COAL GASIFICATION

COAL GASIFICATION

TOPIC: Environment

Context- Four pilot projects for coal gasification and conversion of coal into chemicals required for the industry will be set up for technical and financial viability said Union finance minister, while presenting the budget in the Lok Sabha February 1, 2022.

Concept-

Coal Gasification

• Coal gasification is a process in which coal is partially oxidised with air, oxygen, steam or carbon dioxide to form a fuel gas. This gas is then used instead of piped natural gas , methane and others for deriving energy.
• The process of Coal Gasification chemically transforms the fossil fuel into Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG), instead of burning fossil fuel.
• It produces Syngas which is a mixture consisting primarily of methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapour (H2O).
• Syngas can be used to produce a wide range of fertilizers, fuels, solvent and synthetic materials.
• It is primarily used for electricity generation, for the production of chemical feedstocks.
• The hydrogen obtained from coal gasification can be used for various purposes such as making ammonia, powering a hydrogen economy.
• In-situ gasification of coal – or Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) – is the technique of converting coal into gas while it is still in the seam and then extracting it through wells.
• China has the biggest number of coal gasification projects in the world. Five per cent of China’s total coal consumption is from its gasifier.

Environmental Impacts of coal gasification:

• Coal gasification actually produces more carbon dioxide than a conventional coal-powered thermal power plant, according to (Centre for Science & Environment) CSE’s assessment.
• Also, coal gasification plants are costlier than conventional power plants. Since, coal is the main feed for gasification, it, in no way helps in India’s decarbonisation goals.
• According to CSE estimates, one unit of electricity generated by burning gasified coal generates 2.5 times more carbon dioxide than what would result when burning the coal directly.
• The syngas process converts a relatively high-quality energy source (coal) to a lower quality state (gas) and consumes a lot of energy in doing so. Thus, the efficiency of conversion is also low.