Hot coal gas desulfurization with manganese-based sorbents

The primary major deposit of manganese in the US which can be readily mined by an in situ process is located in the Emily district of Minnesota. The US Bureau of Mines Research Centers at both the Twin Cities and Salt Lake City have developed a process for extracting and refining manganese in the form of a high-purity carbonate product. This product has been formulated into pellets by a multi-step process of drying, calcination, and induration to produce relatively high-strength formulations which are capable of being used for hot fuel gas desulfurization. These pellets, which have been developed at the University of Minnesota under joint sponsorship of the US Department of Energy and the US Bureau of Mines, appear superior to other, more expensive, formulations of zinc titanate and zinc ferrite which have previously been studied for multi-cycle loading (desulfurization) and regeneration (evolution of high-strength SO{sub 2} and restoration of pellet reactivity). Although these other formulations have been under development for the past twelve years, their prices still exceed $7 per pound. If manganese pellets perform as predicted in fixed bed testing, and if a significant number of utilities which burn high-sulfur coals incorporate combined-cycle gasification with hot coal gas desulfurization as a viable means of increasing conversion efficiencies, then the potential market for manganese pellets may be as high as 200,000 tons per year at a price not less than $3 per pound. This paper discusses the role of manganese pellets in the desulfurization process with respect to the integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) for power generation.