Canoga Park, Calif., February 2, 2012 — Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne signed a negotiation framework agreement with two energy industry partners to design, construct and operate a commercial-scale advanced gasification demonstration plant in China's central eastern Henan Province.
The agreement is a step toward commercializing technology designed to lower the cost of coal gasification and provide an alternative fuel source that reduces water use and carbon dioxide emissions. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. company.
Under the framework, Zhongyuan Da Hua Group and East China Engineering Science & Technology Co. will share development costs for construction and operation of a demonstration plant with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, subject to the terms of a formal agreement currently being negotiated between the parties.
Zhongyuan Da Hua Group Company Ltd is a unit of Henan Coal Chemical Industry Group Co. Ltd., a state-owned enterprise in China Henan Province. Henan Coal Chemical Industry Group Co. Ltd, the 2nd largest coal company in China and the largest industrial enterprise in Henan, specializes in coal-to-gas energy projects.
East China Engineering Science & Technology Co., with more than 40 years of expertise in coal/chemical production facility engineering, procurement and construction, has completed more than 2,000 projects including dozens of turnkey initiatives throughout China and 10 other countries.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's gasification technology provides a higher-efficiency and lower-cost alternative to current gasification systems. The capital cost to build a commercial-scale advanced gasification plant using Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's technology is estimated to be 10 to 20 percent less than conventional gasification plants.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's advanced gasifier is also expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 10 percent and water usage by up to 30 percent compared to current gasification technologies.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has collaborated with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co., and with Canada's Alberta Innovates – Energy & Environmental Solutions and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunities to develop this technology. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has also granted a worldwide license to Zero Emission Energy Plants, Inc. to use the technology in the development of commercial energy centers.
