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Dakota Gasification Company

The Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, ND, owned and operated by Dakota Gasification Company, a subsidiary of Basin Electric Power Cooperative. The Synfuels Plant has been successfully capturing a portion of its CO2 emissions and transporting the gas to Canada since September 2000 via a pipeline.

The CO2 Story

Basin Electric, through its for-profit subsidiary, Dakota Gasification Company (Dakota Gas), owns and operates the Great Plains Synfuels Plant (Synfuels Plant) northwest of Beulah, ND. The average daily production is about 145 million cubic feet of natural gas, the majority of which is piped to Ventura, IA, for distribution in the eastern United States.

The Synfuels Plant is the only commercial-scale coal gasification plant in the United States that manufactures natural gas. Located five miles northwest of Beulah, ND, the Synfuels Plant has been owned and operated by Dakota Gas since 1988.  It is also the cleanest energy plant operating in the state of North Dakota, according to a comparison of emissions data available from the North Dakota Department of Health.

The Great Plains Synfuels Plant Story

This $2.1-billion plant began operating in 1984. Using the Lurgi process, the Synfuels Plant gasifies lignite coal to produce valuable gases and liquids.  Many coproducts are also produced and marketed in the United States and worldwide. A portion of the gas produced is used to make some of the coproducts.

The Synfuels Plant also supplies carbon dioxide (CO2) to the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project in the world in Saskatchewan, Canada. Today, Dakota Gas exports about 152 million cubic feet per day of CO2 to Canada – about 50 percent of the CO2 produced when running at full rates. As of Dec. 31, 2008, Dakota Gas has successfully captured more than 16 million tons of CO2 for delivery.

Basin Electric’s Antelope Valley Station, a lignite-based electric generating station, is located adjacent to the Synfuels Plant. The two plants share resources such as fuel supply, site access, along with water intake, delivery and storage facilities.

Water for the facilities comes from Lake Sakakawea nine miles north of the energy site.

The Synfuels Plant consumes about 18,000 tons of lignite each day, which is supplied from the nearby Freedom Mine. The mine is owned and operated by The Coteau Properties Company, a subsidiary of the North American Coal Corporation.

Dakota Gas has one for-profit subsidiary, Souris Valley Pipeline LTD, which delivers carbon dioxide to two Canadian oil fields for enhanced oil recovery and sequestration.

Coproducts

• Ammonium sulfate is an agricultural fertilizer marketed under the name, Dak Sul 45®. Approximately 110,000 tons are produced yearly by a flue gas desulfurization system.
• Anhydrous ammonia is used as fertilizer for farming and as a feedstock for producing various chemicals. Dakota Gas has the ability to produce about 400,000 tons per year and operates a railcar fleet of about 238 cars.
• Carbon dioxide is used for enhanced oil recovery. About 40.2 billion standard cubic feet are produced annually.
• Dephenolized cresylic acid is used in the manufacture of pesticides and products such as wire enamel solvent, phenolic and epoxy resins and antioxidants. About 33 million pounds are produced annually.
• Krypton and xenon gases are used for specialty lighting, such as high-intensity lighting and lasers, and for thermopane window insulation. About 3.1 million liters of krypton-xenon are produced annually.
• Liquid nitrogen is used for food processing refrigeration, as an oil well additive and in chemical processes. We produce about 200,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen each year.
• Naphtha contains products that can be used as a gasoline blend stock, in making solvents and in benzene production. We produce about seven million gallons a year.
• Phenol is used for the production of resins in plywood manufacturing and in the casting industry. We produce 33 million pounds of phenol annually.

Go to the Dakota Gas web site to learn more about byproducts produced at the Synfuels Plant or contact the Dakota Gas marketing staff at 701.221.4400 for information regarding any of the coproducts listed above.

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• Gas
• CO2 Sequestration
• Gasification and CO2
• Synfuels Energy Pioneers
• Glossary

 

Crown Jewel

“The strategic value {of the Synfuels Plant} to our country is immense and very difficult to put a price tag on. That plant and what we learned there, is a good model for what could and should be done. It is the ‘crown jewel’ of the United States’ efforts to wean itself off energy from foreign sources." ~ Kurt Yeager, former CEO of the Electric Power Research Institute

Learn More

• How does Dakota Gas deliver natural gas to its customers

Order the book, The New Synfuels Energy Pioneers, for more information about this amazing facility.

Note: We do not mail outside of the continental United States.

Contact

Dakota Gasification Company Headquarters
1600 East Interstate Avenue
PO Box 5540
Bismarck, ND
58501-0561
Tel: 701.221.4400

Great Plains Synfuels Plant
420 County Rd 26
Beulah, ND
58523-1149