Siemens to deliver gasifiers

Siemens Energy is set to deliver the first two of five coal gasifiers to Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group (SNCG) in China.

The coal gasifiers, with a thermal capacity of 500 megawatts each, will be installed at the Ningxia coal-to-polypropylene (NCPP) plant in Ningxia Province in north west China.

After completion in early 2010, the plant will have an hourly production capacity of approximately 540,000 cubic metres of syngas, which will then be converted in downstream processes to polypropylene plastic.

The Siemens coal gasifiers, which are capable of gasifying up to 2000 tonnes of coal per day, are 18m long with an inside diameter of 3m and weigh 220 tonnes

In the gasification process hard coal, lignite and other substances including biomass, petcoke and refinery residues will be converted to syngas. Pollutants such as sulphur and carbon dioxide are subsequently removed.

The syngas can then be used for power generation in integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants or as a raw material in the chemical industry, such as in the production of synthetic fuels.