Linc Energy
Encyclopedia
Linc Energy is an Australian energy company specialized on a coal
-based synthetic fuel
production. It is engaged in development and commercialization of proprietary underground coal gasification
technology. Produced gas is used for production of synthetic fuel through gas-to-liquid technology, and is planned also to be used for power generation. The company has its headquarters in Brisbane
.
Linc started to develop its Chinchilla Demonstration Facility in July 1999. First gas was produced already in the same year; however, it took more than two years to achieve complete control of the process. Initially Linc Energy used the underground coal gasification technology worked out by Ergo Exergy Technologies, Inc, of Canada. However, in 2006 the cooperation with Ergo Exergy was terminated and the cooperation agreement for technology usage, consultation and engineering services was signed with the Skochinsky Institute of Mining and the Scientific-Technical Mining Association of Russia.
In 2005, Linc signed a memorandum with Syntroleum
granting a licence to use the Syntroleum's proprietary gas-to-liquid technology and started to build a GTL pilot plant in November 2007 at the Chinchilla facility. The plant was commissioned in August 2008. The first synthetic crude was produced in October 2008. The pilot plant was officially inaugurated on 22 April 2009. The fourth generator was commissioned in February 2010.
On 20 December 2007, Linc Energy acquired a 60% stake and later increased it to 74% in Uzbekistan
's underground coal gasification company SPC Yerostigaz. On 15 October 2008, a South Australian oil and gas company SAPEX Limited was merged with Linc Energy. This acquisition provided Linc Energy with tenements in the Arckaringa, St Vincent and Walloway Basins. On 3 December 2008, Linc Energy announced its intention to purchase North American Powder River Basin tenements from Casper, Wyoming, based GasTech Inc. The first tenements were formally acquired in May 2009, with further acreage across the states of Montana and North Dakota acquired in September the same year. In March 2010, Linc Energy signed an agreement to acquire tenements in the Cook Inlet Basin in Alaska. Project feasibility and permitting processes are underway in North America for potential UCG sites.
In November 2007, Linc Energy, in cooperation with BioCleanCoal Pty Ltd, established a joint venture to develop a prototype
bioreactor
for converting carbon dioxide
through a photosynthesis
into oxygen
and solid biomass
.
Linc Energy also plans to build a 20000 oilbbl/d gas-to-liquid plant on the Arckaringa basin in South Australia. The plant would be designed by Aker Solutions and it would be fed by synthesis gas produced by underground coal gasification. BP
has an option to buy 70% of the produced diesel fuel.
In the Yining mining area in China, Linc Energy has planned to develop a coal gasification project in cooperation with Xinwen Mining Group. Together with Vinacomin
, Song Hong Energy and Marubeni
, Linc is preparing the Red River Delta UCG (UCG Tonkin) project in Hung Yen, Vietnam
.
Linc owns Emerald, Galilee and Pentland coal mining tenements in Queensland, Australia, which it plans to sell.
. It was established in 1961 and has since then continuously operated in the field of underground coal gasification. It produces about one million cubic meters of syngas
per day. The produced syngas is used as fuel in the Angren Power Station.
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
-based synthetic fuel
Synthetic fuel
Synthetic fuel or synfuel is a liquid fuel obtained from coal, natural gas, oil shale, or biomass. It may also refer to fuels derived from other solids such as plastics or rubber waste. It may also refer to gaseous fuels produced in a similar way...
production. It is engaged in development and commercialization of proprietary underground coal gasification
Underground Coal Gasification
Underground coal gasification is an industrial process, which converts coal into product gas. UCG is an in-situ gasification process carried out in non-mined coal seams using injection of oxidants, and bringing the product gas to surface through production wells drilled from the surface. The...
technology. Produced gas is used for production of synthetic fuel through gas-to-liquid technology, and is planned also to be used for power generation. The company has its headquarters in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
.
History
Linc Energy was incorporated on 29 October 1996 as Linc Energy N.L. On 17 November 2000, it changed its name to Linc Energy Ltd. It listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on 10 May 2006 and later on the OTCQX in New York in December 2007.Linc started to develop its Chinchilla Demonstration Facility in July 1999. First gas was produced already in the same year; however, it took more than two years to achieve complete control of the process. Initially Linc Energy used the underground coal gasification technology worked out by Ergo Exergy Technologies, Inc, of Canada. However, in 2006 the cooperation with Ergo Exergy was terminated and the cooperation agreement for technology usage, consultation and engineering services was signed with the Skochinsky Institute of Mining and the Scientific-Technical Mining Association of Russia.
In 2005, Linc signed a memorandum with Syntroleum
Syntroleum
Syntroleum Corporation is a United States company engaged in development and commercialization of proprietary Gas to liquids and Coal to liquids processes known jointly as the Syntroleum Process.Syntroleum was incorporated in 1984 by Kenneth Agee...
granting a licence to use the Syntroleum's proprietary gas-to-liquid technology and started to build a GTL pilot plant in November 2007 at the Chinchilla facility. The plant was commissioned in August 2008. The first synthetic crude was produced in October 2008. The pilot plant was officially inaugurated on 22 April 2009. The fourth generator was commissioned in February 2010.
On 20 December 2007, Linc Energy acquired a 60% stake and later increased it to 74% in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
's underground coal gasification company SPC Yerostigaz. On 15 October 2008, a South Australian oil and gas company SAPEX Limited was merged with Linc Energy. This acquisition provided Linc Energy with tenements in the Arckaringa, St Vincent and Walloway Basins. On 3 December 2008, Linc Energy announced its intention to purchase North American Powder River Basin tenements from Casper, Wyoming, based GasTech Inc. The first tenements were formally acquired in May 2009, with further acreage across the states of Montana and North Dakota acquired in September the same year. In March 2010, Linc Energy signed an agreement to acquire tenements in the Cook Inlet Basin in Alaska. Project feasibility and permitting processes are underway in North America for potential UCG sites.
In November 2007, Linc Energy, in cooperation with BioCleanCoal Pty Ltd, established a joint venture to develop a prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
bioreactor
Bioreactor
A bioreactor may refer to any manufactured or engineered device or system that supports a biologically active environment. In one case, a bioreactor is a vessel in which a chemical process is carried out which involves organisms or biochemically active substances derived from such organisms. This...
for converting carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
through a photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a chemical process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can...
into oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
and solid biomass
Biomass
Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
.
Operations
Linc Energy head office is based in Brisbane, Australia, and it has business interests in Queensland, South Australia, North America, Vietnam and Uzbekistan. The company owns and operates the Chinchilla Demonstration Facility 300 kilometres (186.4 mi) west of Brisbane, which is the world's first gas-to-liquid plant operating on synthesis gas produced by underground coal gasification. The facility hosts four underground coal gas generators, a GTL pilot plant, a world-class laboratory, and a wastewater treatment plant.Linc Energy also plans to build a 20000 oilbbl/d gas-to-liquid plant on the Arckaringa basin in South Australia. The plant would be designed by Aker Solutions and it would be fed by synthesis gas produced by underground coal gasification. BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
has an option to buy 70% of the produced diesel fuel.
In the Yining mining area in China, Linc Energy has planned to develop a coal gasification project in cooperation with Xinwen Mining Group. Together with Vinacomin
Vinacomin
Vinacomin is a Vietnamese mining company. The industrial conglomerate focuses on coal and mineral mining and has headquarters in Ha Long, Quang Ninh Province.-History:Vinacomin was created by the merger of the Vietnam Coal Corporation and Vietnam Minerals Corporation...
, Song Hong Energy and Marubeni
Marubeni
is a Japanese trading company, one of the largest general trading companies in Japan.-Offices:*Head Office - 4-2, Otemachi 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan*Head Office -20-6, Shiba 5-chome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan...
, Linc is preparing the Red River Delta UCG (UCG Tonkin) project in Hung Yen, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
Linc owns Emerald, Galilee and Pentland coal mining tenements in Queensland, Australia, which it plans to sell.
Yerostigaz
Yerostigaz is a subsidiary of Linc Energy located in Angren, UzbekistanAngren, Uzbekistan
Angren is a city in eastern Uzbekistan east of Tashkent. It was founded in 1946 as a center for the Uzbek SSR's coal industry. It is located on the Angren River....
. It was established in 1961 and has since then continuously operated in the field of underground coal gasification. It produces about one million cubic meters of syngas
Syngas
Syngas is the name given to a gas mixture that contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Examples of production methods include steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to produce hydrogen, the gasification of coal, biomass, and in some types of waste-to-energy...
per day. The produced syngas is used as fuel in the Angren Power Station.
See also
- Carbon EnergyCarbon EnergyCarbon Energy Limited is an Australian mineral resource exploration company. The company is focusing on underground coal gasification and through its publicly listed subsidiary Energia Minerals on uranium exploration. It operates an underground coal gasification pilot plant at Bloodwood Creek,...
- Cougar EnergyCougar EnergyCougar Energy Limited is an Australian energy company specialized on underground coal gasification and electric power production by produced syngas...
- Global WarmingGlobal warmingGlobal warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
- Non-renewable resourceNon-renewable resourceA non-renewable resource is a natural resource which cannot be produced, grown, generated, or used on a scale which can sustain its consumption rate, once depleted there is no more available for future needs. Also considered non-renewable are resources that are consumed much faster than nature...