April 13, 2009 4:00 AM PDT
After the feedstock has been crushed and dried in another machine, it is mixed with a catalyst in these silos. One of the advantages of catalyst-based chemical processes, say backers, is that they can be scaled up predictably. At GreatPoint Energy's demonstration plant, the proprietary catalyst makes up about 10 percent of the feedstock mix. A lot of the effort now at Brayton Point is designing a system for recuperating the catalyst after the coal mixture has been gasified.
Photo by Martin LaMonica/CNET
Caption by Martin LaMonica
