Shell Licenses Three New Clean Coal Technology in China      

Shell Research Limited (Shell) announced on November 20th that three new Shell Coal Gasification Process (SCGP) licensing agreements in China have come into effect, bringing Shell's total number of licensing agreements in the country to 19.
   The new deals include an agreement with two-time licensee Yunnan Yuntianhua Co. Limited (Yuntianhua), Shell's third repeat SCGP user. The licensing agreement between Shell and Yuntianhua was registered on 10 November 2008. Yuntianhua is expected to deploy the Shell technology for its Shuifu project, a 260 thousand t/a methanol plant using coal as feedstock. Yuntianhua signed its first SCGP licensing agreement with Shell in 2003 to set up its Tianan project, a 500 thousand t/a ammonia plant that is now in operation.
   In September 2008, Shell's 18th SCGP licensing agreement in China became effective with Datong Coal Mine Group (DCMG). The agreement paved the way for DCMG to commence its 600 thousand t/a methanol project using SCGP.
   In July 2008, Shell reached a licensing deal with Yongcheng Longyu Coal Chemical Co. Ltd, another repeat SCGP user in China. Under the new license, Yongcheng Longyu was able to build its phase II 500 thousand t/a methanol plant adjacent to its phase I plant, which also uses the Shell technology.
    Shell's coal gasification technology offers a way of using coal to produce fertilizers and chemicals, or to produce synthesis gas for use in power generation. Among the 19 licensees to Shell's coal gasification technology, 12 gasifiers of 11 companies have started up, including the Dongting fertilizer plant in Yueyang, Hunan province, which is a 50/50 joint venture between Shell and Sinopec.