COAL GASIFICATION

Why in News?                                                                                                        

Coal Ministry organized an Industry Interaction at Hyderabad aimed at promoting coal gasification projects across the nation.

What is Coal Gasification?

• Process: Coal gasification is a thermo-chemical procedure wherein the pressure and heat of the gasifier disintegrate coal into its chemical components.
• Constituents: The resulting “syngas” is mostly carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen, with some other gaseous substances such Hydrogen Sulphide and Carbon dioxide.
• Cleaner Alternative: Coal gasification is said to be more efficient than traditional coal burning since it can use the gases two times:
• Primary use: Coal Gases are first purified of contaminants before being fired inside a turbine to produce energy.
• Secondary use: The gas turbine exhaust heat can be then collected and used to produce steam for a steam turbine-generator.
• Efficiency: Coal gasification processing facility using this dual method can possibly attain an efficiency of 50% or higher, compared to the customary coal power plant, which is typically just above 30%.
• National Coal Gasification Mission.
• The Indian government aims for 100 million ton (MT) coal gasification by 2030, with investments worth over Rs. 4 trillion.
• In order to encourage the use of clean sources of fuel, the government has provided a concession of 20% on revenue share under commercial coal block auctions.
• CIL has also planned to set up at least 3 gasification plants (besides Dankuni) on BOO (Build-own-operate) basis through global tendering and has signed an MoU with GAIL for marketing synthetic natural gas.