An evaluation of Substitute natural gas production from different coal gasification processes based on modeling

Coal and lignite will play a significant role in the future energy production. However, the technical options for the reduction of CO2 emissions will define the extent of their share in the future energy mix. The production of synthetic or substitute natural gas (SNG) from solid fossil fuels seems to be a very attractive process: coal and lignite can be upgraded into a methane rich gas which can be transported and further used in high efficient power systems coupled with CO2 sequestration technologies. The aim of this paper is to present a modeling analysis comparison between substitute natural gas production from coal by means of allothermal steam gasification and autothermal oxygen gasification. In order to produce SNG from syngas several unit operations are required such as syngas cooling, cleaning, potential compression and, of course, methanation reactors. Finally the gas which is produced has to be conditioned i.e. removal of unwanted species, such as CO2 etc. The heat recovered from the overall process is utilized by a steam cycle, producing power. These processes were modeled with the computer software IPSEpro™. An energetic and exergetic analysis of the coal to SNG processes have been realized and compared.