Coal Gasification Process

The main advantage of a coal gasification process is wide application. It is unique technology because syngas can be applied for producing a hundred of products for different industries: steel, electric power, chemical, petrochemical industries etc. Syngas is a feedstock for producing alternative fuels, such as SNG, ethanol, diesel, jet fuel and other clean fuel. Besides the syngas production cost is lower than the cost of natural gas.

There are many advantages to Coal Gasification and the use of synthetic gas in general:

• Coal Gasification can provide power and products at competitive prices in high price energy environments.
• While a major power plant is capital intensive (like any very large manufacturing plant) its operating costs are potentially lower than conventional processes or coal-fired plants because Coal Gasification plants are more efficient and require less back-end pollution control equipment. With continued research and development efforts and commercial operating experience, the cost of these units will continue to decrease.
• Coal Gasification can replace increasingly expensive natural gas as a fuel or a feedstock.

We at Red Mountain Energy believe that Coal Gasification will provide a significant economic and environmental benefit in a carbon constrained world.

Meteoric rise predicted

Coal Gasification is predicted to have a meteoric future. Worldwide gasification capacity is projected to grow 70 percent by 2015 with 80 percent of the growth occurring in Asia. The reason for this is not only population increase but also the high prices of oil and natural gas which have led to increased interest in alternative energy sources.

Gasification has been reliably used on a commercial scale worldwide for more than 50 years by the chemical, refining, and fertilizer industries, and for more than 35 years by the electric power industry. There are more than 420 gasifiers currently operating in some 140 facilities worldwide, with 19 plants operating in the United States.

World wide expansion

China is expected to achieve the most rapid growth in coal gasification worldwide. Since 2004, 29 new gasification plants have been licensed and/or built in China. In contrast, no new gasification plants have begun operation in the United States since 2002.




The gasification industry is expected to grow significantly in the United States despite a number of challenges, including rising construction costs and uncertainty about policy incentives and regulations.




Several gasification projects are under development to provide steam and hydrogen to upgrade synthetic crude in the oil sands industry in Canada. In addition, the paper industry is exploring how gasification can be used to make their operations more efficient and reduce waste streams.