UNDERGROUND COAL GASIFICATION WITH CO_2 CAPTURE AND STORAGE, AS AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF HYDROGEN FOR OIL SANDS UPGRADING: AN ALBERTA/CANADA SCENARIO

摘要

Canada's vast reserves of bituminous oil in its oil sands deposits in northern Alberta are well known. Hydrogen is used to break the heavier hydrocarbons into their lighter components thus upgrading the oil into valuable synthetic crude. This hydrogen is currently produced from steam-methane reforming (SMR) of natural gas. The province also has vast resources in coal, a large portion of which are too deep to be profitably mined. Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) with Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) may offer both an economic and strategic advantage to displace the use of natural gas and supply the growing demand for hydrogen. In this paper an analysis is presented, based on a geographically realistic UCG-CCS commercial development, at a site where there is substantial coal in place and where CO_2 storage is feasible. The design issues and economics of this integrated scenario are highlighted to determine the viability of UCG as potential source of supply of hydrogen for bitumen upgrading. The disposal cost of CO_2 and the delivered cost of hydrogen are calculated and compared with those from a competing SMR unit co-located at the upgrading site.