New Era of Energy Culture:Massive Production of Hydrogen, Safe and Low Cost*
Massive Production of Hydrogen, Safe and Low Cost*
Fields of major contribution by Dipl.Eng. Bohdan Maciej Zakiewicz , PhD
SUMMARY FOR INITIAL PROJECT IN POLAND
SEVEN ROCKS MINING in partnership with ALCHEMIX CORPORATION is commercializing HydroMax®-UnComCoal®, a technology that produces hydrogen and syngas at a fraction of the costs of current methods. The primary inputs are steam and a carbon source such as petroleum coke, coal, municipal waste, biomasses or shred tires.
The most prevalent, safest and stable source for energy is represented by the enormous worldwide reserves of conventional COAL, which can be effectively exploited to produce low-cost energy for coal-rich nations for many years to come.
It is now evident that in comparison with many other contemporary technologies, our Five Packages of technologies, which were proven in practice, represent to the World the economically realistic solution for hydrogen production on a sufficiently large industrial scale that will pragmatically serve to supply current and future large-scale industrial and commercial requirements.
The packages of technologies are referred to as follows:
1.HYDROMAX® Hydrogen Production: The Finalist of the 5th Annual Platts Global Energy Award
The proposed first stage of the industrial project will be build in Poland as a smaller scale HydroMax plant that will produce about 21 million standard cubic feet per day (583,399 cubic meters per day) of hydrogen, then followed by a large scale commercial plant to produce 100 MMscfd (2,777,000 cubic meters per day).
The HydroMax Hephaestus-Reactor is a container filled with liquid metal alloy, working as a catalyst. The hydrogen is generated from pulverized clean coal reacting with steam in the presence of the catalyst. Cost of production of the Hydrogen is 20 times cheaper compared to the least expensive conventional method of hydrogen production. Ammonia is 4 times cheaper, Methane and derivatives is 8-11 times cheaper.
2.UNCOMCOAL® In initial stages of development of the New Culture of World Energy, the feedstock will be pulverized coal and steam, which will be substituted in further stages by carbon oxide (CO) generated from the underground combustion of coal under stochiometric conditions and reacting with steam in a catalytic reactor. The UNCOMCOAL system serves to additionally decrease the cost of production and to eliminate any underground mining and environmental pollution at the surface.
3.HYDROGENET® For the future development, hydrogen pipeline networks will be extended to the few hundreds of kilometers. The potential capacity of one horizontal drilling rig to extend pipelines is approximately 1.0 km per 10 hrs shift, 2.0 km per day.
4.Q-HYDROGEN® The highest quality and low cost (QH) hydrogen is primarily required as a basic fuel for Fuel Cells to produce electrical power and water.
5.SF-HYDROGEN® designates SECURITY & FLEXIBILITY systems, being comprised of protection of ANTI: - terrorist energy supply system, theft & vandalism-disruption of supply-pollution protection - seismic activity -bad climatic conditions-catastrophe of storages (no big storages). All as Environment Friendly Syst.
ECONOMIC IMPACT: Two Hydromax-UnComCoal plants, as programmed to build initially in Poland, will cost approximately US$ 350 MM and generate: US$ 250 MM per year. Simultaneously the similar plants are planned to build in Czech Rep. and other countries requiring low cost energy.
(Text of the papers to be read at Weimar Triangle Group (Poland, Germany, France at 07.10.04 in Warsaw))
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Club-Fellows united in a desperate struggling for protecting the World from threat of energy’s deficit terror.
In my life, I have been witnessing several times such a threat, and always there was ultimately looming of some solution or even “two”. And, surprisingly, life afterwards did not look like being after deluge. However almost always after the so called “energy crisis) we were surely less wealthy, because the price of energy jumped up.
In early 1960ies, we in Poland, were very close to became independent from foreign gas supply, due to positive results achieved by my corporation and Polish Main Mining Institute from underground trial gasification of the coal deposit in Polish Silesia and Czech’s Ostrava regions. Unfortunately, the political relations was not in favor. The both projects were shut down.
During president Carter, in late 1970ies the very attractive economically project of underground gasification of the local huge lignite deposit Glendale in Texas, promoted by OLIN Corporation had been managed technologically by my group. After quite serious advancing, it was shut down, due to the proclamation made by my beloved newly elected president Reagan, who justifiably believed that United States does not have an energy crisis, and synthetic hydrocarbons are not needed. Exxon had lost $900,000,000 in Rocky Mountains on stopping their mining/processing operation on oil shales, and Olin & Partners lost only $20,000,000.
Few other attempts to develop the underground gasification in Belgium, England, Russia and others, have failed due to ineffective technologies.
All of above was a said reason, which is forcing us now to desperate struggling in search for the new technologies in energy culture.
The big concern is a good thing in progressing of the new technologies, however forgetting about a good past experiences is a grave mistake.
Trying to avoid such a mistake, our group of specialists were continuing the enhancement of our experience gained in the past operations in mining and processing of combustible feedstock. We were initiating some of those operation, supervising, designing technologically, assisting and merging our initiatives with the others, worldwide.
The result of our 45 years of such a work, I have a pleasure to present today to the respectable audience in comprehensive mode.
On the start, in mimicking President Reagan, I would like to express my current view on energy problems, as follows:
There is no thread of energy crisis and no reason to spread the terror of soaring with oil/gas prices, as long as:
1. we have talent and ability to put together pieces of existing technologies in coherent and logical systems, which are capable to produce hydrogen in a massive scale,
2. we have worldwide non-exhaustible resources of water, the biggest resource of energy,
3. we have worldwide almost non-exhaustible coal resources, which can be in the future replaced by another renewable source of accumulation of son energy – a waste-type biomasses with their carbon content being encased.
4. we will harness the nonsense of suppressing of the free emission of CO2, instead of promoting the recycling of CO2 in nature through better imbibition by the plant’s photosynthetic catalytic reaction, activated by increased fertilization of the sulphur.
We need oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon and water alike for our life and future existence.
5. we have a sincere desire to change the bad pattern and thread of the energy crisis, by consequent and persistent introduction in the large industrial scale the existing and known technologies of inexpensive hydrogen production.
We call the above, the ground base for a New Energy Culture.
The following presentation will briefly highlighting our technological bases for the:
New Era of Energy Culture:
Massive Production of Hydrogen, Safe and Low Cost*
Fields of major contribution by Dipl.Eng. Bohdan Maciej Zakiewicz , PhD
SUMMARY FOR INITIAL PROJECT IN POLAND
SEVEN ROCKS MINING in partnership with ALCHEMIX CORPORATION is commercializing HydroMax®-UnComCoal®, a technology that produces hydrogen and syngas at a fraction of the costs of current methods. The primary inputs are steam and a carbon source such as petroleum coke, coal, municipal waste, biomasses or shred tires.
The most prevalent, safest and stable source for energy is represented by the enormous worldwide reserves of conventional COAL, which can be effectively exploited to produce low-cost energy for coal-rich nations for many years to come.
It is now evident that in comparison with many other contemporary technologies, our Five Packages of technologies, which were proven in practice, represent to the World the economically realistic solution for hydrogen production on a sufficiently large industrial scale that will pragmatically serve to supply current and future large-scale industrial and commercial requirements.
The packages of technologies are referred to as follows:
1. HYDROMAX
2. UNCOMCOAL
3. Q-HYDROGEN
4. HYDROGENET
5. SF-HYDROGEN
1. HYDROMAX® Hydrogen Production: The Finalist of the 5th Annual Platts Global Energy Award.
The proposed first stage of the industrial project will be build in Poland as a smaller scale HydroMax plant that will produce about 21 million standard cubic feet per day (583,399 cubic meters per day) of hydrogen, then followed by a large scale commercial plant to produce 100 MMscfd (2,777,000 cubic meters per day).
The HydroMax Hephaestus-Reactor*) is a container filled with liquid metal alloy, working as a catalyst. The hydrogen is generated from pulverized clean coal reacting with steam in the presence of the catalyst. Cost of production of the Hydrogen is 20 times cheaper compared to the least expensive conventional method of hydrogen production. Ammonia is 4 times cheaper, Methane and derivatives is 8-11 times cheaper.
_________________________________________________________________________________
*) The most appropriate nick-name relating to the nature of the HYDROMAX Reactor:
Hephaestus vel Vulcan (God of Fire and Metalwork, son of Hera and Zeus).
The special consideration is given to Poland, where there exists an abundant amount of coal in the Silesia mining region and great demand for ammonia fertilizer plants. A smaller plant should be built first to help the scalability of the HydroMax process and to serve later as an optimizer for various type of feedstock.
The HydroMax Reactor is a container filled with liquid metal working as a catalyst. The hydrogen is generated from pulverized clean coal reacting with steam in the presence of the catalyst. Cost of
production of the hydrogen is 20 times cheaper then the least expensive existing, conventional method of hydrogen production.
(Slides and explanations)
2. UNCOMCOAL® In initial stages of development of the New Culture of World Energy, the feedstock will be pulverized coal and steam, which will be substituted in further stages by carbon oxide (CO) generated from the underground combustion of coal under stochiometric conditions and reacting with steam in a catalytic reactor. The UNCOMCOAL system serves to additionally decrease the cost of production and to eliminate any underground mining and environmental pollution at the surface.
(Slides and explanations)
3. HYDROGENET® For the future development, hydrogen pipeline networks will be extended to the few hundreds of kilometers. The potential capacity of one horizontal drilling rig to extend pipelines is approximately 1.0 km per 10 hrs shift, 2.0 km per day.
(Slides and explanations)
4. Q-HYDROGEN® The highest quality and low cost (QH) hydrogen is primarily required as a basic fuel for Fuel Cells to produce electrical power and water.
Very expensive hydrogen produced from conventional processes often contains high levels of carbon monoxide (CO) that poisons or degrades the expensive platinum catalysts that convert hydrogen into electricity. The latter deteriorates fuel cell efficiency and substantially increases the cost of power, which is sufficiently expensive already. CSRM’s process named Q-Hydrogen serves to separate the highest purity hydrogen from all other gasses that are generated in the HYDROMAX process (details of this process are strictly protected from publication).
5. SF-HYDROGEN® designates SECURITY & FLEXIBILITY systems, being comprised of protection of ANTI: - terrorist energy supply system, theft & vandalism-disruption of supply-pollution protection - seismic activity -bad climatic conditions-catastrophe of storages (no big storages). All as Environment Friendly Syst.
A. ECONOMIC IMPACT: Two Hydromax-UnComCoal plants, as programmed to build initially in Poland, will cost approximately US$ 350 MM and generate: US$ 250 MM per year. Simultaneously the similar plants are planned to build in Czech Rep. and other countries requiring low cost energy.
1. Hydrogen: $0.76 per 1.0 mln kcal, compared to the current cost of $15 per 1.0 mln kcal for hydrogen produced from natural gas (methane). This means that our hydrogen is (20 times cheaper) than conventional methods.
2. Methane: $2.28 per 1.0 mln kcal, compared to the current cost of $25.21 per 1.0 mln kcal (11 times cheaper).
3. Ammonia: $59.00 per ton, compared to the current cost of $238.00 per ton (4 times cheaper), which will create an entirely new paradigm in the economics of fertilization and will revolutionize and revitalize the agrarian economy).
4. Similar or even superior economical effects are accomplished over the entire spectrum of hydrogen derivative products, for example:
4.1. ammonia
4.2. generator gas for energy production
4.3. methanol
4.4. ethanol
4.5. gasification and liquefaction of the coal and heavy hydrocarbon crude
4.6. revitalization of the old, wasted oil crude deposits
4.7. desulphurization of hydrocarbons and coal
4.8. refining and processing of crude oil
4.9. hydrogen for consumption products
4.10. better processing and utilization of the wastesliquidation of the toxic wastes
4.11. generation of the electricity in fuel cells
4.12. mining and processing some metal deposits
4.13. utilization of the wastes created in production of electric and thermal energy
NOTE: Most recently, there is special interest from the Polish Chemical Industry for mass-production of ammonia and methanol
B. WHY OUR HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGY IS GAINING WORLD ATTENTION
1. INEXPENSIVE PRODUCTION OF HYDROGEN ON A MASSIVE SCALE, WITH NO COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES.
2. READY AVAILABILITY TO FEED STOCKS: Water & coal (HydroMax), coal combustion gases (UNCOMCOAL), as well as other coal-containing materials are easily available and attainable.
3. AVAILABLE RESERVES of such appropriate feed stocks are practically unlimited.
4. ACCESSIBILITY TO THE RESERVES: Resources can be extracted from the surface with the SDS System from depths of around 2,000 meters, and without any men having to work underground.
5. TECHNOLOGIES: HYDROMAX & UNCOMCOAL have been available, proven and perfected over the last 15 years.
6. TRANSPORT & STORAGE TECHNOLOGY (HYDROGENET): Available for distribution of hydrogen through a small-diameter horizontally drilled pipeline network. NO large storage facilities for the hydrogen are required.
7. HYDROGEN GENERATORS AND PIPELINE NETWORK PROVIDE FOR MAXIMUM SECURITY & FLEXIBILITY: The required consumption of each client’s plant can be flexibly adjusted to the output from each Hydrogen Generation Plant without sacrificing efficiency. Generators and pipelines can be securely placed in deep underground chambers and drilled bore-holes. No tank storage is required. Any potential damage from terrorist or seismic action will not have the ability to interrupt the supply of the hydrogen to receivers.
C. FINAL REMARKS.
1. The search for and subjugation of new and inexpensive forms of energy has become an economical challenge and primary focus of many nations both rich and poor. Recent crisis’s affecting the economics of conventional coal mining have vastly accelerated the panic in the energy markets, demonstrated by dramatic rises in energy costs that are destabilizing the entire consumer and industrial markets.
2. Concurrently, prices of crude oil are soaring beyond any previous expectations and predictions (recent prices above $45 per barrel). Large oil companies (Shell for example) are forced to disclose the real AMOUNTS and values of their inventories of oil reserves, leading to shameless reduction of the reserves. Who will be the next to join the crowd? The oil market has become nothing more than a gambling place.
3. Coal, crude and natural gas are still available in sufficient quantities and desperately needed, but their cost of recovery is rising systematically with no hope of decreasing. These mineral resources have become the most vulnerable sources of lost energy and of non-stability in the energy markets.
4. The most powerful, however not omnipotent source for energy, is NUCLEAR ENERGY, which can be fed with large uranium resources over prolonged periods of time. This energy is neither cheap nor available to many energy-hungry nations. Of course it is also not generally accepted as being “safe”, whether during wartime conditions or now even during relatively peaceful times due to the pervasive threat of terrorism. Despite its gigantic power potential, nuclear power production is still highly overshadowed by the conventional thermal energy generated from coal, crude, gas and other combustibles.
5. Can instead, the most prevalent, safest and stable source for energy represented by the enormous worldwide reserves of conventional COAL be effectively exploited to produce low-cost energy for coal-rich nations for many years to come? Can the known disadvantages and high cost of traditional mining and processing be replaced with improved and more economical technologies?
The answer to both questions is: Yes! In our current possession is the most powerful, highly economical technology for production of the most desired product and almost omnipotent energy source, being HYDROGEN, which can be generated inexpensively and in massive quantities from COAL and WATER.
6. For many years, the idea of introducing hydrogen power into the world economy has been promoted vigorously. However, all existing methods of production have been based upon conventional chemical conversion utilizing high-cost natural gas or electric energy.
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION SUPPORTED WITH
PRO-ECOLOGICAL MINING SYSTEM
New Era in Mining Culture: Bore-Hole Mining
1. Armies of hard working miners all around the globe are losing their jobs. Mines are closing due to lack of management’s compassion, imagination and technology. The old methods of trading minerals for the lives of miners have become relics. However: “Everything begins with mining” (according to National Mining Association, USA 2000), and mining will still remain a major and solid source of a Nation’s prosperity and safety for many years to come.
2. The discreditably-low recoverability factor for most of the traditionally mined minerals can be dramatically increased with Bore-Hole Mining, which will create surplus values and surplus quantities of the natural mineral and oil reserves of the World.
3. OIL, MINERALS and METALS are sources of the wealth and prosperity of the major powers as well as many smaller nations. Unfortunately, they also represent a target of greed, corruption, thirst for possession and motivation for war and conquest.
4. If mankind is truly interested in maintaining safety and peace in the world over a prolonged period of time, then a revolution in mining and re-evaluation of the resources and values of the deposits is inevitably required. It should lead any political and economic efforts to maintain safety and peace in the world.
Can we change the traumatic current situation in mineral mining and management on a worldwide scale? The answer is absolutely “Yes”, and not only is it possible, but it is already available with a full and ready complement of technologies, tools and experience.
1. The main element of the New Era in Mining Culture can be realized with current technology that has been in use and perfected over the last 15 years, involving a so-called Bore-Hole Mining System exemplified by SUPER DAISY SHAFT (SDS). The SDS network is comprised of a multitude (from seven to four hundred) of small diameter multi-functional, multi-tubular, directional bore-holes, which are referred to as Jet Stingers. These Jet Stingers are extended semi-horizontally from the SDS core to a distance of up to two kilometers and can cover a production/extraction site of more than 12 square kilometers. This means that the one SDS system can reach and control the mining operation of a deposit (with thickness for example of 10m) with reserves of 168,000,000 tons of coal (which is 68% more than the annual output of the entire Polish coal mining industry), 60,000,000 tons of sulphur, 12,000,000 of heavy crude or 288,000,000 tons of salt.
2. Three major patents and know-how technologies direct the BORE HOLE Mining Systems, which have the capability of almost entirely replacing traditional methods of underground mining & extraction:
2.1. PRO-ECOLOGICAL MINING SYSTEM (SDS SYSTEM) FOR SOLID MINERALS.
2.2. THERMO-FLUID CRUDE MINING & PROCESSING
2.3. UNDERGROUND COAL COMBUSTION & GAS/STEAM GENERATION
The above systems represent numerous major benefits to mankind:
A) The recoverability factor of any solid or semi-solid mineral such as coal, lignite, sulphur, heavy crude, salt or soluble metals can be improved from the current 30-35%, to 85% and higher.
B) SDS can reach depths of around 2,000 meters to take advantage of deposits that today are not accessible by workers below ground, and to work shallower deposits that have been under-exploited in past operations. Many countries have such available deposits - Poland alone can unlock over half trillion tons of this class of coal deposits.
C) Miners can and must be raised up from the potential tombs of underground mining tunnels and chambers, to work safely at the surface. We can and must replace their hacks with directional drilling turbines operated from the surface that remotely perform disintegration and hydraulic extraction of the mineral run of the deposit, and liquefy and/or gasify the combustibles within a contained underground extraction environment.
D) The labor force can still be employed and retrained, but no miner need be exposed to the danger of losing his life in underground mining. Miners should instead become surface operators of equipment for remote-controlled drilling rigs, cavity back-filling, liquid & gas handling and mineral beneficiation.
E) Surface operations will be designed to utilize the cheapest available source of energy, which will usually still be coal. Underground combustion of coal with the SDS System can deliver clean and inexpensive gas and/or steam for turbines of electric generators at the surface. The electrical energy from the steam “mined” in underground combustion of coal can be produced for less than 1.0 cent per KWh. The same system can produce a CO gas as a feedstock for production of hydrogen, which will be 20 times cheaper when compared to any competitive method.
F) Heat losses are minimized. Almost all heat generated underground from coal combustion is utilized in production of the power steam with our UNCOMCOAL Technology.
In HYDRO-THERMO-DYNAMIC technology that is utilized for molten sulphur recovery, all heat injected into a deposit is contained and preserved in underground storage chambers that have been converted from previously excavated (“skeletonized”) production areas.
A similar process is performed with Heavy Crude recovery with so-called THERMO-FLUID Technology.
G) No gasses are emitted to the atmosphere, and no solid or liquid waste is accumulated around the mines and left behind at the mining operations. The mixture of combustion gasses is separated by diaphragm filters and delivered in a closed system to the receiver through a small-diameter pipeline network.
H) Subsidence of the surface and other traditional mining damage is controlled and prevented. Back-filling of the post-exploitation caverns is an easy process for preventing subsidence of the mining roofs, and is performed with use of our SDS system.
The entire system of modern Bore-Hole Mining of strategic mineral resources combined with the low-cost production of electrical energy from the underground combustion of coal resulting from the SDS system, represents substantial advancements in working conditions, the environment, economic security, peaceful stability and general prosperity for any Nation.
List of major Patents published and pending, which created a base for the Technologies:
“PRO-ECOLOGICAL MINING & ENERGY SYSTEM”
1
Bohdan M. Żakiewicz
Mining of Low Permeability Sulphur Deposits Polish Patent No. 48,717 –1961
(Elements of HC and coal Fluidization)
2 Mining of Non Isolated
Thin Sulphur Deposits Polish Patent No. 57,680 -1969
3 Mining and Confining of Widely Spread Deposits Polish Patent No. 74,993 – 1972
(Elements of HC and coal Fluidization)
4 Mining of Sulphur USA Patent No. 4,249,775 –1981
(Elements of HC and coal Fluidization)
5 Borehole Mining of Solid Mineral Resources USA Patent No 4,289.354 –1981
(Fossils Underground Gasification)
6 Oil Recovery Method and Apparatus USA Patent No. 4,305,463-1981
7 Process of Recovery of the HC from Mineral Oil Deposits USA Patent No 4,550,779 – 1985
(Elements of HC and coal Fluidization)
8 Thermochemical Reforming Process and Plant for Ultra Heavy Crude and Tar European Patent No. 143,626 – 1991
(Elements of HC and coal Fluidization)
9 Recovery and Reforming of Ultra Heavy Tars and Crude Deposits European Patent No. 144,203 – 1991
(Elements of HC and coal Fluidization)
10 Proceso Reformador Thrmo-Chemico y Planta Para Crudo Ultra Posado y Alquitrant Venezuelan Patent No. 48,741-1992
(Elements of HC and coal Fluidization)
11 James K. Kindig Method of Coal Beneficiaton Polish Patent No. 172,524-1992
(Elements for coal purification)
12
Bohdan M. Żakiewicz Recovery & Reforming of Crude at the Heads of Multifunctional Wells and Oil Mining System with Flue Gas Stimulation USA Patent No. 6,318,468 B1-2001
(Elements of HC and coal Fluidization)
13 Pro-Ecological Mining System USA Patent No. 6,679,326 B2-2002
(Elements of HC and coal Fluidization)
14
James K. Kindig Method for Production of Hydrogen & Application Thereof USA Patent No. 2003/0072705 A1
(Elements of HC and coal Fluidization)
15 Method for Production of Ammonia USA Patent No. 6,620,398 B2-2003
(Elements of HC and coal Fluidization)
Additional Information
The above presented Technologies were Awarded by BID in conjunction with high assessment in the forms of organization by one of the chain-type International Technologies Centers (a future Division of the International Bank of Technologies) established in the Czech portion of Cieszyn City (which is divided between Polish and Czech Countries), under the name:
“BOHDAN M. ZAKIEWICZ’s – TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AND CONSULTING CENTRE”.
Similar Centers are under organization in Warszawa-Poland and in Berlin-Germany.
On behalf of the CONSOLIDATED SEVEN ROCKS MINING, Ltd. GB.
Proprietor of the Commercial and Intellectual Rights:
Dipl.Eng. Bohdan M. Zakiewicz, PhD
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