin recently entered a joint venture with Marubeni Corp. of Japan and Linc Energy of Australia to explore coal in the Red River Delta with UCG technology.

AUSTRALIA: Linc Energy, Australia’s first UCG operator inked a deal with AFC Energy (AIM: AFC), the developer of low cost alkaline fuel cells, to supply synthetic hydrogen from their UCG plant. Plans for Australia’s first commercial coal gasification project have also moved forward with an A$40m (US$33.6m) investment from South Korean conglomerate Samsung Corp to support the development of a coal-to-fertilizer plant.

Coal conversion technologies offer excellent investment potential in coal-rich regions. Nevertheless, there are important issues to be addressed regarding downside scenario risks, despite the potentially large returns to be made.

Attend CMT’s 7th CTLtec Asia conference for clarity on the opportunities and challenges in the “Coal to Anything” industry, and gain insights on key techno-strategic issues including:

• Technical & Regulatory Updates on Polygeneration Projects in China, India, Asia, etc
• Executing UCG in Asia – Overcoming Technical Challenges
• Getting Project Financed in Current Economic Climate
• Cross Analysis of Gasification & CTL Technologies
• Feedstock and Outlook for Coal-Based Chemicals (Olefins, Methanol, etc)
• Coal to Methanol Projects & Applications in Energy/Fuels (DME, Methanol Blended Gasoline, etc)
• Solutions to Environmental, Fuels Quality & Water Requirement
• Status of CO2 Capture Technologies – Gasification with CO2 Capture Ready Capability
• CO2 Geological Storage & Other Utilisation/Applications
• Post Copenhagen & What’s ahead for CCS?

Pre-registrations for 7th CTLtec Asia are now being accepted via an online registration form by >>clicking here<<.

Interested parties can also email their enquiries on registrations, media partnerships and sponsorships to Ms. Nadia Albahar, Marketing Manager at nadia@cmtsp.com.sg.

CTL Plant in Ordos, Inner Mongolia---Source: China Daily

Shenhua Group, China’s largest coal producer, and key contributor at the 6th CTLtec Asia conference announced on 5 Jan, that the world’s first Direct Coal to Liquids plant in Inner Mongolia started trial operation on 30 December.

The facility started to produce quality fuels and chemical products on the second trial day and according to Shenhua’s chairman Zhang Xiwu “the trial goes without any problems.”

Despite fears that the project will be postponed to early 2009 due to various reasons, Shenhua successfully launched their trial operation as scheduled.  The company has scheduled to do another trial in May after which production will be normalized.

Shenhua’s achievement sends out a strong message to the CTL sector, that Coal-to-Liquids are still viable. In fact, in an interview with China Daily, Shenhua Chairman went on the record to say, “At current prices, the project is still economically viable” questioning the popular belief that a CTL plant needs an oil price of $40 or more to be safe from financial risks.

In fact, Shenhua is so confident about CTL that they plan to add an additional TWO PRODUCTION LINES alongside the first one, which is worth 10 billion Yuan and has a production capacity of 1 million tons a year. According to Shenhua Chairman Zhang Xiwu, Shenhua will “expand the project’s capacity to three million tons a year” and increase their investment to “30 billion Yuan”!

Shenhua’s message is echoed by the upcoming 6th CTLtec Asia conference, which will be held on March 3-4, 2009 in Beijing, which maps the upcoming opportunities in the CTL sector in Asia. Shenhua is one of the key participating companies at this critical event.

Shenhua experts and key decision makers will share first-hand insights on the rewards and challenges of setting up and running a Coal-to-Liquids facility in China, with focus on Coal-to-Methanol production and Carbon Emissions Management for CTL projects.

Make sure you are at 6th CTLtec Asia to get first hand insights from Shenhua representatives on the set up and running of this ground-breaking 10-billion-yuan direct CTL facility.

Visit http://www.futureenergyevents.com/ctltec/attend/register-for-ctltec-asia/ to confirm your team’s participation at 6th CTLtec and be a part of Asia’s most established Coal to Liquids meet!

Source: treehugger.com

Coal as a source of energy and fuel is still favored by coal-rich countries like China and India, where meeting demand for fuel is a key priority, and viable alternatives are being sought.

Coal-to-Liquids is now viewed as one of the options to supplement the growing need for fuels with cleaner synthetic diesel and gasoline. 

Yet, the main barrier holding back widespread investment in Coal-to-Liquids technologies are its high emissions. In April 2007, the US Environmental Protection Agency estimated that using coal-to-liquids fuel will increase greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere by 119%!

The potential of coal conversion can only be truly exploited if the process is “cleaned up” to become environmentally friendly.

That’s why companies are now pairing coal to liquids production with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), as a genuine option for a sustainable & environmentally friendly future.

But controlling emissions is not the only challenge faced by the sector.

Coal-to-liquids plants also consume massive quantities of water—the second major concern. Some estimate as much as five gallons of water used for every gallon of liquid fuel produced. For a 22,000 barrel-per-day operation, that means 1.7 billion gallons of water per year.

As Coal-to-Liquid projects now scale up for commercial production, project owners and technology providers are faced with the pressing need to address these two major concerns, as well as increase the output efficiency.

The upcoming 6th CTLtec Asia forum, to be held on 3-4 March 2009 in Beijing, directly addresses the challenges, and resulting opportunities and issues in the coal conversion sector. Part of the CTLtec series held since 2005, the conference will provide the CTL sector with a truly holistic view of the entire coal conversion value chain.

You will have the opportunity to hear from and network with Presidents, CEOs, VPs, Directors and other key decisions makers involved in Coal, Coal-to-Liquids, Coal Gasification & Liquefaction, Refinery Industrial Gas, Petrochemicals, Methanol, Olefins, Catalysts, EPC, Power & Utilities, Lubricant Companies, Gas Separation and Equipment & Technology industries.

The best part about the 6th CTLtec Asia is that it will be followed by the CO2 Capture, Sequestration & Utilization forum. For the first time, the CTLtec Asia series is providing a comprehensive look at the Coal-to-Liquids sector while dissecting latest innovations and issues in carbon management for this heavy emissions industry.

If you are keen to participate as delegates, media partners, speakers, exhibitors and / or sponsors at the CTLtec Asia and CO2 Capture & Storage forums, please submit your registrations, enquiries and proposals to Ms. Nadia Albahar, Marketing Manager at +65 6346 9114 or email at nadia@cmtsp.com.sg.