Posted on 10/02/2006 12:24:42 PM PDT by BenLurkin
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Monday announced an agreement with a team of companies to build one of the nation's first coal-to-liquid fuel facilities.
DKRW Advanced Fuels and Arch Minerals will take the primary role as the developers of the Bull Mountain Coal to Liquid plant.
DKRW and Arch Minerals are the principal developers of the previously announced Medicine Bow CTL facility in Wyoming.
The Montana plant would use what is called integrated gas combined cycle technology to gasify, rather than ignite the coal. The project calls for converting a portion of the synthetic gas into 22,000 barrels per day of diesel fuel, using the rest of the gas to generate about 300 megawatts of electricity.
The facility will be located on the site of the Bull Mountain Mine, 14 miles south of Roundup, Schweitzer said.
"We have targeted this kind of growth opportunity because it takes advantage of our strength in coal and builds the economy in areas of the state which have suffered economic hard times for decades," Schweitzer said in a release.
General Electric will provide the technology to convert the coal into synthetic gas and Rentech technology will be used to convert the synthetic gas into a liquid.
Schweitzer said the plant would be outfitted with technology to capture carbon dioxide so it can be stored underground. The gasifier will remove mercury, sulfur and particulate matter from the coal, he said.
"This is a great day for Montana," Schweitzer said. "This type of project can bring thousands of jobs to the region and have a strong overall impact on the entire state. In the greater picture, it is a major step in converting into a reality America's hope for an alternative to imported oil."
DKRW has developed wind and natural gas projects around the world and Arch Minerals is one of the nation's largest coal companies, Schweitzer said.
BTTT! It's about time.
I'm sure the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, PETA, ELF, ALF, and the DNC will be whining by dinner time!!!!
Get It? Got It! Good!!!
Good. There's about 400 years of coal in Wyoming and Montana. Pipelines already exist to bring it to market.
Work'n in a coal mine
ahhh goin' down, down, down
Work'n in a coal mine
whoops I mighta slipped down
You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
"You load sixteen tons, what do you get? "
A hernia.
"I saw one analysis on this with an economic break-even at ~$50/barrel"
That's the key to attrack venture capitalist. These things take 3-5 years to become viable.
Bump to the topic!
The technology is actually pretty well known (Fischer-Tropsch process), and has been much refined since the 1920's, when it was developed on a laboratory basis. The Germans applied the technology on an industrial basis in the latter part of WW II, and kept their planes in the air, and their tanks running, long after they were denied the Ploesti oil fields of Yugoslavia. Even today, the process is widely used in South Africa, as a means to reduce their dependence on international trade in oil.
With government subsidy it is a waste of time.
Yep, for both of you. I've posted for it for quite a few years here on FR. China's doing it already. I think China is using what's called "Shockwave technology" which involves sound to increase the pressure and tempuratures to the correct points.
Sung by another American Hero "Tennessee Ernie Ford". He was also a B-17 Driver in WW-II. He was a real patriot.
I disagree. Without subsidy it goes as far as it can go with the price of oil around 60 dollars. Then 3 other big countries that use coal get involved. England, Poland, and Japan. Then it get really fun as OPEC tries to out produce the coal gassification countries so as to put them out of business. Oil and gas get real cheap until one of the types win. Unfortunately it may mean that OPEC wins in the long run. But, hey, that's the free market system.
tempuratures = temperatures. That's what I get for not using spell check.
What are they making? Town gas? Coal gas?
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