DME Clean Energy Pty. Ltd. (DMECE) intends to develop a new opportunity for the struggling Australian brown coal industry.  The company has asked Unitel to design an enhanced process for making DME from brown coal mined in the State of Victoria.  With a prevailing price of $7 per ton for brown coal, the underlying economics of this business are exceptionally attractive. 

The customer intends to develop an alternative and sustainable option to meet the nitrogen fertilizer requirements of the US agricultural industry.  Currently our country consumes appr. 20 million tons of ammonia per year, and more than 50% of this product is imported from Trinidad, Russia and Canada. 

In response to environmental pressures, most countries in the world continue to decrease the allowed sulfur levels in diesel used for transportation applications.  Currently (2010) all highway diesel fuel refined in or imported into the United States must have a sulfur content of 15 parts per million (ppm) or lower.  Some countries in Europe are actively promoting the use of 10 ppm or even 5 ppm standards.

The US Army Fuel Cell Technology team at Fort Belvoir needed an integrated system to fine-tune its process for converting a logistical fuel into hydrogen for operating a solid oxide fuel-cell stack.  The end objective was to generate “quiet power” – with a minimal thermal and sound signature – on the battlefield.  Mobile applications also included auxiliary power units (APUs) on trucks and other military vehicles. 

This project has an interesting background.  While urban areas in Korea have ready access to natural gas through a network of pipelines, businesses and families in many rural and remote parts of the country have to depend upon liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders for their heating and cooking applications.  Much of the LPG sold in Korea is imported.