Coal Science & Technology Research
Stationary Combustion/Gasification and Co-Firing with Biomass
We house both research and pilot-scale combustion units and a gasifying unit with the flexibility to evaluate impacts of fuel beneficiation, fuel utilization, various pollution control approaches, materials use, ash chemistry, and the suitability and challenges of firing or gasifying biomass and other renewable feedstocks either individually or concurrently with coal.
Penn State Coal Sample Bank and Database
Penn State supplies coal to coal-researchers around the world. We have sampled >1,000 locations and have 38 well-preserved and -characterized domestic coal samples covering the rank range, some 500 historic samples, and an extensive coal database.
Carbon Capture and Storage
Anthropogenic CO2 emissions along with other greenhouse gases are contributing to the rapid change in global climate. Many of the largest point sources of CO2 emissions are in the electric utility section along with cement and other energy intensive industries. Accordingly, several research programs are being conducted at the EMS Energy Institute in the areas of carbon capture and storage:
- Development of a high-capacity CO2 molecular basket to remove CO2 from power plant flue gas
- Oxycombustion research to produce a concentrated CO2 stream
- Computational Fluid dynamics
- Kinetic studies with coal chars
- CO2 sequestration in unmineable coal seams
- Molecular level modeling of coal structure and interaction with CO2, CH4, and H2O
- Core studies under confining stress on capacity with coal behavior being monitored with X-ray Computed Tomography
- Influence of water forms on sequestration kinetics and capacity
- Mineral based capture to generate mineral carbonates
Coal Characterization
We are well positioned to evaluate both traditional and advanced coal characterization. This includes coal handling, grindability, cleaning, trace element partitioning, oxidation, petrology, proximate, ultimate, fluidity, as well as X-ray computed tomography, laser desorption ionization mass-spectroscopy, and NMR. Often we work collaboratively with the expertise here and with colleagues both domestically and internationally. We evaluate coal, its solid, liquid, and gaseous products.
Coal and Char Molecular Modeling
We have advanced the ability to generate large-scale, accurate, molecular representations of coals and chars rapidly with relative ease. We use these molecular representations constrained by experimental data to explore chemical and physical structural differences, interaction with gases and solvents, reactivity, solvent extraction, char formation, primary thermolysis and direct liquefaction etc.