POLAND/FILE: Polish scientists are optimistic after the first results of tests to generate gas from coal

Record ID: 574381

  • Title: POLAND/FILE: Polish scientists are optimistic after the first results of tests to generate gas from coal
  • Date: 13th August 2014
  • Summary: KATOWICE, POLAND (FILE - 2013) (REUTERS) PREPARATION FOR EXPERIMENT IN MINE SHAFT VARIOUS SCIENTISTS AND MINERS PREPARING HARDWARE FOR EXPERIMENT
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Poland
  • Country: Poland
  • Topics: Business,Economy,Science,Energy
  • Reuters ID: LVA9UPQULV1WFEG60P83JGUQSJHJ
  • Story Text: Scientists form Poland's Global Coal Mining Institute have finalised an experiment with coal gasification, which presented possibilities for further development of the rare method in the country.
    The experiment converting coal into gas lasted 44 days and took place at a depth of 400 meters below ground in the Wieczorek mine in Poland's coal region Silesia. The mine's excavation of coal in other corridors was not interrupted by the highly combustive process.
    The head of the experiment Professor Krzysztof Stanczyk said he expected many more problems to arise in the course of the experiment, one of them being varied gas consistency.
    "We were worried that some problems might arise that we could not have expected at the beginning. We expected the gas to be of changing consistency much more unstable," Stanczyk said.
    "In the meantime, conducting the process with the gasifying media that we use; oxygen, air and carbon dioxide, allowed us to diagnose that we are achieving gas of a stable composition. Thanks to this it will be easier to employ in the facilities designed to make use of the gas, such as engines, turbines, cauldrons or for chemical synthesis."
    Stanczyk added that this is the first time an experiment with coal gasification has been conducted on this scale in Europe without interrupting traditional coal excavation in a coal mine.
    In 44 days his team was able to gasify 200 tons of coal that generated 720 000 cubic meters of gas worth 3-4,5 MJ/m3 (megajoule per cubic meter) of caloric value.
    The coal gasification technique has been experimented with since the beginning of the 20th century, but to this day the technology has been mostly abandoned in favour of exploiting natural gas recourses.
    It does prove effective in sites where coal resources are hard to reach.
    "This innovative technology of gasifying coal is supposed to supplement classic methods. It is directed at exploiting that (coal) which is not possible to excavate using classical methods, such as residual resources, resources situated at large depths where at present we are not able to excavate coal deposits," said director of the "Wieczorek" coal mine, Marek Pieszczek.
    Even though coal gasification eliminates the need to burn the fossil fuel above ground, leading to emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere, it has been criticised for potential pollution of underground water resources and the large amounts of carbon monoxide produced in the process.
    Stanczyk said that he hopes to develop the method further, aiming to produce gas for heavy industry.
    "We probably won't stop at this installation, but we will build a demonstrative installation that will produce gas to be used on an industrial scale," he said.
    The experiment required a georeactor to be built with a mixture of air, oxygen and water pumped inside and combusted at 1200 degrees Celsius.
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