FECUNDUS: a project aiming at zero emissions in coal utilization

FECUNDUS is a research project that focuses on the gasification of coal, biomass and selected wastes with integrated CO2 capture and syngas cleaning. The project consortium includes height beneficiaries plus one sub-contractor from seven EU countries. The comparison between fluidised bed and entrained flow options is one of the most ambitious objectives of the project as well as the whole optimisation of the gasification scheme from the fuel pre-treatment to the syngas cleaning and CO2 capture. As example of syngas utilisation, a task is also devoted to study its conversion in solid oxide fuel cells. Seven work-packages are foreseen dealing with management, outcomes dissemination, tailoring gasification schemes for integration with CO2 separation, development of materials for gas cleaning, char upgrading, and CO2 separation. Upon completion of preliminary tasks for selection and characterisation of the materials and preparation of the experimental facilities, the consortium is currently facing the core part of the project, namely the experimental investigation of the gasification process in both fluidised and entrained reactors, the application of selected materials for CO2 capture, syngas cleaning and improving as well as the technical-economic analysis of the proposed schemes. Description of the logo - The fecundity, from the name of the project, is shown by the green leaves (Fig. 1). The sources for these leaves are the two arrows, representing the energy carrier and the technical processes for the gas production from the energy source