Energy Technologies Development at Touchstone

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Energy Technologies Development at Touchstone

• Drew Spradling, P.E.
• Manager, New Business Development

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Touchstone Facilities
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Core Competencies

• High Pressure/High Temperature Coal Conversion
• CFOAM product
• Similar to Gasification - focus on char (CFOAM)
  formation
• Materials Engineering Testing
• Application Design, Modeling, Fabrication

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Current Energy Technologies Development

• Industrial Gasification
• Coal, Coal/Biomass, Petcoke/Biomass
• Address Growing Market Need
• Many Current Industrial Clients Expressing Need
• Direct Expertise Area
• Algae Biofuels
• Complimentary to industrial gasification
• One of only two biofuels technologies with
  potential
• Algae and cellulosic ethanol

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Opportunity for Touchstone

• Hundreds of Industrial Plants in North America In
• Need Of An Alternative Fuel To Natural Gas
• Looming Manufacturing CRISIS!!!
• High Natural Gas Prices, Extreme Volatility,
  Future Demand Will Severely Impact The Industrial
  Base In North America In The Coming Decade
• You Will See Many Marginal Plants Shut Down
  Because of This!
• Higher Natural Gas Costs Cannot Be Easily Passed
  to Consumers
• Shut-down or Locate Offshore Where Gas is Cheaper

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Touchstones Industrial Gasification

• On-site, over-the-fence, production of syngas for
  manufacturers
• Under development gt3 years
• Smaller, plasma-based, cheaper
• suited for 100 - 1000 MMBtu/hr locations
• Utilize coal offset CO2 with biomass blending
  (algae biomass longer term)

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Primary North American Markets

• Steel
• Chemical
• Iron Ore
• Flat Glass
• Ethanol
• Aluminum
• Mining

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Simplified Block Diagram
Electricity
Turbine
Coal Coke Lime
G
Air
Cooling Water
Steam
Compressor
Induction Fan
Mercury Removal
Particulate Removal
Syngas Cooling
(20-yr bed life)
Sulfur Removal
Elemental Sulfur (marketable)
Slag (marketable)
Compressor
Syngas Surge Tank
Turbine
G
Clean Syngas to Customer
Electricity to Customer
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Pilot-Scale Testing
SLAG
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Plasma Gasification Pilot Testing

• Conceived Funded by Touchstone
• Performed at Technology Partners Pilot Facility
• Three Coals Gasified
• Two Appalachian Bituminous High Sulfur Coals
• One PRB Sub-bituminous Low Sulfur Coal
• Comprehensive Gas Analysis Performed
• Thermal Mass Balances Performed
• Predicted Operating Capital Costs Defined
• Preliminary Engineering Completed
• Two Potential Customers Two Engineering Firms
  Participated

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Japanese Trash Gasification Demonstration Plant
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Gasifier Slag Output
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Current Status

• DoE SBIR Funding Support (Teamed w/
  Homer Laughlin China)
• 100K Phase I (just completed)
• 750K Phase II (pending)
• First Commercial Demonstration Project
  Development (Outside WV)
• Fortune 500 company customer
• Long-term syngas off-take agreement
• 400 MMBtu/hr size (30 tons/hour PRB coal)
• Seeking Project Financing Investment

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DoE SBIR Project

• Worked With Homer Laughlin China (Newell, WV)
• Tested Syngas Composition from Gasifier in Pilot
  Furnace With Their Product
• Developed Successful Low Btu (130 Btu/ft3) Syngas
  Burner
• Phase II
• Combustion Turbine Testing on Low-Btu syngas
• Additional Pilot Testing
• Computer Modeling for Plant Layout Optimization

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Product Testing
Green
Fired
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Homer Laughlin Site

• Other Surrounding Potential Customers For Syngas
• Mountaineer Casino
• Oil Refinery
• Economies of Scale Improve

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Preliminary Engineering
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Preliminary Engineering
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Algae Biofuels
CO2 Nutrients H2O Light Energy ? Biomass

• Algae very diverse microscopic to giant kelp
• Algae ancestors created petroleum deposits
• Very efficient, rapid growth, can double biomass
  several times per day

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Biofuels Industry Struggle

• Feedstock Foodstock cannot continue
• Corn-based ethanol
• Most mature, but inefficient energy balance
• Biodiesel
• gt3.50/gallon just to buy feedstock (soybean or
  palm oil)
• Cellulosic ethanol
• Inefficient yields cost prohibitive
• Algae is the perfect feedstock

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Why Algae?

• Does not compete with food
• Uses underutilized land, e.g. deserts marginal
  farmland
• Can produce high yields (40 body weight) of oil
• Starch / proteins for ethanol animal feed
• Algae requires CO2 for growth
• Natural CO2 sequestration ability
• Can grow in fresh, salt, or brackish water
• Does not require huge volumes of fresh water
• Water is continuously recycled does not
  evaporate in a closed system
• Not susceptible to drought

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Yearly Oil Yields/Acre

• Corn 18
• Soybeans 70
• Safflower 83
• Sunflower 102
• Canola 127
• Jatropha (India) 202
• Oil Palm (SE Asia) 635
• Micro Algae 3,000-20,000(fastest growing
  plant on earth)

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Challenges

• Open vs. Closed Cultivation System Decision
• Open ponds are cheap, but inefficient due to
  evaporation, invasive species, poor sunlight
  distribution
• Closed systems are more efficient but have high
  capital costs
• Harvesting Oil Extraction
• Difficult and Inefficient
• Many Variables To Control That Affect Oil
  Production
• Salinity, pH, Nutrients, Temperature
  Fluctuations, to name a few
• To Compete with 100 Oil, Capital Costs Need to
  Be 100K/acre Max Currently Unrealistic for
  Closed Systems

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Touchstone Current RD Efforts

• Short Term
• Optimizing Growth Conditions Oil Yields of
  Candidate Strains
• Genetic Modification (Major University Joint
  Proposal)
• Develop Algae Harvesting Oil Extraction Methods
• Prototype Photobioreactor Design
• SBIR Funded
• Laboratory Scale
• Longer Term
• Outdoor Pilot Testing (1/4 acre scale)
• Commercialization Plan

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Touchstones Algae Biofuels Lab
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Near Term Goals

• Design build a 1/4 acre outdoor pilot-scale
  system at Touchstone
• 50 gallons oil/week size
• Optimize design identify operating yields
  limitations
• Funding Sources
• Recently won 100K DoE SBIR Phase I for reactor
  development
• Several government funding proposals pending
• Corporate venture funding sought

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Touchstones Bag-Type Reactor System
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Business Model

• 1. Control IP on Algae Production System
• Operate Pilot Systems for Demonstration/Optimizati
  on
• gt5 years to Commercialization
• License, Manufacture, Set-up System for
  Landowners
• 2. Partner with Ethanol Biodiesel Companies
• Industry desperate for lower cost feedstocks
• Build Algae Systems Adjacent to Ethanol Plants
• We require CO2 source and outlet for algae
  biomass after oil extraction
• 3. Revenues From Both Oil Biomass Feedstock
  Potentially CO2 Credits

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Integrated Algae/Ethanol Biorefinery
Wet Distillers Grain (Animal Feed)
CO2
Algae Reactors
Separation Oil Extraction
Ethanol Plant
Algal Solids
Oil
Biodiesel Plant
Ethanol
Biodiesel
1 acre 200 tons dry
algae/year (40 oil)
1 ton algae 2.5 barrels biodiesel
1.5 barrels ethanol
1 ton CO2 2 tons algae
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Conclusions

• Touchstone developing commercial projects in
  Industrial Gasification with coal biomass
• Touchstone is in early stages of algae biofuel
  development
• Federal Government funding route is slow, but
  available
• Other funding sources required to develop
  commercialize technology rapidly
• WV Can Grow Industries That Support Energy
  Other Than Coal Mining and Coal Liquefaction!
• Manufacture Service of Industrial Gasification
  Plants
• Research/Manufacturing/Servicing of Algae
  Biofuels Technologies
• Not really feasible for growing algae (Southwest
  is ideal)
• Need Policies That Fund Encourage Energy
  Technology Development in WV
• Look at PEDA and similar programs in CA, AZ, OH,
  NY