Lima Energy IGCC Upgraded to 600 MW, to Operate in 2008

Global Energy has upgraded its Lima Energy IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) power generation facility to 600MW (megawatts) from the its originally announced size of 540MW. The increase in power output is a result of engineering optimization work and will enhance the project economic value. The project is currently in construction with concrete foundation work being carried out at this time.  Construction, which will accelerate in 2006, will involve several hundred workers over three years.  Commercial Operation of the IGCC is expected in late 2008.

The Ultra Clean High Tech IGCC is the most advanced IGCC (see previous post for explanation of how IGCC works) in the U.S.  It is the cleanest and most efficient solid fuel (coal or petcoke) based power generation system.  Gasification will convert solid petroleum coke feedstock into synthetic gas, which after purification will be both the fuel for the gas turbine power generation and the feedstock to produce synthetic gas products such as hydrogen and synthetic natural gas. In a combined cycle system a high-efficiency gas turbine uses the clean SG fuel to produce electricity.  Exhaust heat from the gas turbine is recovered to produce steam—to power traditional high-efficiency steam turbines, thereby greatly increasing the efficiency of the IGCC power plant. The synthetic gas is produced at less than half of today's market prices for gas, thus enabling the combined cycle power plant in the IGCC to produce low cost, clean and efficient electric power. If the base- load coal fleet were converted to IGCC, the U.S. would benefit from up to 20% more power and 10 times cleaner emissions from the same annual coal consumption.

The $775 million dollar facility is being designed and constructed under contract to Gasification Engineering Corporation (GEC), a Global Energy company.  GEC will subcontract major engineering and construction management, and will handle direct purchase of major equipment. Industrial Construction Company, Inc. (ICC) of Brecksville, Ohio, has been selected as construction manager.  Roberts & Schaefer Company is engineering the Solid Material Handling scope of the facility and will serve as construction manager for this part of the work. This construction effort covers the Fuel Storage Building, which will have a footprint of 100,000 square feet and approach 100 ft. in height, capable of storing 75,000 tons of fuel under roof. The plant located in Lima, Ohio, at the 63-acre site of the former Locomotive Works that the project purchased from the City of Lima, who has completed remediation of the Brownfield site.

Global Energy owns and operates the Wabash IGCC facility.  Wabash represents the culmination of a two-decade, $1 billion research and testing effort, undertaken by Dow Chemical, to develop next-generation, efficient gasification technology.  Global Energy purchased Wabash in 1999 and continues to perfect the design and operation of the technology. The Wabash site is one of only two Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) facilities in the United States.  Wabash is the world's cleanest coal-based power station.

Resources:

Global Energy, Inc,, Cincinnati, OH
Global Energy, Press release, January 3, 2005

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Comments

[JesseJenkins]

Thanks for the update Jim. But shouldn't these guys be waiting until we get all the data from FutureGen? How can they be moving forward on this risky and unproven technology without waiting for the results of the DOE's studies? [*note obvious sarcasm*].

Global Energy and others are going to beat FutureGen to the punch and demonstrate the feasability of IGCC, now, not in ten or fifteen years after more 'demo' projects. Props to them.

[Greg Molaro]

If the syn-gas is produced for half of the cost of natural gas and natural gas was about $9.50 per mmbtu. That means the syn-gas cost $4.75 to produce.

But... The btu content of the syn-gas is about 500 btus/scf. That means the syngas costs the same as gas at $9.50. Is that correct?

[Donna Lamb]

I have a student in Agricultural Business and Economics that is very interested in working for your facility when it is open. Will you have internship opportunities also. I am the Coordinator of Career Services for the Lima Campus of The Ohio State University. 419 995-8053

[Jim from The Energy Blog]

The BTU content of syngas from an IGCC plant can be nearly the same as natural gas, depending on the type of gasifier and the gas cleanup that is used. It usually is in the range of 700-800 BTU/scf but they do not state what they are expecting. It should not be confused with the gas that is obtained from landfills or agricultural waste.

[Greg Molaro]

Primarily, Syngas is hydrogen and carbon Monoxide. The btu content of each component is 273.8 btus/scf and 320.5 btus/scf. Coal and, in particular, petcoke are almost entirely carbon. Given that fact, I don't see how the Syngas can be anywhere near 700-800 btus/scf.

[Greg Molaro]

There are several noteable problems with gasification of petcoke or coal.

The largest is the gasifier's propensity to produce large volumes of CO2. Without a CO2 sequestration project or a CO2 market as an adjunct to the gasifier, how does the plant deal wth this environmental liability?

Gasifiers also produce hazardous materials like HCN. How are these "nasties" dealt with?

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[dizimikacirdim]

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