The company said the syngas is suitable for use in the production of high value chemicals such as ammonia, petrochemicals-liquids and methanol.

“Today’s milestone has seen the successful transition in our process from air injection to a combination of oxygen and steam, enabling Carbon Energy to produce hydrogen-rich, commercially attractive variety of syngas,” managing director Andrew Dash said.

According to Carbon, the successful transition to oxygen and steam injection allows the company to covert more coal into gas, making it suitable for chemical feedstock production required by petrochemical reliant industries.

“To date we have gasified upwards of 70 tonnes of coal per day on air only and the quality of gas produced continues to be at the top end of our expectations,” Dash said.

Over the coming weeks, Carbon expects to boost the production of syngas by increasing the amount of coal gasified to around 150tpd.

Carbon’s $20 million syngas trial is designed to demonstrate the sustainability and consistency of the company’s commercial-scale UCG syngas production, and has had national and international attention.

Once the trial has been successfully completed the company plans to construct world-scale manufacturing facilities near the Surat basin site, in a joint venture with existing business partners.