Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Coal gasification process'

Today’s problems with emissions of green house gases, land filling of waste and depletion of the oil reserves calls for new energy systems based on alternative fuels like biomass and waste. Gasification is an attractive technology for the use of such solid fuels. Conventional gasification, in the vast majority of cases, uses in-reactor heat release from combustion of part of the feedstock, possibly coupled with a limited preheating of the agent, to obtain the necessary temperatures in the gasifier bed. During recent years, a new gasification technology, using highly preheated gasification agents (&gt; 1273 K), has been developed. The extra heat brought into the process by the high temperature agent reduces the amount of feedstock that has to be oxidized to supply the necessary heat and the use of highly preheated agents has previously proven to have several positive effects on the fuel gas quality.In difference to the previous work on gasification with highly preheated agents, this thesis primarily focuses on the fundamental aspects namely, mass conversion, heating and ignition. It starts by considering single fuel particles or thin beds of fuel particles inserted into highly preheated agents. Mass conversion, heating and ignition are reported in function of the temperature and oxygen concentration of the agent and formulas for the prediction of ignition time and ignition mechanism are developed. The perspective is then widened to include the whole gasifier bed. Simulations of fixed bed batch gasification using highly preheated agents are performed with a mathematical model and used to study how the high agent temperature influences the mass conversion, devolatilisation front rate and the temperature distribution in the fixed fuel bed. Further, the gas quality and gasification efficiency are studied by means of large scale experiment. Ultimately, a thermodynamic analysis of the whole autothermal gasification system, including both a regenerative preheating system and the gasifier, is made.The particle study reports results from experiments with wood and coal and agents consisting of mixtures of nitrogen and oxygen in various proportions. It is shown that an increase in agent temperature from 873 K to 1273 K make the conversion process faster, mostly due to an early onset of the devolatilisation (fast drying) but also due to an increased devolatilisation rate (at least in the case of wood). The time to ignition also decreases significantly, particularly so between 873 and 1073 K. Further, it is shown that the higher the agent temperature, the more pronounced was also the tendency of the coal particles to heat significantly faster in oxygen diluted conditions (5,10 and 21% oxygen) than in inert (0% oxygen) or oxygen rich conditions (30, 50, 80 and 100% oxygen). An increase in agent temperature is also shown to reduce the dependency of the process on the oxygen concentration, at least in diluted conditions (5-21% oxygen). The results also indicate that for coal an increase in the oxygen concentration, specifically in the region above the atmospheric concentration, leads to a decreased dependency on the agent temperature. It is finally shown in the experiments with agent temperatures of 1073 and 1273 K that a flame is promptly formed even in very low concentrations of oxygen.The gasifier study reports results from simulation of batch air gasification and experiments in both batch and continuous up-draft fixed bed gasifier with wood and waste derived fuel and air and mixtures of air and steam. It is shown that the conversion process is faster the higher the air temperature. In particular somewhere between air temperatures of 623 K and 803 K the process behaviour changes. In fact, the devolatilisation rate is significantly increased in this region while it increases less sharply with air temperature below and above this temperature window. The temperature distribution in the bed shows less sharp gradients at high temperature (&gt; 803 K) than at low temperatures (&lt; 623 K). It is also showed experimentally and in fairly large scale that the use of highly preheated air for the gasification of biomass and waste derived fuels can produce - in continuous mode – relatively high yields of product syngas with relatively high fractions of combustible gases and probably also low content of tar. The efficiency of the gasification under these conditions, even when the extra heat input in the preheated agent is considered in the computation of the gasification efficiency, is shown to be comparable to that of conventional gasification techniques. The results also shows that with the use of steam in the agent, the content of hydrogen can be further increased with respect to gasification with only preheated air.In base of the results of the particle study and the gasifier study it is shown that a there exists two regimes of operation in function of the agent temperature, separated by the minimum agent temperature to guarantee spontaneous ignition regardless of the particle temperature. The value of this temperature depend on material properties and the kinetics of the reaction, thus also on the oxygen concentration. When agent temperatures below the minimum agent temperature to guarantee spontaneous ignition regardless of the particle temperature are used, the drying and devolatilisation are mainly controlled by the heat released by reactions. The heating of the fuel particles and their devolatilisation are relatively slow and the devolatilisation rate is highly oxygen dependent. In a fixed bed, the devolatilisation front rate is low and the bed is characterised by significant temperature gradients.When the agent temperature is higher than the minimum agent temperature to guarantee spontaneous ignition regardless of the particle temperature, the drying and devolatilisation are mainly controlled by the convective heat transfer from the preheated agent and the released volatiles ignite very fast even in diluted conditions. This results in very efficient heat transfer to the fuel particles. In the fixed fuel bed the process is characterized by a high devolatilisation front rate. Thus, the temperature gradients in the bed are significantly reduced and the gasification can be said to be thermally homogeneous. Thanks to high rates of heat transfer and mass conversion, the heating value of the dry produced syngas is high with high concentrations of combustible species. The ignition of the volatiles and the high temperatures all along the bed presumably contributes to the reduction of the tar content even in up-draft configurations. The high temperatures also allows for operation with reduced air – to – fuel ratios which further increased the value of the produced gas (thanks to less dilution by nitrogen).The system study presents a concept for an autothermal system including both preheating and gasification. Results from a thermodynamic analysis of such a system are reported. Autothermal operation of a thermally homogeneous gasifier is possible only in a twin component system in which the gasifier is coupled to a preheating system able to reach preheating temperatures well above the minimum agent temperature to guarantee spontaneous ignition regardless of the particle temperature. It is shown that to reach certain temperature levels of the gasification air, heat exchange between product gas and air is not enough and the preheating system has to improve the temperatures involved, for example by burning part of the produced gas in a regenerative preheater. Further, it is shown that in comparison to gasifier without such a system for additional preheating, the autothermal Thermally Homogeneous Gasification system has the ability to significantly improve the gas quality (in terms of heating value of the dry gas) without losing energy- or exergy efficiency to an appreciable extent.<br>QC 20100903

Gasification of black liquor is an alternative to the combustion of black liquor, which is currently the dominant form of chemical recovery in the paper industry. Gasification of black liquor offers the possibility of higher thermal efficiencies than combustion, reducing manufacturing costs and creating new revenue streams through a forest biorefinery. Pressurizing the gasification reactor further enhances the efficiency advantage of gasification over combustion. This study uses a pressurized entrained flow reactor (PEFR) to study black liquor gasification behavior under pressures, temperatures, and heating rates similar to those of next-generation high-temperature black liquor gasifiers. The effects of pressure on black liquor char morphology, gasification rates, pyrolysis carbon yields, and sulfur phase distribution were studied. These characteristics were investigated in three main groups of experiments at 900oC: pyrolysis (100% N2), gasification with constant partial pressure (0.25 bar H2O and 0.50 bar CO2), and gasification with constant mole fraction (10% CO2, 2% H2O, 1.7% CO, 0.3% H2), under five, ten, and fifteen bar total pressure. It was found that pressure had an impact on the char physical characteristics immediately after the char entered the reactor. Increasing pressure had the effect of decreasing the porosity of the chars. Pressure also affected particle destruction and reagglomeration mechanisms. Surface areas of gasification chars decreased with increasing pressures, but only at low carbon conversions. The rate of carbon conversion in gasification was shown to be a function of the gas composition near the particle, with higher levels of inhibiting gases slowing carbon conversion. The same phenomenon of product gas inhibition observed in gasification was used to explain carbon conversions in pyrolysis reactions. Sulfur distribution between condensed and gas phases was unaffected by increasing total pressure in the residence times investigated. Significant amounts of sulfur are lost during initial devolatilization. With water present this gas phase sulfur forms H2S and did not return to the condensed phase.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998.<br>Trademark symbol follows Chemchar in title. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 130). Also available on the Internet.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo a identificação da melhor rota para a produção de combustíveis e derivados sintéticos através do desenvolvimento e aplicação de uma ferramenta metodológica desenvolvida tendo como base ferramentas da qualidade: diagrama de afinidade, diagrama de relações e matriz causa-efeito. Estes diagramas foram adaptados para a análise e discussão dos fatores positivos e negativos de cada item da tríade considerada: insumo-processo-produto. A partir desta análise foram criadas as matrizes de causa-efeito, também separadas em fatores positivos e negativos para os insumos: gás natural (GN), biomassa e carvão mineral; para os processos: produção de gás de síntese (syngas) a partir do GN, gaseificação do carvão e a gaseificação da biomassa; e para os produtos: óleo lubrificante, óleo diesel, nafta, metanol e amônia. A análise destas matrizes causa-efeito gerou a matriz final, denominada matriz saldo, que permitiu a seleção da rota mais adequada para a produção de combustíveis e derivados sintéticos. Dentre os insumos estudados, o gás natural apresentou evidentes vantagens e, consequentemente, o processo a ser utilizado deve ser a produção do syngas a partir do GN, e dentre os produtos o metanol apresentou maiores benefícios para ser produzido.<br>This paper aims to present to identify of the best route for the production of fuels and synthetic derivatives through the development and application of a methodological tool based on quality tools: affinity diagram, relations diagram and matrices cause-effect. The diagrams have been adapted for the analysis and discussion of positive and negative factors of each item of the triad considered: feedstock-process-product. From the analysis, matrices of cause and effect were created and also, separated into positive and negative factors for the inputs: natural gas (NG), biomass and coal; for the processes: production of synthesis gas (syngas) from GN, coal gasification and biomass gasification; and for the products: lubricating oil, diesel fuel, naphtha, methanol and ammonia. The analysis of cause-effect matrices generated the final matrix, named balance matrix, which allowed the selection of the most suitable route for the production of fuels and synthetic derivatives. Among the input studied, NG presented remarkable advantages among the others. Therefore, the process to be used should be the production of syngas from NG. Among the products considered, methanol showed the best benefits to be produced.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering Johannesburg, 29 August 2016<br>This study discusses underground coal gasification (UCG) and the analysis thereof. Two main methods were used. The first is the Bond Equivalent Diagram, which gives an ideal of where operations should take place in relation to their coal and product gas compositions. This method was used to analyze several real life sites for their idealized and actual operations. The second consisted of a comparative exergy simulation study. This was done for an air-blown UCG plant with a downstream Fischer-Tropsch reactor and an oxygen-blown UCG plant with upstream air separation. The plants were analyzed by their overall exergy efficiency as well as their exergy outputs with respect to coal inputs (fuel). It was discovered that the air-blown simulation with downstream Fischer-Tropsch was the better choice from an exergy point of view due to it having higher efficiencies (1.5 for overall, 1.38 for fuel) as opposed to the oxygen-blown simulation (0.77 overall, 0.8 for fuel). This coupled with other design and safety factors led to the conclusion that the air-blown simulation was better.<br>MT2017

Thesis (M.S.)--University of New Orleans, 2004.<br>Title from electronic submission form. "A thesis ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Department of Mechanical Engineering."--Thesis t.p. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) is the most environmentally friendly coal-fired power generation technology that offers near zero green house gas emissions. This technology has higher thermal efficiency compared to conventional coal-fired power generation plants and uses up to 50% less water. This work involves the optimization of IGCC power plants by applying process integration techniques to maximize the use of energy available within the plant. The basis of this project was the theoretical investigations which showed that optimally designed and operated IGCC plants can achieve overall thermal efficiencies in the regions of 60%. None of the current operating IGCC plants approach this overall thermal efficiency, with the largest capacity plant attaining 47%. A common characteristic in most of these IGCC plants is that an appreciable amount of energy available within the system is lost to the environment through cold utility, and through plant irreversibility to a smaller extent. This work focuses on the recovery of energy, that is traditionally lost as cold utility, through application of proven process integration techniques. The methodology developed comprises of two primary energy optimization techniques, i.e. pinch analysis and the contact economizer system. The idea behind using pinch analysis was to target for the maximum steam flowrate, which will in turn improve the power output of the steam turbine. An increase in the steam turbine power output should result in an increase in the overall thermal efficiency of the plant. The contact economizer system is responsible for the recovery of low potential heat from the gas turbine exhaust en route to the stack to heat up the boiler feed water (BFW). It was proven in this work that a higher BFW enthalpy results in a higher overall efficiency of the plant. A case study on the Elcogas plant illustrated that the developed method is capable of increasing the gross efficiency from 47% to 55%. This increase in efficiency, however, comes at an expense of increased heat exchange area required to exchange the extra heat that was not utilized in the preliminary design.<br>Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2011.<br>Chemical Engineering<br>unrestricted

碩士<br>國立中央大學<br>化學工程與材料工程研究所<br>96<br>The raw gas produced from boiler which generates electricity by burning pulverized coal, after passing through gas clean up system and water gas-shift reactor, becomes the syngas with main components nitrogen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Hydrogen can be used as a fuel of fuel cells. Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas which creates the greenhouse effect. For energy and environment consideration, it is important to separate these two components and to handle them separately. Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a simple, economical and effective gas separating method. For purifying the hydrogen and carbon dioxide form syngas, this study plans to develop a PSA system by using numerical simulation method. The simulation includes two stages. We want to handle the syngas which contains 10% nitrogen, 50% carbon dioxide and 40% hydrogen by using several process and adsorbent. After confirming the accuracy of the simulation program, we design the equipment and process for two-stage PSA system. The operating condition and scale of the device are based on the components of syngas and feed flowrate. For stages 1 H2-PSA process, we use zeolite 5A and activated carbon as the adsorbent in order to concentrate the purity of hydrogen to 99% (recovery 80%). Stage 2 is CO2-PSA process, which is used to concentrate carbon dioxide from stage 1, and utilizes zeolite 13X as the adsorbent in order to concentrate the carbon dioxide purity to 90% (recovery 80%). The optimal operating conditions is obtained by changing the operating variables, such as feed pressure, adsorber length and step time. The simulation results get basic information for the after-IGCC factory design in future project.

碩士<br>淡江大學<br>化學工程與材料工程學系碩士班<br>99<br>In this thesis, we focus mainly on the chemical process synthesis and design of separation of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide of waste acid gas from a coal-gasification plant. This study considered two cases: Case 1, this is the DEPG, dimethyl ethers of polyethylene glycol, as absorbent to capture the acid gas process. Case 2, this is the methanol as absorbent. In order to get accurate simulation of acid gas absorption, two cases are both completed by the latest thermodynamic property model—PC-SAFT EOS of the Aspen Plus software. The next, the demand of energy and the cost of two processes that through the pinch technology for the analysis of heat exchanger network are compared with/without the heat integration. Finally, from an economical point of view, we compared the advantages and disadvantages of two processes. In both cases, acid gas was dealt with about 400,000 tonnes per year and design goals are the purity of 99 mol% separation of carbon dioxide and the purity of 90 mol% hydrogen sulfide. Simulation results show that the two cases more than this design goals. Two kinds of software were utilized in the research—Aspen Plus and SuperTarget. The former was used to carry out the process synthesis, design, and simulation; the latter was used to implement the pinch analysis and the synthesis of heat exchanger network.

The pulp and paper industry uses pulping chemicals for the treatment of bagasse, straw and wood chips. Spent liquor or effluent liquor, with high carbon content is produced and sent to chemical recovery to recover pulping chemicals. In addition, energy from the spent liquor is recovered and utilised to generate steam for electricity supply, thereby reducing fossil fuel power consumption. Spent liquor is destroyed using conventional incineration technology, in a recovery furnace or recovery boiler, which is the heart of chemical recovery. These units have over the past few decades been prone to numerous problems and are a major concern to the pulp and paper industry. They pose a threat to the environment, are expensive to maintain and constitute a safety hazard. Thus the pulp and paper industry is now looking at a replacement technology; an alternative that will effectively regenerate pulping chemicals and recover energy for generating electricity, ultimately to make the plant energy self-sufficient. Gasification technology may be the chosen technology but is yet to be applied to the pulp and paper sector. However, this technology is not new. It has been integrated and used successfully in the petroleum industry for decades, with applications in coal mining and the mineral industry. The overall objective of tills study is to develop a better understanding of gasification using a pilot-scale fluidised bed reactor which was designed and developed at the University of Natal. The reactor, "the Gasifier", is operated at temperatures below the smelt limits of inorganic salts (<750°C) in the spent liquor. In this investigation, spent liquor is injected directly into an inert bed of alwninium oxide grit, which is fluidised by superheated steam. The atomized liquor immediately dries when it contacts the grit in the bed, pyrolyses and the organic carbon is gasified by steam. Pyrolysis and steam gasification reactions are endothennic and require heat. Oxidised sulphur species are partially reduced by reaction with gasifier products, which principally consist of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The reduced sulphur is said to be unstable in the gasifier environment, and reacts with steam and carbon dioxide to form solid sodium carbonate and gaseous hydrogen sulphide. (Rockvam, 2001). The focus of this study will be to determine the Gasifier's ability to gasify spent liquor, from soda and sulphite pulping of bagasse, at different operating conditions. In addition, the fate of process and non-process elements will be investigated. The product gas generated in the gasification of spent soda and sulphite liquors consisted of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane. In the gasification of spent sulphjte liquor, hydrogen sulphide was also produced. The water-gas shift reaction, which was the main reaction, was found to be temperature dependent. In adilition, organic carbon conversion increased with temperature. Furthermore, most of the sulphur in the bed predominated in the form of hydrogen sulphide with very little sulphur in the form of sulphate. This indicated that gasification would reduce sulphate levels, which are responsible for dead load in a chemical recovery cycle. Finally, an important result was that the aluminium oxide grit was successfully coated. It was previously speculated that this would not be possible.<br>Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

The “Integrated Coal Gasification Combined Cycle” (IGCC) represents an advanced approach for green field projects for power generation. This process requires separation of carbon dioxide from the shifted-synthesis gas mixture (fuel gas). Treated fuel gas consists of approximately 40% CO2 and rest H2. Gas hydrate based separation technology for hydrate forming gas mixtures is one of the novel approaches for gas separation. The present study illustrates the gas hydrate-based separation process for the recovery of CO2 and H2 from the fuel gas mixture and discusses relevant issues from macro and molecular level perspectives. Propane (C3H8) is used as an additive to reduce the operating pressure for hydrate formation and hence the compression costs. Based on gas uptake measurement during hydrate formation, a hybrid conceptual process for pre-combustion capture of CO2 is presented. The result shows that it is possible to separate CO2 from hydrogen and obtain a hydrate phase with 98% CO2 in two stages starting from a mixture of 39.2% CO2. Molecular level work has also been performed on CO2/H2 and CO2/H2/C3H8 systems to understand the mechanism by which propane reduces the operating pressure without compromising the separation efficiency.

Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden die ausgekoppelten Rückstände einer stoffgeführten Veredelungskette zur stofflichen Nutzung von Braunkohle charakterisiert, welche aus den Wandlungsstufen Extraktion mit Toluol, Niedertemperaturkonversion (katalytische Pyrolyse und Reaktivextraktion mit superkritischen Lösungsmitteln) und Vergasung besteht. Schwerpunktmäßig wurde die Vergasungsreaktivität der Rückstände untersucht, da sie in der letzten Prozessstufe der Vergasung zugeführt werden. Die Variabilität der Reaktivität der Ausgangsstoffe diente hierzu als Maßstab zur Bewertung der Vergasungsreaktivität der Rückstände der Prozesskette. Im Rahmen der Charakterisierung wurden charakteristische Stoffeigenschaften identifiziert, welche die Vergasungsreaktivität der betrachteten Rohstoffe primär beeinflussen. Dazu zählen die Aromatizität und die Aschezusammensetzung. Auf dieser Basis wurden die Rückstände der Prozesskette bewertet und interpretiert. Es wurden verschiedene experimentelle Methoden (zwei Thermowaagen und ein Festbettverssuchstand) verwendet und gegenseitig validiert. Daneben wurde geprüft, ob die Reaktivität einer Mischung, bestehend aus den Rückständen der Prozesskette, aus den Reaktivitäten der Einzelkomponenten vorausberechnet werden kann und drei Grenzfälle abgeleitet. Basierend auf den im Rahmen der Arbeit generierten konsistenten Datensätzen wurde ein halbempirisches Modell zur Vorausberechnung der Vergasungsreaktivität von Braunkohlen und deren Veredelungsprodukten hergeleitet. Das Modell berücksichtigt die Zusammensetzung der organischen Substanz sowie die Zusammensetzung der anorganischen Substanz einer Kohleprobe und wurde unter Einbezug weiterer Kohleproben erfolgreich validiert.