PIM unit plans coal gasification project

Fertilizer firm PT Pupuk Indonesia, a subsidiary of state-owned fertilizer firm PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM), plans to develop a coal gasification project, converting low-rank coal into synthetic gas, in a bid to help meet raw material requirement, Kontan reported on Monday.

The paper quoted Pupuk Indonesia President Director Arifin Tasrif as saying the company is currently making the necessary preparations including setting up a new subsidiary that would develop the project.

He said that due to the lack of gas raw material, PIM has only been able to realize 80-90 percent of its installed production capacity of 1,275 tons of fertilizer per day.

Another fertilizer firm PT Pupuk Kujang has started developing a coal gasification project in partnership with Japan?s IHI Corporation. A production trial was made in February of this year, processing 50 tons of low rank coal into 1,800 mmbtu of synthetic gas per day. (*)