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The CSIR and the South African Energy Research Institute (SANERI) have joined forces to further research and development in the field of clean coal technology.
With the recent signing of co-funding from SANERI, the CSIR’s Materials Science and Manufacturing operating unit aims to champion the development and promotion of capability in this priority research field.
Coal is the most important energy resource in South Africa with 71% of South Africa’s primary energy and 88% of electricity being derived from coal. Due to the small reserves of oil and gas and the high cost of renewable energy, such as hydrogen TK? (Or do you mean water), wind and solar, coal will remain the most important energy resource for at least the next 75 years.
Coal gasification is regarded as the most likely technology to replace conventional coal combustion for power generation in the 21st century. With coal gasification, power station efficiencies can be improved from the current 35% to between 45 and 55%. The emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere can also be reduced by capture and sequestration.
The CSIR, with a proud history of more than 20 years’ experience in fluidised bed technology, is developing capability in the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and fine coal gasification. It is also developing capability through the characterisation of South African coals on reactivity under gasification conditions. This will allow suitable coals to be identified for the appropriate gasification technology to be matched to a specific coal.
Current and medium-term focus areas will include bench-scale testing and analysis selected coals are being subjected to standard coal analysis, such as proximate and ultimate analysis, and also petrographic analysis, as well as pilot-scale testing which will be conducted on the fluidised bed gasifier located at the CSIR. The research is expected to hold considerable benefit for the economy of South Africa.
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