Indiana has promising sites for underground coal gasification' plants

摘要

A new report pinpoints promising sites in five southwestern Indiana counties for underground operations that can convert coal into a gas for electricity generation, production of chemicals, and plastics and fuels for cars, trucks and aircraft. Researchers from Purdue University and the Indiana Geological Survey prepared the report, which was presented in March to the advisory panel of the Indiana Center for Coal Technology Research. The center is part of the Energy Center in Purdue's Discovery Park. Coal contains carbon and hydrogen, which are vital ingredients needed to produce transportation fuels and chemicals. The report identifies the best sites for the underground coal gasification operations using criteria established by Arvind Var-ma, Purdue's R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Head of the School of Chemical Engineering, and former research scientist Evgeny Shafirovich, currently assistant research professor at the University of Texas at El Paso.