The bluegas™ gasification system is an optimized catalytic process for combining coal, steam and a catalyst in a pressurized reactor vessel to produce pipeline-grade methane (99 percent+ CH₄) instead of the low quality syngas produced by conventional gasification shown below.

The first step in the bluegas™ process is to feed the coal or biomass and the catalyst into the methanation reactor. Inside the reactor, pressurized steam is injected to “fluidize” the mixture and ensure constant contact between the catalyst and the carbon particles. In this environment, unlike the conventional gasification shown above, the catalyst facilitates multiple chemical reactions between the carbon and the steam on the surface of the coal or biomass. These reactions (shown below) catalyzed in a single reactor generate a mixture predominately composed of methane and CO₂.

Catalytic Gasification Reactions
Steam carbon:
C + H₂O CO + H₂
Water-gas shift:
CO + H₂O H₂ + CO₂
Hydro-gasification
2H₂ + C CH₄

The proprietary catalyst formulation is made up of abundant, low cost metal materials specifically designed to promote gasification at the low temperatures where water gas shift and methanation take place.  The catalyst is continuously recycled and reused within the process shown below. 

As part of the overall process the bluegas™ production facility recovers most of the contaminants in coal as useful by-products and, in addition, roughly half the carbon in the coal is captured as a pure CO₂ stream suitable for sequestration.

In addition, unlike many conventional gasifiers, the bluegas™ process is ideally suited for lowest cost feedstocks such as Powder River Basin (“PRB”) coal and petroleum coke from the Canadian oil sands (a waste-product produced in the upgrading process) as well as a number of biomass feedstocks.  The result is a disruptive technology with dramatically improved economics and an environmental footprint equivalent to that of natural gas, the most environmentally-friendly fossil fuel.