• Dr. Steven Zabarnick, Group Leader, Fuel Science, University of Dayton Research Institute
• Dr. Joseph Hager, Senior Project Scientist, EMTEC

Our state and nation require bulk quantities of low cost stationary fuels to generate heat and electricity and high energy transportation fuels to operate our vehicles, ships and aircraft. The existing energy infrastructure relies predominantly on hydrocarbon resources: crude petroleum for mobile applications; and coal, natural gas and petroleum for stationary applications. In both cases the hydrocarbons are burned in air, typically converting less than 30 percent of their energy content into useful energy and exhausting combustion products and by-products into the atmosphere. There are clean alternatives to the current conversion processes for hydrocarbons that yield a much higher fraction of useful energy and/or result in the production of much lower quantities of atmospheric pollutants. This session will provide tutorial information on these alternative hydrocarbon conversion processes and highlight the supply chains for each.

• "Gasification and IGCC Technology" - Steven Vick, Global Energy, Inc.

  Gasification is a process that converts carbon-containing materials into Synthetic Gas which is composed primarily of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.  Gasification occurs when a carbon-containing feedstock, such as coal, petroleum coke and renewable feed, is exposed to steam at elevated temperatures and pressures in the presence of controlled amounts of oxygen.  Gasification technologies are of particular interest in Ohio because they enable the production of clean Synthetic Gas from high sulfur coal or petroleum coke derived from heavy crude oil, both of which are available in Ohio.  The Synthetic Gas can be used in place of natural gas to fuel an efficient Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) facility for the generation of electric power, or as a basic feed stock material for the production of  Synthetic Natural Gas, Fischer-Tropsch fuels, hydrogen, methanol, nitrogen fertilizers and other chemicals. This presentation will discuss the various types of gasification technologies available today, and the operation by Global Energy of one of only two IGCC facilities in the United States today.

• "Production of Liquid Fuels from Synthesis Gas" - Mason Luo, Univ. of Dayton Research Institute

  German scientists invented the process in the 1920s and Germany used it to produce diesel fuel during WW2. South Africa supplied liquid fuel from coal during the trade embargoes of the Apartheidt era. Now high oil prices and an insecure supply of crude oil are once again driving global interest in alternative fuels. Abundant coal deposits in the U.S. may become the next major energy source while crude oil and natural gas are depleted. Improved coal gasification and sulfur removal technology will at last make it possible to utilize high sulfur Ohio bituminous coal to produce FT fuels and electric power. This talk will feature basic Fischer-Tropsch synthesis concepts and the building blocks for an FT process will be discussed. Product distribution, selectivity and activity resulting from different FT catalysts, i.e., iron and cobalt catalysts, will be presented based on some typical commercial catalysts results.

• "DoD as a Synthetic Fuel Customer" - Tim Edwards, Air Force Research Laboratory

  The U.S Air Force has been working toward the approval/certification of alternative (non-petroleum) aviation fuels as a part of the DoD Assured Fuels Initiative. These efforts are designed to help enhance the U.S.'s energy security by developing a diversity of sources for liquid transportation fuels, utilizing the U.S.'s vast reserves of coal, oil shale, and biomass. In the case of the DoD, the primary fuel of interest is jet fuel, which is used in essentially all DoD ground vehicles and aircraft. The major military fuel specification is MIL-PRF-83133E (JP-8). This specification is very similar to the commercial Jet A and Jet A-1 specifications, so there is considerable potential for joint efforts between military and commercial organizations to enable approval/certification of alternative fuels. The military effort is being coordinated with the FAA's Commercial Alternative Aviation Fuel Initiative (CAAFI). It should be stressed that the goal of these efforts is a "drop-in" replacement for current kerosene jet fuels - there is little user interest in any fuel that does not (mostly) meet current specifications. Ongoing and past studies have indicated that alternative aviation fuels such as hydrogen, ethanol, and methane impose such significant performance and logistical penalties that they are of little interest in the near and intermediate-term. This is, of course, not the case for ground transportation.

• "Geologic Carbon Sequestration" - Larry Wickstrom, Ohio Division of Geological Survey

  Geological sequestration involves the capture of CO 2 from power plant and other facility emissions and its storage in a geologic reservoir. Reservoirs appropriate for sequestration include producing and depleted oil and gas fields, unmineable coal seams, and deep saline formations. Such reservoirs have naturally stored crude oil, natural gas, brine and CO 2 for millions of years. The ODNR, Division of Geological Survey has been researching Ohio's potential for geologic sequestration since 2000. Geological and geophysical data, largely from the state's oil and gas records, are integrated through mapping and geostatistical techniques to provide three-dimensional models of the subsurface units. These models form the basis for the calculation of CO 2 sequestration capacity.
  
  If Ohio's energy mix is to change to include clean coal technologies, ethanol, and synthetic fuels, while limiting the amount of green house gases emitted to the atmosphere, geologic CO 2 sequestration must play a large role. Developing Ohio's potential for sequestration with these new energy sources will be a large challenge involving proper planning and siting of facilities, implementation of new regulations, and construction of proper infrastructure. Engineering firms will be involved in designing these large projects. The oil, gas, and coal industries may need to adopt new operating procedures and CO 2 compression and transportation expertise will need to be developed in the state.