The plant uses
lignite coal to produce synthetic natural gas utilizing a
coal gasification process. The plant processes 16 thousand tons of coal daily. Coal is oxidized to coal gas, which is then converted from a mixture of
carbon monoxide,
carbon dioxide and
hydrogen to
methane, by
hydrogenation over a
nickel catalyst. The synthetic natural gas (95% methane, 975 BTU per cubic foot) is pipelined to the
Northern Border Pipeline which transports gas from Canada,
Montana and North Dakota to the
Ventura, Iowa area, where the pipeline interconnects with many pipelines supplying the eastern United States. The company ships generated byproduct carbon dioxide via a high pressure pipeline to an oilfield in
Saskatchewan in
Canada where it is used for
enhanced oil recovery from the Weyburn oil field near
Weyburn, Saskatchewan (Canada). The plant also produces
ammonium sulfate,
anhydrous ammonia,
phenol,
cresylic acid,
methanol, and urea
naphtha. These materials are by-products of coal gasification. The plant also produces
liquid nitrogen,
krypton and
xenon as a by-product of liquid
oxygen production. Oxygen is utilized in the initial oxidation of coal. == History ==