Greenpower Energy - Clean Coal Technology

I wanted to compile the some information about the clean coal technology and coal assets of GPP from announcements and annual reports, but couldn't make it perfect because of the interference of early sold out birds of GPP on threads. This is not a research just compiled information for the people who wants to know about the coal business of GPP.

History - A 117 years old company!
Greenpower was initially incorporated as Gunnedah Colliery Company Limited, mining coal at Gunnedah, NSW, in 1899 (becoming ‘Gunnedah Coal Company Ltd’ in 1985) and stopped mining coal when it sold the mine in 1997.

Greenpower has, since 2008, as its mission to become a producer of environmentally friendly energy and chemicals, principally by applying environmentally neutral coal liquefaction technology to lignite coal.

The principal activities of the Group has been related to the development of its Coal to Liquid project while maintaining core exploration licences with the potential to supply feedstock and integrate with the Coal to Liquid project.

Greenpower has continued the progression of its objective to develop its Coal to Liquid process which converts Latrobe Valley lignite into refinable crude oil and other products, in an environmentally acceptable way i.e. with no or very low carbon dioxide emissions.

COAL TO LIQUIDS PROJECT - OHD (Oxidative Hydrothermal Dissolution)

Greenpower Energy Limited has A project for the development and commercialisation of its unique coal conversion process called OHD (Oxidative Hydrothermal Dissolution).

Extending back five years GPP has accumulated considerable experience in evaluating coal conversion technologies-of all sorts. Many of the technologies convert coal to “synthetic hydrocarbons” but at considerable coast to the environment. Most of these processes require additional hydrogen as an input.

However OHD process is a novel and environmentally friendly technology, uses crushed coal, water and liquid oxygen. No other materials are used and no greenhouse gases are produced.

The OHD process converts carbonaceous material into organic compounds. (The scientific basis of the process is described and elaborated in USA Patent PCT/210/0233886, dated August 19, 2010). Many of these products are potentially useful for producing fine chemicals, specialty chemicals, commodity chemicals, agricultural biostimulants and bio-diesel.

Agricultural Biostimulants

The basic OHD reactor produces a water product that is an excellent agricultural biostimulant, used to enhance plant growth. Researchers at Monash University are conducting trials to determine the best way to apply the liquid to various commercial plant species. These trials, which are being supported by a Federal Government grant, are due for completion by the end of 2016. The company anticipates supplying these biostimulants to the agricultural sector at prices that will make them attractive to the broadacre sector.

The accelerated use of biostimulants in agriculture is a recent phenomenon. In a major study Calvo, Nelson & Kloepper conclude:
“Plant biostimulants are diverse substances and microorganisms used to enhance plant growth. The global market for biostimulants is projected to increase 12% per year and reach $2200 million by 2018.”


Joining the Chemical Industry

Meanwhile, the company has commissioned industrial chemist expert Dr Duncan Seddon to assist Greenpower’s entry to the chemical industry by selling compounds produced by the OHD process.

Dr Seddon will also help define what further processing is needed to manufacture commodity chemicals. His initial report is attached to this report.

Most of our work to date has used Victorian Brown Coal (VBC) as feedstock, while some trials have been done with Collie Coal (CC). In all cases the OHD reactor has performed faultlessly.


Bio-Diesel Fuels

The raw OHD liquor is an excellent feedstock for moulds and fungi. At present no systematic investigations have been made, other than the qualitative observation that submerged lipid bearing cultures are readily formed in the OHD liquor. We plan to react these lipids with an alcohol (ethanol or methanol) to form fatty acid methyl esters – or FAMEs. A deeper investigation of the biodiesel potential of the OHD liquor will be undertaken at Monash University by the same researchers currently working on agricultural biostimulants.

Biodiesel is made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol (ethyl alcohol or methyl alcohol). This product can be used in standard diesel engines—modifications are not required and it can be used alone or blended with petro diesel in any proportions. Biodiesel should not be confused with the usage of vegetable and waste oils that require modification to standard diesel engines.

JV with US-Thermaquatica Inc for (OHD) process for the conversion of coals to liquids

In November 2013 Greenpower signed an agreement with US-Thermaquatica Inc., to jointly test and develop the Oxidative Hydrothermal Dissolution (OHD) process for the conversion of coals to liquids. The arrangement allows Greenpower to receive an exclusive license to develop and apply the OHD process on a commercial scale within Australia and New Zealand in exchange for contributing USD $2m towards research on extraction of the products form the OHD liquid.

Testing of samples of Victorian Brown Coal shipped to Thermaquatica’s laboratory has continued during the year and the Company has made contracted payments of $USD 276,000 (2014: $US1,050,000) to Thermaquatica towards their research and development programme including the acquisition of capital equipment for output testing.

Greenpower has been developing potential markets for the output which have significant potential.
Subsequent to the year-end Monash University is commencing a test program researching the benefits of some of the output for agricultural purposes which is an exciting development and jointly funded by a Commonwealth Research Grant of $50,000.

Greenpower is monetarising the technology and working towards the funding of a pilot plant in
Victoria which is being designed by US specialists, a number of funding models are being investigated.


VBC (Victorian Brown Coal) – OHD Process

When applied to VBC (Victorian Brown Coal) the relative simplicity of the process in combination with the highly reactive coal enables organic compounds to be made on an economically favourable basis.

Processing of 1 tonne of VBC will yield ~400kg of organic compounds. On a per tonne of ROM VBC basis the input costs are less than $100 (coal, oxygen, electricity & labour).

The OHD process does not require complex machinery and for a small plant of 20 tonnes/day the capital intensity is less than $1 million per daily tonne of product.



Greenpower is also developing plans to build processing plants in Victoria to treat VBC and Western Australia to treat Collie Coal.

Greenpower's development partner has constructed an engineering scale processing system  which has a nominal capacity of 10kg/hr. This system comprises a process unit, reverse osmosis units, an esterification system and a vacuum distillation unit. This system works well and can routinely convert VBC into chemicals and now forms the basis for the design of a pilot plant [PP].



The first plants will be small commercial demonstration units designed to treat 20 tonnes of coal per day and will initially focus on producing agricultural biostimulants. One of the plants will be completed to the stage where the OHD compounds can be produced as solids.

This plant will form part of a demonstration facility for a large scale commodity chemical plant.

Conceptual design work for a 20 tonne/day Pilot Plant (PP) is underway.
The work, funded by GPP, is being carried out by Thermaquatica and Impact Technology Development.

The PP will comprise:

1. Automated input systems for VBC slurry and oxygen.
2. A processing unit which will perform the same function as the PDU but at larger scale.
3. Reverse Osmosis [RO] units to strip out most of the water from the OHD liquor.
4. Selective distillation units for product isolation.
5. The initial separation process will focus on separating out chemicals 6&10 and 14&17 [See figure 3] which are precursor chemicals for making degradable plastic.
6. The remaining chemicals will be subjected to an esterification process to enable production of fuels.

Much of the above is a “work in progress” and is maturing into coherent knowledge areas.

OHD is in our view superior on a number of counts to any of the “next gen “processes which have been evaluated by us.

1. Conversion of carbon is complete and very little CO/CO2 is produced.
2. The resultant liquor is benign and in fact we have under way at Monash University a programme which will develop ways of using the OHD liquor as an agricultural biostimulant. This work is being supported by a commonwealth government research grant.
3. Pre-processing moisture reduction is not necessary and for VBC this is a big operational plus.

   

COAL ASSETS  (TENEMENTS)
  
Latrobe Valley Victoria Resources
Contains an inferred resource of 573 million tonnes of lignite

EL 4500 “Korumburra” (granted 5/10/2000)
EL 5227 “Athlone” (granted 9/8/2005)
EL 4877 “Mirboo” (granted in 2010)

EL4500, EL4877 and EL5227 cover lignite occurrences to the west of Moe Township. Previous exploration by other companies has shown substantial lignite tonnages in a discrete basin covered by EL4500 and EL4877 (western part).

The tenements have the potential to integrate and support the potential Coal to Liquids technology the Group is co-developing.

The group continues to hold three Mineral exploration licenses in the Gippsland Basin (Latrobe Valley), namely EL 4500 “Korumburra” and EL 5227 “Athlone” both held in the name of subsidiary Greenpower Natural Gas Pty Ltd and EL 4877 “Mirboo” held in the name of subsidiary Sawells Pty Ltd each of which have the potential to provide feedstock to the Group’s coal to liquid projects.

The Company had carried out exploration on each area, and, as has been previously announced, it had determined from drilling, down-hole geophysical logging and core analysis that the exploration areas of ELs 4500 and 5227 and the western part of EL 4877 contained an inferred resource of 573 million tonnes of lignite (see 2014 annual report).

Note: Anns on 18/08/2016 “GPP Rationalises its Victoria Coal Exploration”
The Company has now decided to relinquish/not renew all 3 of those licenses, because of the length of time they have been on foot and the haphazard area shaping that reductions have caused over the years, and to apply for a fresh license or licenses covering the most accessible and geologically well-defined area of the inferred lignite deposit, containing sufficient volume to supply foreseeable needs for the company’s coal to liquid plant’s feedstock requirements. The Company then intends to hold the fresh licence(s) until the Company’s coal to liquid technology has been advanced to the degree necessary to resort to this deposit, if necessary by converting to Retention licenses. Exploration of the license(s) can also be broadened in the meantime to include other minerals of interest that may be able to be exploited to add value for shareholders.

The Company notes that mineral exploration in Victoria is governed by the Victorian Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 which provides for the issue, inter alia, of exploration licenses which allow the holder to explore for minerals (of any kind).

EP447 (WA)
In the year under review and as announced by us on 2 June 2015 we completed the sale of our 50% interest in EP447 having received the full cash consideration of $850,000 plus retained in a 1.5% production royalty interest.