Techno-Economic Comparison of Onshore and Offshore Underground Coal Gasification End-Product Competitiveness
Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) enables the utilisation of coal reserves that are currently not economically exploitable due to complex geological boundary conditions. Hereby, UCG produces a high-calorific synthesis gas that can be used for generation of electricity, fuels and chemical feedstock...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/10/1643 |
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| author | Natalie Christine Nakaten Thomas Kempka |
| author_facet | Natalie Christine Nakaten Thomas Kempka |
| author_sort | Natalie Christine Nakaten |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) enables the utilisation of coal reserves that are currently not economically exploitable due to complex geological boundary conditions. Hereby, UCG produces a high-calorific synthesis gas that can be used for generation of electricity, fuels and chemical feedstock. The present study aims to identify economically competitive, site-specific end-use options for onshore and offshore produced UCG synthesis gas, taking into account the capture and storage (CCS) and/or utilisation (CCU) of resulting CO 2 . Modelling results show that boundary conditions that favour electricity, methanol and ammonia production expose low costs for air separation, high synthesis gas calorific values and H 2 /N 2 shares as well as low CO 2 portions of max. 10%. Hereby, a gasification agent ratio of more than 30% oxygen by volume is not favourable from economic and environmental viewpoints. Compared to the costs of an offshore platform with its technical equipment, offshore drilling costs are negligible. Thus, uncertainties related to parameters influenced by drilling costs are also negligible. In summary, techno-economic process modelling results reveal that scenarios with high CO 2 emissions are the most cost-intensive ones, offshore UCG-CCS/CCU costs are twice as high as the onshore ones, and yet all investigated scenarios except from offshore ammonia production are competitive on the European market. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T06:49:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2d69c687ebfa4f85b3d8456c94eecd49 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T06:49:12Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-2d69c687ebfa4f85b3d8456c94eecd492022-12-22T02:57:28ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732017-10-011010164310.3390/en10101643en10101643Techno-Economic Comparison of Onshore and Offshore Underground Coal Gasification End-Product CompetitivenessNatalie Christine Nakaten0Thomas Kempka1GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Fluid Systems Modelling, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, GermanyGFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Fluid Systems Modelling, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, GermanyUnderground Coal Gasification (UCG) enables the utilisation of coal reserves that are currently not economically exploitable due to complex geological boundary conditions. Hereby, UCG produces a high-calorific synthesis gas that can be used for generation of electricity, fuels and chemical feedstock. The present study aims to identify economically competitive, site-specific end-use options for onshore and offshore produced UCG synthesis gas, taking into account the capture and storage (CCS) and/or utilisation (CCU) of resulting CO 2 . Modelling results show that boundary conditions that favour electricity, methanol and ammonia production expose low costs for air separation, high synthesis gas calorific values and H 2 /N 2 shares as well as low CO 2 portions of max. 10%. Hereby, a gasification agent ratio of more than 30% oxygen by volume is not favourable from economic and environmental viewpoints. Compared to the costs of an offshore platform with its technical equipment, offshore drilling costs are negligible. Thus, uncertainties related to parameters influenced by drilling costs are also negligible. In summary, techno-economic process modelling results reveal that scenarios with high CO 2 emissions are the most cost-intensive ones, offshore UCG-CCS/CCU costs are twice as high as the onshore ones, and yet all investigated scenarios except from offshore ammonia production are competitive on the European market.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/10/1643Underground Coal Gasification (UCG)economicsCost of Electricity (COE)techno-economic modelmethanolammoniaCarbon Capture and Storage (CCS)Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU)electricity generationprocess simulation |
| spellingShingle | Natalie Christine Nakaten Thomas Kempka Techno-Economic Comparison of Onshore and Offshore Underground Coal Gasification End-Product Competitiveness Energies Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) economics Cost of Electricity (COE) techno-economic model methanol ammonia Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) electricity generation process simulation |
| title | Techno-Economic Comparison of Onshore and Offshore Underground Coal Gasification End-Product Competitiveness |
| title_full | Techno-Economic Comparison of Onshore and Offshore Underground Coal Gasification End-Product Competitiveness |
| title_fullStr | Techno-Economic Comparison of Onshore and Offshore Underground Coal Gasification End-Product Competitiveness |
| title_full_unstemmed | Techno-Economic Comparison of Onshore and Offshore Underground Coal Gasification End-Product Competitiveness |
| title_short | Techno-Economic Comparison of Onshore and Offshore Underground Coal Gasification End-Product Competitiveness |
| title_sort | techno economic comparison of onshore and offshore underground coal gasification end product competitiveness |
| topic | Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) economics Cost of Electricity (COE) techno-economic model methanol ammonia Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) electricity generation process simulation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/10/1643 |
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