Published December 2006
The main focus of this report is screening-level techno-economics of syngas production via coal gasification based on the Shell Coal Gasification Process (SCGP). The base case cost estimates are for producing 412 million SCF per day of industrial grade syngas at stoichiometric ratio (SR) of 2.036, an amount that is suitable for a 5,000 metric tons per day of “mega” methanol plant.
The scope of this report also includes an overview of the recent development in the global gasification industry and a review of the current status of commercial and near-commercial coal gasification technologies, in addition to a discussion of key associated technologies such as downstream syngas processing and contaminants removal.
As China and the United States are emerging as the two most important countries in the world in terms of committed and planned investment in coal gasification projects, we evaluate the comparative production economics of SCGP coal-derived syngas for two locations: US Gulf Coast (USGC) and Central/Western China (CW China).
For potential investors interested in coal gasification projects, a key question would be the comparative economics of syngas production from coal gasification versus that from natural gas steam reforming, as the later is currently the dominant form of large scale syngas production. To this end, we have also evaluated the comparative costs of syngas production from natural gas steam reforming versus those from SCGP coal gasification.
We hope that the report would provide answers to questions such as “why is China so hot on coal to chemicals projects?” and “is coal gasification competitive against natural gas steam reforming?”
The report should be of interest to planning and evaluation groups.
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