Development and status of the IGT PEATGAS Process for production of synthetic fuels from peat

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:5127652

Punwani, D V; Rader, A M; Kopstein, M J

US peat resources are the third largest in the world and are estimated to be about 1440 quads, equivalent to 240 billion barrels of crude oil. In the contiguous 48 states, peat deposits are generally located in areas with no other significant fossil fuel resources. Therefore, for those areas, peat represents an important source of energy. Peat conversion research at the Institute of Gas Technology (IGT) started in 1974 under sponsorship of the Minnesota Gas Company (Minnegasco). Since 1976, IGT has been working on a peat gasification program jointly funded by the US Department of Energy and Minnegasco. Systematic tests have been conducted in laboratory- and process development unit (PDU)-scale equipment to evaluate the conversion of peat to synthetic fuels. Tests have been conducted with peats from Minnesota, North Carolina, and Maine. The results show that, on the basis of chemistry, peat is a better raw material than coal from which to make substitute natural gas (SNG) as well as gasoline blending feedstock because a greater fraction of the feed carbon is converted to these products under milder operating conditions. Also compared with coal, peat conversion permits more flexibility in the relative yields of gas and liquid hydrocarbons. Peats from different regions could have different conversion and yield characteristics as demonstrated by tests on peats from Minnesota, North Carolina, and Maine. The estimates show that the economics of converting Minnesota peat (containing 50% moisture) to SNG by the IGT PEATGAS Process is competitive with those of converting Eastern US coal to SNG.

• OSTI ID: 5127652
• Report Number(s): CONF-791177-1; ON: DE82906009
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010404* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Gasification
09 BIOMASS FUELS
090122 -- Hydrocarbon Fuels-- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass-- (1976-1989)
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
COAL GASIFICATION
COAL RESERVES
DATA
DECOMPOSITION
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GASIFICATION
INFORMATION
KINETICS
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC MATTER
PEAT
PEATGAS PROCESS
PROCESS DEVELOPMENT UNITS
PYROLYSIS
REACTION KINETICS
RESERVES
RESOURCES
SNG PROCESSES
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
USA
YIELDS