Honeywell UOP announced that OSAKI CoolGen Corporation has implemented UOP SeparAL technology to remove carbon dioxide during coal-gasification processing at its facility in Hiroshima, Japan. The technology significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power generation, enabling OSAKI CoolGen to support Japanese government initiatives for CO2capture and achieve greater national energy independence.

 

The UOP SeparALL process helps meet the needs of clean power generation through integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation, and can be used in the gasification value chain to produce chemicals and synthetic fuels. 

 

The project includes a large facility demonstration by OSAKI CoolGen of an oxygen-blown IGCC, followed by the addition of a UOP SeparALL unit for CO2 removal. The IGCC plant also will be integrated with fuel cell combined cycle technology to conduct a demonstration of that technology with CO2  removal.

 

“UOP’s SeparALL technology through the IGCC process shows that clean coal technology is environmentally practical and more efficient than conventional coal-based power plants,” said Mark Schott, General Manager, Gas Processing & Treating at Honeywell UOP. “In fact, by applying SeparALL technology with IGCC, greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by up to 90%.”

 

The supply of coal is more stable in Japan, which has a low rate of energy self-sufficiency, and is less expensive than other fuel sources. As a result, coal-fired power plants generate about a third of the electrical energy used in Japan.

 

OSAKI CoolGen Corporation was founded in 2009 by The Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc. and Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. with the goal of demonstrating technologies that substantially reduce emissions of CO2from coal-fired power plants.