3.3.7 Activities After PSE-CO
2
Project Completion
In addition to the objectives of the PSE project, once it is finished, ELCOGAS will
have installed in its IGCC a large pilot plant that can be used as industrial
platform to other projects about syngas uses, CO
2
capture and treatment processes
and H
2
purification and use, which permits, among others, the following activities:
• Optimisation of catalyst for shifting reaction. Test with different catalysts.
• Development and demonstration of new processes for CO
2
–H
2
separation.
• Demonstration of several processes for CO
2
treatment.
• Improvement of integration efficiency between the capture CO
2
and the IGCC
power plant.
4 Conclusions
The world energy demand is expected to be doubled by 2050, being those based on
fossil fuels what will experiment the biggest increase (especially in the Asiatic
countries) because of the their lower costs. In view of this fact, diversification of
fossil fuels use according to reserves—located all over the world and total available
amount—and total life cycle are absolutely necessary to assure sustainability and
supply guarantee. Because of this, coal is going to be one of the main energy sources
and, therefore, an availability of clean coal technology is mandatory.
Based on real data and lessons learnt (e.g., lower emissions compared with
other coal-based technologies and natural gas power plants and fuel flexibility) in
more than 10 operating years of IGCC coal-based power plants, the IGCC tech-
nology is the best candidate to obtain clean energy from coal.
Fuel flexibility of IGCC technology has been demonstrated through the several
undertaken co-gasification tests. Co-gasification with coal improves economics
and efficiency of biomass fuels, encouraging renewable energy production.
IGCC power plants can be adapted as a multi-product plant to be adjusted to the
market demand. So, from syngas, hydrogen can be produced—with lower pro-
duction costs than from alternative sources—to be used in refinery as well as in
fuel cell for power generation or transportation and several chemical can be
generated such as ammonium, urea and methanol. IGCC refinery-based plants also
show favourable commercial perspectives, avoiding the disposal of residues and
supplying power, hydrogen and steam to the refinery.
In addition, because of the higher efficiency of IGCC plants, significant
reductions in CO
2
emission can be achieved by replacing conventional coal-fired
units by IGCC plants. Besides, CO
2
capture technology used in IGCC power plants
(pre-combustion) is considered the best one because of estimated costs and also
implies H
2
production. Both increase of efficiency and CO
2
reduction follow the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommendations to cut
greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce the impact on global warming.
296 P. Coca et al.