Tests conducted in South Africa show Thar coal is suitable for gasification

LAHORE:

The gasification of Thar coal can reduce gas cost by 60% from the current $20 per million British thermal units (for imported gas) to $8 per mmBtu, providing a more affordable and reliable energy source.

It was revealed by Dr Farid Malik, former chairman of the Pakistan Science Foundation and a leading expert in energy and technology management. Talking to a group of journalists, he said that laboratory tests conducted at the Nelson Mandela University, South Africa, showed that Thar coal was suitable for gasification and could be widely used in other industrial sectors such as fertiliser, steel and liquid fuels.

Test results indicate that Thar coal has an ash content of around 18% and ash flow temperature of around 1,325-degree centigrade, which makes it suitable for gasification. Carbon reactivity is high, which is typical of lignite coal. The expected pure gas yield is between 1,550 and 1,600 cubic metres per ton. “Both Germany and South Africa are technology leaders in the field of coal gasification. The validation of Thar coal gasification potential underscores the importance of fully developing the Thar coal reserves for Pakistan’s economic growth,” he stressed.

Initially, it was planned to set up a pilot plant before large-scale production of synthetic natural gas (SNG) from Thar coal. However, “the expert opinion suggests that Thar coal is ready for large-scale production of SNG with no need for a pilot plant. Several coal gasification plants are running in China, producing urea, liquid fuels, SNG, etc,” said Malik.

He highlighted that more than $5 trillion had been invested in research for transition to carbon-free energy, however, it was realised that a cheap, indigenous fuel was required to meet requirements of a country.

With the current mining capacity of 15.4 million tons per annum, the coalfields in block-I and block-II of Thar are generating 2,640 megawatts of affordable electricity, meeting around 10% of the country’s needs. Currently, the cost of power generation from Thar coal stands at Rs4.4 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) compared to Rs14.8 per kWh for imported coal.