Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Plant performance during initial operation of University of Minnesota-Duluth coal gasification facility

Conference · · Alternative Energy Sources; (United States)
OSTI ID:5190186
As an alternative to the installation of a coal fired boiler, a low BTU coal gas producer was installed at the central heating plant on the Duluth Campus of the University of Minnesota. The commercial scale, existing technology 3 ton/hr (2.7 metric ton/hr) coal gas producer generates both a low Btu gas and a by-product coal tar fuel from a sub-bituminous Western United States coal. These coal derived fuels replace the use of natural gas and fuel oil in the generation of steam. The installation and operation costs of the gas producer have been jointly funded by the University of Minnesota and the United States Department of Energy. Initial operation of the gas producer began on October 24, 1978. The gas producer has been operated intermittently for over 2000 hours. Optimum operating conditions have yet to be determined. However, technical information collected indicates that the performance of the gas producer meets many original expectations. Also, there have been few problems combusting the low Btu gas and by-product coal tar in boilers that previously combusted natural gas and fuel oil. Based on the current costs of natural gas and heavy fuel oil in Duluth, Minnesota, economics of the gas producer are not favorable at this time.
Research Organization:
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
OSTI ID:
5190186
Report Number(s):
CONF-801210-
Conference Information:
Journal Name: Alternative Energy Sources; (United States) Journal Volume: 6
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English