The Fuel Processing Research Facility - A Platform for the Conduct of Synthesis Gas Technology R&D

Vision 21 is the U. S. Department of Energy's initiative to deploy high efficiency, ultraclean co-production coal conversion power plants in the twenty-first century. These plants will consist of power and co-production modules, which are integrated to meet specific power and chemical markets. A variety of fuel gas processing technology issues involving gas separations, cleanup, gas-to-liquid fuels production and chemical synthesis, to mention a few, will be addressed by the program. The overall goal is to effectively eliminate, at competitive costs, environmental concerns associated with the use of fossil fuels for producing electricity and transportation fuels. The Fuel Processing Research Facility (FPRF) was developed as a fuel-flexible platform to address many of these technology needs. The facility utilizes a simplified syngas generator that is capable of producing 2,000 standard cubic feet per hour of 900 degree Celsius and 30 atmosphere synthesis gas that can be tailored to the gas composition of interest. It was built on a ''mid-scale'' level in an attempt to successfully branch the traditionally difficult scale-up from laboratory to pilot scale. When completed, the facility will provide a multi-faceted R&D area for the testing of fuel cells, gas separation technologies, and other gas processing unit operations.