successful, the demonstration could pave the way for a new generation of clean power plants, with lower capital and operating costs. B9 Coal, and its affiliate B9 Gas, also
The B9 approach – after gasification, the syngas is separated to create carbon dioxide, which is buried, and hydrogen, which is used in fuel cells to create electricity
large-scale industrial applications, with the objective of producing the lowest possible unit cost electricity. The cells are modular by design and operate using hydrogen and air at low pressure and low temperature. These essential features aid mass production, sim- ple assembly, easy maintenance and signifi- cantly lower costs. The cell operates at 60%electrical efficien-
cy, making it highly competitive with the most sophisticated gas turbine operating at maximum output. Unlike gas turbines how- ever, the scalable fuel cells maintain their high output from full capacity to zero and back again under fast-changing loads. Power stations built of stacks of these scalable cells would be ideal for balancing the grid and providing back-up to the most sporadic of renewables. The technology could re-gener- ate electricity using ‘green’ hydrogen pro- duced by renewably-powered electrolysis and the rejected hot water from the cells (about 70°C) is ideal for combined heat and power applications.
B9 Coal in action B9 Coal is engaged in a flagship project at Hatfield Colliery near Doncaster that may mark the first ever large-scale deployment of these technologies in a CCS project. The com-
In the future, B9 Coal hopes to develop underground coal gasification (UCG), the process of gasifying coal in-situ. UCG provides access to coal ‘stranded’ deep underground, eliminating the need to mine it and process it through a surface gasification plant. UCG technology has evolved through numerous trials since the early 1900s and commercial-scale UCG sites for power generation have been operating in the former Soviet Union for over 40 years. In the UKalone, UCG could potential-
Energy World April 2011
pany has entered into an agreement with Powerfuel Power, which envisages the cre- ation of a joint venture to exclusively devel- op low carbon fuel cell power stations in the UK. B9 Coal will be responsible for installing up to 300MWof AFC Energy’s fuel cell tech- nology alongside Powerfuel’s planned inte- grated gasification combined cycle power station. The agreement also includes an option to rollout the technology to further territories worldwide in the future. Grant Budge, Chief Operating Officer at Powerfuel Power said the project will demonstrate ‘the lowest carbon capture technology commer- cially available today.’ In February, Powerfuel submitted an appli-
cation to DECC under the European Union’s New Entrant Reserve (NER) 300 call for pro- posals. This EU funding mechanism is linked to the European Emissions Trading Scheme and is designed to provide funding for first- of-a-kind renewable energy and CCS proj- ects.
Within the NER300 submission, B9 Coal, Powerfuel and AFC Energy have stated a desire to demonstrate alkaline fuel cells at a nominal 60 MW scale, taking a feed from Endex Reactors. An Endex Reactor is a pre- combustion capture system for natural gas or syngas developed by Calix Limited and, if
Underground coal gasification
ly give access to an extra 17bn tonnes of coal, without the major environmental impacts of conventional mining. The process could therefore have immense benefit in terms of UKenergy security and the ability to generate power from indigenous resources. To achieve this, B9 Coal has partnered with Linc Energy – developers of UCG technology based in Australia. The company has been testing alkaline fuel cells at its demonstration facility in Chinchilla, Queensland, which has been operational for 10 years.
recently announced their intention to create a unique, climate-friendly natural gas power station in response to the CCC’s call for the application of CCS to natural gas to be included in the DECC competition. The proj- ect would use the known technology of steammethane reforming to convert natural gas to hydrogen which is then fed to AFC Energy’s alkaline fuel cells to create a modu- lar, on-demand, decarbonised power plant. The proposal would offer the ability to load follow– something conventional natural gas turbines cannot. Excess hydrogen can be stored overnight and used to generate elec- tricity tomeet peak demand, guaranteeing a consistent and reliable supply of power. The scalable nature of the fuel cell systemensures that there is no loss of efficiency during up and down cycles, unlike conventional gas turbines. B9 Gas is in talks to acquire an existing
hydrogen generating plant with potential CCS and hydrogen storage facilities.
Learn, address and protect The process of CCS is nowwidely accepted as having a key role to play in tackling the chal- lenges of reducing carbon emissions. The International Energy Agency estimates that for global carbon dioxide emissions to be reduced to half of the current level by 2050, CCS will be needed to deliver about 20%of the abatement, requiring storage of over 10 Gt of carbon dioxide per year. Based on these projections it has been estimated that CCS could be worth £3–6.5bn a year to the UK by 2030, sustaining between 70,000 and 100,000 jobs. However, to achieve these kind of results
we will need to build new coal-fired CCS plants at the samerate as combined cycle gas turbine plants were constructed during the dash for gas in the 1990s. The UKgovern- ment has committed to public sector invest- ment in four CCS demonstration projects, however development on this programme has been hugely stalled – something which is not only frustrating for the energy industry but also highly detrimental to emissions tar- gets. Low carbon ambitions cannot be achieved
without continued support, development and uptake of emerging clean energy tech- nologies, which have the potential to change the energy landscape in years to come. Coal will inevitably be a substantial part of the future energy mix; therefore the only viable answer is to reassess the ways in which we extract, process and capture resources from it. Either we choose to continue in a short- sighted and irresponsible way, or learn from the past, address the present, and work to protect the future.
Alisa Murphy is CEO of B9 Coal,
www.b9coal.com
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