[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 89 (Wednesday, July 12, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S6567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          INTEGRATED GASIFICATION COMBINED CYCLE (IGCC) SYSTEM

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. of 
Allentown, Pennsylvania and an industrial team are developing a unique 
oxygen-producing technology based on high-temperature, ion transport 
membranes (ITM). The technology, known as ITM Oxygen, would be combined 
with an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) system to produce 
oxygen and electric power for the iron/steel; glass, pulp and paper; 
and chemicals and refining industries. The ITM Oxygen project is a 
cornerstone project in the Department of Energy's (DOE) Vision 21 
program and has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of so-
called ``tonnage oxygen'' plants for IGCC systems.
  Working in partnership with DOE's National Energy Technology 
Laboratory, the first of three phases of this $24.8 million, 50 percent 
cost-shared research program will be completed in September 2001. 
Research and development conducted as part of phase 1 of the ITM Oxygen 
program has addressed the high-risk materials, fabrication and 
engineering issues needed to develop the ITM Oxygen technology to the 
proof-of-concept point. In phase 2, a full-scale ITM Oxygen module will 
be tested and will be followed by further scale-up to test the 
production and integration of multiple full-scale ITM modules. In the 
final phase, a pre-commercial demonstration unit will be designed, 
constructed, integrated with a gas turbine and tested at a suitable 
field site. At the end of phase 3, it is expected that sufficient 
aspects of the technology will have been demonstrated to enable 
industrial commercialization.
  I thank the Senator from Washington for adding $3.2 million to 
Department of Energy's IGCC. I also understand that the House of 
Representatives added $3.2 million to the FY01 budget request for IGCC 
without designating any one project to receive the increased funding. 
As part of its FY01 budget, DOE requested $2.2 million as part of its 
$32 million IGCC budget to complete phase 1 of ITM Oxygen.
  Now I would urge the Department of Energy and the National Energy 
Technology Laboratory to provide $2 million of the $3.2 million as an 
increase to the FY01 budget request for IGCC to allow the programs 
second phase to begin in FY01. This additional funding would allow the 
ITM Oxygen team to have a smooth transition to the program's second 
phase and to level over future years the DOE cost share needed to 
maintain the program's schedule. This additional funding would also 
allow the ITM Oxygen team to make an early commitment to accelerate 
construction of the test facility and the full-scale ITM Oxygen module. 
Accelerating this program makes sound business sense. Now I am 
confident that DOE and the National Energy laboratory will have the 
funding to do this. I urge them to work with the ITM Oxygen team and 
make it happen.

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