Coaltec Energy USA was incorporated in Illinois in 2000. During this time, Coaltec has worked with a couple of technology groups and, using the knowledge gained through years of testing and experience, have developed our own patented technology. In 2003, Coaltec installed our test facility in Carterville, Illinois. In order to avoid many of the concerns about the benefits of testing fuels, we installed a full, commercially sized facility, capable of processing 3000 pounds per hour of most fuels. This facility, which has been upgraded with technology improvements, has conducted over 20 full scale tests of different fuels. Many of these tests involved 3rd party, certified stack emissions testing for a variety of compounds.
In 2007, Coaltec installed a small gasification system at Frye Poultry in West Virginia. In 2009, we installed a system on a turkey farm in Minnesota. Each of these systems are demonstration units which are capable of processing 1000 to 1500 pounds of manure/litter per hour.
In 2012, we began installing systems at a larger scale, using a new, improved technology. Since that time, Coaltec has installed five systems, with feedstocks ranging from poultry manure, to cow manure, to distiller’s grain. The new system design is capable of processing 4,000 pounds per hour.
While the company is based on a technology platform, much of the work done by Coaltec over the years has been working with potential customers to develop viable economic solutions to their problems. The gasification process not only must work, it must provide an economic return on investment. These efforts have led to work developing biochar from manures and other fuels as a significant revenue source, exploration into credit markets, and finding other creative ways to make the gasification system provide benefits for the customer.
Coaltec’s core management group has over 40 years of gasification experience. The company has been led since its inception by Mike McGolden, an engineer with over 20 years of management experience prior to becoming involved with Coaltec.