TransGas Coal-to-Gasoline Complex begins Construction

First Uhde PRENFLO PDQ Application in the USA

By way of an internationally attended groundbreaking ceremony, TransGas Development Systems, LLC, has begun construction of America’s largest Coal-to-Gasoline complex, the Adams Fork Energy plant in Mingo County, West Virginia. The ceremony was conducted today on the project site at Wharncliffe, West Virginia, USA. The Adams Fork Energy plant will convert regional coal into 18,000 barrels per day of premium grade, ultra clean gasoline. The facility was permitted by the State of West Virginia, and is based on Uhde’s PRENFLO PDQ gasification technology provided by Uhde Corporation of America, which belongs to the thyssenkrupp group. Uhde Corporation of America is business partner of Uhde. Uhde is among the world leaders in coal gasification and has 70 years of experience in coal gasification.

Due to the current energy market situation, Uhde sees a significant increase in the demand for coal-based, alternative energy projects; the Adams Fork Energy plant is one that will create more independence from the oil sector and a new marketplace for coal-derived fuels. Gasification offers a number of upstream and downstream advantages in an environment of record oil and gas prices and dwindling energy reserves also worldwide. Coal gasification plants provide higher efficiency, and particularly lower emissions than conventional coal conversion plants, and allow the utilisation of low-grade feedstocks, such as coal, petcoke or biomass, for a variety of products. Uhde’s PRENFLO process is based on Uhde’s proprietary Koppers-Totzek coal gasification process which was developed 70 years ago, and has been proven for over a decade in the world’s largest single-train IGCC power plant in Puertollano, Spain.

The Adams Fork Energy coal-to-gasoline plant will be the first licensed Uhde PRENFLO gasification application in the United States. TransGas and Uhde Corporation of America had signed the license agreement as early as in December 2008, followed by the minor source permitting effort that led to the Air Permit which was issued in February 2010. The plant complex will consist of coal preparation, coal gasification, gas cleaning, methanol synthesis and a methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) technology. This coal-to-gasoline complex in Mingo County is expected to be completed by 2015.

Uhde has a workforce of more than 4,500 employees worldwide and is a company in the Plant Technology business area of the thyssenkrupp Group. The company's activities focus on the engineering and construction of chemical and other industrial plants in the following fields: fertilisers; electrolysis; gas technologies; oil, coal, and residue gasification; refining technologies; organic intermediates, polymers and synthetic fibres; and also coke plant and high-pressure technologies. We also provide our customers with professional services and comprehensive solutions in all areas of industrial plant operation. Details are available at www.uhde.eu

Uhde Corporation of America is a North American Engineering & Contracting Company and part of thyssenkrupp USA Inc. The companies’ activities focus on the planning and realization of industrial plants in the United States and Canada. Uhde Corporation of America is a business partner of Uhde GmbH and is headquartered in Bridgeville (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania. The company has further offices in Houston/Texas, Cleveland/ Ohio and Calgary/ Canada.