Posco Begins Construction of Synthetic Natural Gas Plant
06/16/2011 - The construction of an annual 500,000-tonne-scale synthetic natural gas (SNG) plant, Korea’s first such plant, according to Posco, was started at Gwangyang Steelworks on June 7. The SNG plant is scheduled for completion by the end of 2013.
The construction of an annual 500,000-tonne-scale synthetic natural gas (SNG) plant, Korea’s first such plant, according to Posco, was started at Gwangyang Steelworks on June 7.
The SNG plant is to be completed by the end of 2013. Posco plans to install an airtight silo for coal storage and high level purification equipment, minimizing pollution materials such as dust, sulfur oxides (SOx), and nitric oxides (NOx). Posco E&C will be carrying out the project in turnkey from design and purchasing to construction.
SNG is produced by gasifying low-cost coal at high pressures and high temperatures, which is then refined and synthesized to have the same quality as liquid natural gas (LNG).
The SNG industry was selected by the government in September 2009 as a new growth industry to realize low-carbon green growth, and is expected to create import replacement effects of 200 billion KRW annually by self-supplying SNG in place of LNG, which fully relies on imports. It can also replace the LNG used in steelworks, according to Posco.
Posco successfully developed the SNG catalyst manufacturing technology and SNG reactor device that are core to SNG production this past December in cooperation with 12 companies, research centers, and universities over 18 months, including Posco E&C, Daewoo Engineering, RIST, and Postech.
SNG catalysts are chemical materials that help the carbon monoxide and hydrogen gasified from coal react better.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, congressman Yun-geun Woo, Vice Minister of Knowledge Economy Jeong-gwan Kim, Jeollanam-do Governor Joon-young Park, Gwangyang-si Mayor Seong-wung Lee, and Chairman Joon-yang Chung attended among 200 personnel.
“The SNG project will offer a secure source of energy, as well as create jobs and revitalize related industries,” said Chung. “I want to work with smaller companies to attain key technologies early on and create a foothold for export opportunities.”
“The government has selected clean coal energy utilizing technologies as a national smart task and has fully supported it,” Jeong-gwan Kim said. “The construction of today’s Posco SNG plant will increase the self-supply rate of national energy, ultimately allowing us to use energy at lower costs.”
