MONGOLIA - ThyssenKrupp to build CTL and coke plants

German engineering company ThyssenKrupp Uhde will build a coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant and coke making facility in Mongolia, after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Mongolian president Tsakhia Edbegdorj.

The agreements were signed during a five-day visit to Germany’s north Rhine-Westphalia by a major business delegation.

Feasibility studies for the two projects have already been completed, with the CTL study presented at the Mongolian CTG project conference in 2008. The heat recovery coke making plant, based on ThyssenKrupp’s proprietary heat recovery coking technology, was presented in December last year.

ThyssenKrupp also signed a licensing agreement for the Industrial Corporation of Mongolia to use its ‘Prenflo’ coal gasification technology.

“ThyssenKrupp Uhde is contributing proprietary technologies to both projects and will also be acting as general contractor,” says the company’s executive member Alfred Hoffmann. “This CTL plant will enable us to offer the customer a holistic process solution from coal to synthetic fuel.”

The agreements are part of the Mongolian government’s bid to limit fossil fuel imports and instead utilize its abundant domestic coal deposits. This requires conversion of the coal into high-grade chemical and petro-chemical products with the CTL plant the government’s primary measure to produce synthetic fuels from coal.

The Mongolian Deputy Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Ts Garamjav says introducing Germany’s advanced technology into the country is a major step forward. He says an agreement to cooperate on generating electricity by using the thermal energy extracted from the coal coking plant has also been signed.

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