Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) discovered a new combination of existing technologies that could double efficiency of coal plants. The discovery could bring to 55% or 60%, conversion rate of coal to power, which currently is at 30%.

To achieve this, MIT combined two well-known technologies: coal gasification and fuel cells in 1972, by Katherine Ong and Ronald Crane, two doctoral MIT students.

“Coal gasification is a way of extracting burnable gaseous fuel from pulverised coal, rather than burning the coal itself. The technique is widely used in chemical processing plants as a way of producing hydrogen gas. Fuel cells produce electricity from a gaseous fuel by passing it through a battery-like system where the fuel reacts electrochemically with oxygen from the air,” MIT said.

According to Katherine Ong, combining both technologies produces more than 800°C heat, significantly higher than actual 600°C. Heat loss is also minimized using the new process.

Gwladys Johnson