1) New Coke Production Technology (SCOPE21)

(Joint Development with the Japan Iron and Steel Federation)
In order to contribute to reducing the world's environmental problems, we succeeded in developing some groundbreaking coke-manufacturing technology which can cut CO2 by 20% compared with conventional methods. (2003) Applying this technology will not only reduce CO2 emissions, but by blending to 50% of it with steam coal, it will also allow us to cope with the soaring cost of coking coal.Productivity will increase 2.4 times and it is forecast that it will be commercially available in several years, making possible an 18% reduction in the cost of coke production cost. This technology won the Japan Institute of Energy's Technology Prize in 2004.

2) Efficient Co-production with Coal Flash Partial Hydropyrolysis Technology

Clean Coal Technology-related technology development having a perspective of a single industry in pursuit of a single product is reaching its limits in terms of efficiency and economy, calling the necessity to develop such innovative technologies as could completely change what energy and material production should be. Coal Flash Partial Hydopyrolysis Technology is a technology which causes rapid reaction to pulverized coal under high pressure (2-3Mpa) and in a moderate hydrogen atmosphere to highly and efficiently obtain, from one reactor, synthetic gas easy to be evolved such as into Integrated Gasification Combined-Cycle (IGCC) power generation, indirect liquefaction (GTL), and chemicals while co-producing light oil as chemicals and fuel. The realization of a coal-based cross-industrial composite project (led by electric power/steel/chemicals) with this technology as its core will hopefully bring a dramatic improvement to total energy utilization efficiency.

3) Hydrogen Production by Reaction-Integrated Novel Gasification Process (HyPr-RING)

We have developed a high-efficiency hydrogen production process from coal. The fundamental concept behind the process is the integration of a water-carbon reaction, water-gas shift reaction, and CO2 absorbing reaction in a single reactor, at a temperature of approximately 650℃ and a pressure of 3 MPa or greater. As shown in the diagram, the introduction of coal, an absorbent (CaO), and water into a high-pressure reactor accelerates the decomposition of coal, and, at the same time, the CO2 produced from this is fixed into CaCO3 by the absorbent. The subsequent reaction resolves the water to produce a large amount of hydrogen. After CaCO3 is calcinated, the CaO is again put into the reactor with the coal and the CO2 can be recovered.

4) Hyper Coal

We are manufacturing ashless coal (hyper coal), from which the ash content and alkali metals are removed, by processing the coal by ion exchange and solvent extraction and developing the technology to use as fuel for pulverized coal-fired power generation and gas turbine, a raw material for coal gasification, agent for metallurgical refining and binder for coke production.
For a combined cycle power generation system to burn it directly with a gas turbine, we expect to achieve a transmission end efficiency of 48% with this system. The amount of hyper coal obtained with the solvent extraction is about 75 % of the original coal and the remaining 25 % of the coal becomes residual charcoal with an ash content of about 15 %.
This residual charcoal can be used in existing thermal power systems that use pulverized coal. The overall efficiency when using both the hyper coal and the residual charcoal is expected to be 45 %, and the emission of CO2 could be reduced 15 % compared with existing coal-fired thermal power.

5) CO2 recovery from pulverize coal fired power station by apllying Oxy-fuel Combustion

In this project we are developing oxy-fuel combustion technology that aims to help reduce global warming by modifying existing boilers at coal-fired power stations and cheaply retrieving CO2. We are carrying out a feasibility study with an Australian coal organization in order to put this project into practice.

Instead of using air like normal coal-fired power stations to burn coal, this process uses oxygen. It is therefore unnecessary to separate the exhaust gas because most of it is CO2, and DeSOx and DeNOx units can be reduced in size or will not be required.
Sequestrating recovered CO2 in the coal bed or aquifer, it becomes possible to achieve clean coal-fired power generation free of CO2 emissions.

6) Development of Next-generation IGCC / IGFC (A-IGCC / A-IGFC)

Coal gasification technology can combine high efficiency with zero emissions. With coal gasification technology at the core, we can look forward to developments in diversified CCT model trials, such as high-efficiency IGCC and IGFC, the production of hydrogen, methanol, and DME, and the combined production of electric power with chemicals and iron.
Instead of conventional IGCC and IGFC that integrate the partial combustion gasification furnace, solid fuel cells, steam turbines, and gas turbines in a cascade pattern, we are currently pressing ahead with developing the technology for A-IGCC and A-IGFC that reuse the exergy, recycling the exhaust heat of the gas turbine or solid fuel cell in an endothermic reaction within a steam reforming gasification furnace. It is estimated that recycling the exergy will improve efficiency by about 10%, and it is attracting attention as a process for reducing emissions to zero, with easy separation, collection, and fixation of CO2, and use of versatile energy sources.