China’s largest coal producer, Shenhua Group Corp Ltd recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for their US$10 billion coal-to-chemical joint project with Dow Chemical Co, the third largest chemical company in the world (by market capitalization).

The Coal to Chemical project, considered the world’s largest, will be located in Yushen Coal Chemical Industrial Park in Shaanxi Province in North China, and will be funded by Shenhua, Dow Chemical and the Yulin municipal government. The project will comprise of 23 units, a methanol facility with an annual capacity of 3.32 million metric tons of ethylene and propylene.

Shenhua, which started China’s first coal-to-liquids project in December 2008, will be sharing essential updates at the 7th CTLtec Asia conference, which meets in Beijing on 16-17 March 2010. Dr Shu GePing, Chief Engineer- Ordos Coal Branch and Wang Heiming, Vice GM-Ordos Coal Liquefaction Branch will present updates on:

- Progress of Shenhua Direct Coal Liquefaction (CTL) Demonstration Project

- Shenhua’s Tentative Study on CO2 Treatment for Coal Liquefaction

The updated conference agenda for the 7th CTLtec Asia conference can be viewed >>here<<.

Interested parties can email their enquiries on registrations, media partnerships and sponsorships to Ms. Nadia Albahar, Marketing Manager at nadia@cmtsp.com.sg.

How are coal conversion projects going ahead despite pressures from environmental policies & global economic conditions? The 7th CTLtec Asia conference in Beijing on 16-17 March offers insights on this key question, covering the entire coal polygeneration value chain including coal to liquids, coal to chemicals, underground coal gasification, carbon capture & storage, IGCC and more.

Beijing, CHINA - January 28 /Press Release/ -- 7th CTLtec Asia, CMT's 7th Annual international forum on coal polygeneration will meet in Beijing on 16-17 March to provide answers to a key question dominating the coal conversion industry today, "How are coal conversion projects going ahead despite intense pressures from an environmental policy environment, and the weak global economy?"

The conference offers participants an opportunity to evaluate the present dynamics of the coal polygeneration sector across Asia-Pacific, and will address issues pertaining to coal gasification, Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), coal to liquids (CTL), and carbon capture and Storage (CCS), with specific focus on developments in China, India and the rest of Asia.

Coal polygeneration has the potential to take off in Asia-Pacific, where coal is still favoured amongst countries rich in this natural resource, especially China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia. 7th CTLtec offers a showcase of current projects in Asia, that include Shenhua's DCTL project in Inner Mongolia, Yankuang's coal to Liquids project, China Blue Chemical's (a subsidiary of CNOOC) "coal to gas" project and more.

The conference also examines the emerging prominence of underground coal gasification (UCG) in Asia Pacific, and showcase pilot projects coming up in China, India, Vietnam and Australia. Experts from VINACOMIN, Linc Energy and more are expected to share project updates at the conference.

There is also an extensive coal to chemicals focus at the conference, with sessions covering coal to gas as a feasible feedstock for urea and methanol production, clean coal chemistry for calcium carbide production, the competitiveness of coal to methanol in China and its application in gasoline blending.

In addition to the above, the conference will also offer a Post-Copenhagen view into coal polygeneration, evaluating the fate of clean coal, and setting the stage for the extensive carbon capture & storage focus at the conference, where Shenhua is expected to deliver an update on CO2 capture at their DCTL plant in Inner Mongolia.

Also on the agenda are sessions by TPRI and GreenGen on their study into creating a post-combustion C02 capture pilot project (power generation), and MasionWorleyParsons on their CCS projects' status in Asia and China.

Industry leaders expected to attend 7th CTLtec Asia in Beijing include key coal producers, coal polygeneration company representatives, coal-conversion project owners, national oil companies representatives, oil majors, gasification technologies providers and many more. Participants are expected to fly in from all over Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Middle East and Africa.

Those interested in coal polygeneration Issues on coal to liquids, coal to chemicals, carbon capture & storage, underground coal gasification, and IGCC can click here to reserve their seats for the 7th CTLtec Asia.

CMT’s 7th CTLtec Asia will meet in Beijing on 16-17 March to provide answers to a key question dominating the Coal conversion industry today, “How are Coal conversion projects going ahead despite intense pressures from an environmental policy environment, and the weak global economy?”

7th CTLtec Asia will also look at the emerging importance of Coal Polygeneration across Asia-Pacific, and will address issues pertaining to Coal Gasification, Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), Coal-to-Liquids (CTL), and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), with specific focus on developments in China, India and the rest of Asia.

The conference also examines the emerging prominence of Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) in Asia Pacific, and showcase pilot projects coming up in China, Vietnam and Australia.

Coal conversion today, with the aid of technological advances in Coal gasification, has gone beyond traditional coal combustion, to provide a greater scope of economical and environmentally acceptable applications including chemicals and liquid fuels production.  

The most promising among these developments, according to a report by Chemsystems, is Polygeneration from Coal, as the integrated process serves to enhance the value of coal as a fuel.

Coal Polygeneration has the potential to take off in Asia-Pacific, where Coal is still favored amongst countries rich in this natural resource, especially China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia. Current projects involve the gasification of coal to produce syngas and methanol, which are then used as feedstocks for the fertilizer, olefins and chemicals sector. There is also increasing interest in synthetic diesel, gasoline, Substitute Natural Gas (SNG) Methanol and dimethyl ether (DME), all derived from coal gasification.

Here’s a round up of what’s happening in Asia Pacific:

CHINA: In the next few years, the Chinese government is expected to put the appropriate policies to encourage IGCC power generation and the further development of polygeneration, and analysts at CBI predict that future investment of IGCC will grow exponentially. In fact, China has already planned over 20 poly generation projects with total investment exceeding tens of billions RMB.

INDIA: The country recently included clean coal and coal gasification in their recently announced ambitious five-point action plan to help the country reduce its emission intensity (emissions per unit of GDP) 20-25% by 2020. This comes in the wake of significant investments by ONGC, Tata Group and the Jindal Group in developing Coal to Liquids projects in India.

INDONESIA: Asia Pacific’s other Coal major Indonesia signed a MOU with Sasol in December 2009 to conduct a feasibility study on a potential coal-to-liquid facility that could generate 80,000 barrels per day, a project that would require US$10 billion in investment.

VIETNAM: Vinacomin recently entered a joint venture with Marubeni Corp. of Japan and Linc Energy of Australia to explore coal in the Red River Delta with UCG technology.

AUSTRALIA: Linc Energy, Australia’s first UCG operator inked a deal with AFC Energy (AIM: AFC), the developer of low cost alkaline fuel cells, to supply synthetic hydrogen from their UCG plant. Plans for Australia's first commercial coal gasification project have also moved forward with an A$40m (US$33.6m) investment from South Korean conglomerate Samsung Corp to support the development of a coal-to-fertilizer plant.

Coal conversion technologies offer excellent investment potential in coal-rich regions. Nevertheless, there are important issues to be addressed regarding downside scenario risks, despite the potentially large returns to be made. 

Attend CMT’s 7th CTLtec Asia conference for clarity on the opportunities and challenges in the “Coal to Anything” industry, and gain insights on key techno-strategic issues including:

• Technical & Regulatory Updates on Polygeneration Projects in China, India, Asia, etc
• Executing UCG in Asia - Overcoming Technical Challenges
• Getting Project Financed in Current Economic Climate
• Cross Analysis of Gasification & CTL Technologies
• Feedstock and Outlook for Coal-Based Chemicals (Olefins, Methanol, etc)
• Coal to Methanol Projects & Applications in Energy/Fuels (DME, Methanol Blended Gasoline, etc)
• Solutions to Environmental, Fuels Quality & Water Requirement
• Status of CO2 Capture Technologies - Gasification with CO2 Capture Ready Capability
• CO2 Geological Storage & Other Utilisation/Applications
• Post Copenhagen & What's ahead for CCS?

Pre-registrations for 7th CTLtec Asia are now being accepted via an online registration form by >>clicking here<<.

Interested parties can also email their enquiries on registrations, media partnerships and sponsorships to Ms. Nadia Albahar, Marketing Manager at nadia@cmtsp.com.sg.