Two projects approved by the Lignite Research Council on August 3 will now go before the North Dakota Industrial Commission on August 22, said Mike Holmes, vice president of research and development for the Lignite Energy Council and technical advisor to the NDIC.
The two projects seeking funding from the state of North Dakota are:
- Project Carbon – The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota is teaming up with the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory to identify and reduce barriers relating to post-combustion capture of carbon dioxide from an existing lignite-based power plant. BNI Energy, Minnesota Power and Minnkota Power are working in partnership with the EERC and several major technology suppliers involved with Project Tundra, which is intended to capture CO2 from the existing Milton R. Young Station near Center, North Dakota. As Project Tundra progresses, Project Carbon is intended to provide additional information regarding performance efficiencies and pre-front-end engineering and design (pre-FEED) considerations for the eventual construction. The project would cost $12.7 million and the application is asking for $2.5 million from the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC). Project Carbon is expected to take 14 months to complete.
- Rare Earth Elements – Extracting rare earth elements (REE) as part of North Dakota lignite mining has been the focus of ongoing studies. This project would be overseen by Microbeam Technologies, Inc. and would study how to maximize concentrations of REEs by developing expedient, low-cost analysis techniques that would aid in stockpiling suitable material for processing. The REEs are found in lignite seams, roof and floor materials and combustion fly ash. However, not all coal seams have the same amount of REEs and standard methods of mining do not identify content prior to delivering the coal to the power plants. The project would cost nearly $500,000 and the application is asking for $224,000 from the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC).
For a project to be considered by the Lignite Research Council, the organizations promoting the technologies must secure matching funds and/or in-kind contributions from companies actively involved in the lignite industry.
Three separate experts evaluate each of the proposals and their evaluations are given to the members of the Lignite Research Council who consider each of the projects for approval. Once the LRC approves a grant proposal, it is then forwarded to the North Dakota Industrial Commission, which is comprised of the governor, the attorney general and the commissioner of agriculture, for consideration of final approval.
The next grant round will be held in October with the LRC meeting in November. This will be the fourth LRC meeting in 2017.