The School of Energy Resources and Wood have partnered together to launch the site work for a coal refinery field demonstration project near Gillette, Wyo.
The thermochemical process technology developed in SER’s CCCC efficiently decomposes Wyoming coal, yielding beneficial liquids and solids that are then used to create valuable, non-energy products, such as building and construction materials, asphalt products, and agricultural soil amendments.
The core process technology integrates thermal coal solvent extraction and flash pyrolysis processing and is a critical part of the carbon engineering program. Researchers in the CCCC have worked with much success since 2016 refining the novel process and developing the coal-derived carbon products, and the state of Wyoming has invested over $30 million to date.
The groundbreaking marks the launch of a 3-phase plan for a full-scale field demonstration.
Phase I: Wood will now begin the site preparations to make it demonstration ready.
Phase II: The flash pyrolysis process of the technology will be installed. The byproduct of the pyrolysis process yields coal char, which is used to manufacture useful products such as building materials and soil amendments.
Phase III: If future funding is secured, the solvent extraction portion of the process will be installed in order to fully integrate the technology. The solvent extraction process yields a high-value coal extract that can be used in the production of asphalts and polymers.
