BioFuels Journal

Pratt & Whitney Partners With ExxonMobil to Develop Affordable and Efficient Gasification Technology for Energy, Chemical, and Biofuels Production

Los Angeles—Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is working with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE) to develop affordable, efficient and innovative compact gasification technology to help lower energy costs, provide a cleaner alternative fuel source, and strengthen the nation's energy security.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company.

"This unique collaboration will help expand our business to make clean gasification technology more available, affordable, reliable and efficient," said Jim Maser, president, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

"While EMRE brings its extensive expertise in energy process development and engineering, we bring decades of experience in high-temperature reactions and hardware development."

Gasification is a process that converts carbon-containing material such as coal or biomass into synthesis gas (syngas).

Syngas can be burned to produce electricity or further processed to manufacture chemicals, fertilizers, liquid fuels, substitute natural gas or hydrogen.

The Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne gasifier is about one-tenth the size of competing systems, and offers the potential to be more efficient, reliable and affordable.

It is also expected to reduce the cost of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration.

ExxonMobil is sharing development cost and collaborating with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne to develop, demonstrate and license the technology.

"The technology developed through this teaming arrangement is expected to significantly reduce capital and operating costs of gasification plants and enhance commercial development of more compact gasification systems," said Jim Hartung, Energy Systems director, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne initiated development of this technology under a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy, based on more than 50 years of rocket engine experience and early proof of concept tests performed in the late 1970s.

Under the new joint development agreement, EMRE and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne will work together to complete technology development and demonstration.

This includes pilot plant activities at the Gas Technology Institute in Des Plaines, Ill., and feed system and dry solids pump tests at the Energy and Environmental Research Center in Grand Forks, N.D. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and EMRE will also collaborate on licensing the technology to third parties.

For more information, call 818-586-2213.