Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. (Houston, Tex.; www.synthesisenergy.com), a global industrial gasification company, and Aker Solutions US Inc. (www.akersolutions.com), a U.S. based subsidiary of Aker Solutions ASA (Oslo, Norway; www.akerasa.com) have entered into an engineering agreement.
“Aker Solutions’ expertise in the gasification and chemicals industries will assist SES’ strategy to build, own and operate coal-to-chemicals plants serving the industrial customer segment worldwide,” says Tim Vail, SES’ president and CEO. “Drawing on Aker Solutions’ global footprint and vast engineering capabilities will strengthen our internal staff and provide access to resources for SES to capitalize on the demand for the continued development of U-GAS projects.”
Glyn Rodgers, president of Aker Solutions US, commented, “The addition of Aker Solutions’ specialist talent and resources will assist SES’ ongoing objective to develop and build projects on time and within budget. We look forward to working with SES at the forefront of the coal gasification industry.”
SES owns and operates coal-gasification plants that utilize its proprietary U-GAS fluidized-bed gasification technology to convert low rank coal and coal wastes into higher value energy products, such as transportation fuel and ammonia. The U-GAS technology, which SES licenses from the Gas Technology Institute (www.gastechnology.org), gasifies coal without many of the harmful emissions normally associated with coal combustion plants. The primary advantages of U-GAS relative to other gasification technologies are said to be: (a) greater fuel flexibility provided by the ability to use all ranks of coal (including low rank, high ash and high moisture coals, which are significantly cheaper than higher grade coals), many coal waste products and biomass feed stocks; and (b) the ability to operate efficiently on a smaller scale, which enables SES to construct plants more quickly, at a lower capital cost, and, in many cases, in closer proximity to coal sources.