Siemens Energy and Clariant, a specialty chemicals company, signed an agreement to cooperate in the commercialisation of a new, jointly developed sour gas shift (SGS) technology for coal gasification. The agreement appoints Clariant as the exclusive catalyst supplier for all projects where Siemens offers SGS systems. While the collaboration covers all global projects, commercialisation will focus on China – the region with the highest growth rate of coal-to-chemical projects.
The SGS technology from Clariant and Siemens significantly decreases total capital cost for coal-to-chemical and IGCC applications through optimisation and simplification of total plant concepts. The entrained-flow Siemens Fuel Gasifier (SFG) is able to produce syngas from a wide range of fuels – even for low ranks of coal. Clariant’s ShiftMax 821 catalyst enables a simple, once-through process without further adjustment of the exit gas from the gasifier. The simplified layout uses smaller and fewer reactors, and requires no steam adjustment for temperature control. This reduces capital expenditure for the shift system by up to 20%, and optimises operating costs with up to 30% lower catalyst volume. The new technique can handle different steam-to-gas ratios and high carbon monoxide content in the gas, resulting in improved availability and reliability of the whole process.
