Studies on Gasification of Turkish Lignite via Underground Coal Gasification

摘要

It is known that with nearly 12.3 billion tons of reserve coal, Turkey produces nearly 22% of its electricity needs via the burning of these reserve fuels. TKI, Turkey's largest mining organization and the sixteenth largest national company, owns a nearly 2.5 billion ton share of this reserve. TKI, engaged in extracting coal from mines for heating and thermal purposes, is also engaged in studies directed towards utilizing coal for alternative purposes, following the latest technological advances in the world. One of the spearheading studies is geared towards obtaining synthetic gas via the underground gasification of coal. The process of underground coal gasification is an operation in which steam, composed of air and water, is directed with the assistance of injection wells into underground coal deposits and the resulting gas from this reaction is directed to the surface by conduction channels. This technique aims to render feasible what has been a difficult and costly means of production for accessing reserves in the sea and at great depths. Furthermore, this technique would render possible the above-ground processing of obtained gas into H2, CH_4, NH_3, CO, and CO_2 for a variety of applications. However, these are not the only advantages of underground gasification of coal; this process also aims to contain CO2, one of the key factors in the level of greenhouse gases, within the areas from which coal is extracted from beneath the surface of the earth. It has been widely accepted that the process of underground coal gasification is a means of clean coal production which minimizes environmental impacts with low costs and high productivity. Within the scope of these studies TKI has carried on contacts with both local and foreign firms, and the most rigorous study in this area has been conducted under the guidance of the leading expert in the field, the American firm Lawrence Livermore Laboratories. If a suitable site replete with the necessary conditions for an experimental initial run involving the underground gasification of coal in Turkey is identified by the advising firm, then plans will be laid for the undertaking of larger scale underground gas production domestically. In conclusion, without a doubt this technique could once again bring to the fore those lignite coal resources of ours which are currently unexploited, which entails the financial inactivity of those sites. Within the scope of Clean Coal Technology, this technology would be an important step in ensuring a prudential means of meeting of our future energy needs.