Coal-to-Liquids Fuels Projects

 

March 2007

John W. Rich, Jr., President, WMPI, Pty, LLC gave a presentation to the National Western Mining Conference entitled Coal (Hydrocarbon)-to-Liquid Fuels Projects - Present and Future.

WMPI based in Gilberton, Pennsylvania is organized to develop, own and operate advanced coal gasification facilities. The plants will typically use hydrocarbon feedstocks such as waste coal, coal or biomass feedstocks of little or no economic value. The end products of these facilities are: zero sulfur transportation fuels, electric power, thermal energy, and specialty products.

The first WMPI plant will be a 5,034 barrel-per-day facility built on a 75-acre site adjacent to the existing Gilberton Power Co-Generation Plant. This plant will utilize proven technology for major international corporations such as Uhde, Shell Oil Co., Sasol Technology, Linde, and Chevron. Construction is expected to begin in 2007 and total estimated cost of the plant is $1 billion. It will take approximately three years to build. WMPI is developing, and will own and operate, advanced world scale coal gasification facilities in other locations.

The plant has environmental benefits, such as reclamation of previously mined lands, reduction in acid mine drainage, and reduced emissions through zero sulfur diesel. It converts low volume material such as coal refuse and biomass to clean invaluable products and produces clean electricity. It also liberates and vegetates valuable real estate currently occupied by waste coal. The Coal-to-Clean Fuels and Power Project of WMPI will create 1,000 high-paying jobs during construction and more than 660 high-quality primary and secondary permanent jobs. It will reduce dependency on foreign oil and help America make the transition to a hydrogen-fueled society.

There are a number of fund sources. These include private financing of $746 million coordinated by the investment banking firms of Morgan Stanley and UBS. There is also $100 million in federal participation through the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Coal Power Initiative. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have participated to the value of $47 million through the Transferable Investment Tax Credit for Coal Waste Removal and Ultra Clean Fuels. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized an appropriated funding for a federal loan guarantee for the debt portion of the Gilberton Project.

A view of the Gilberton Coal-to-Clean Fuels and Power Project site is shown in Figure 1. The project feedstock tailings pond is shown in Figure 2. Feedstock, fuel preparation facilities are shown in Figure 3. The mine pool pumps are shown in Figure 4. An artist rendering of the existing Gilberton Power Plant with the Coal-to-Clean Fuels and Power Project are shown in Figure 5. WMPI expects to replicate the operations of the Gilberton facility probably on a much larger scale. Discussions have already taken place with the coal producing states of Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

There has also been a B-52 test flight with F-10 fuel (see Figure 6.)

Fig 1. Gilberton Coal-to-Clean Fuels & Power Project	Fig 2. Project Feedstock Tailings Pond
Fig 3. Feedstock Fuel Preparation Facilities	Fig 4. Mine Pool Pumps
Fig 5. Gilberton Power Plant & CTL Project	Fig 6. B-52 Test Flight with F-10 Fuel