Development of Coal Partial Gasification and Combustion System

Biomass and sewage sludge are attracting increasing interest in power plant technology as a source of carbon dioxide-neutral fuels. A new way to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels could be the co-combustion or co-gasification of coal and biomass or coal and sewage sludge. In both cases, pyrolysis is the first step in the technical process. In order to obtain detailed information about the pyrolysis of coal/biomass and coal/sewage sludge mixtures as well as unblended fuels, the ‘Institut für Verfahrenstechnik und Dampfkesselwesen (IVD)’ at the University of Stuttgart has carried out investigations using an electrically heated entrained flow reactor. One application of substitution of fossil fuels could be the utilization of pyrolysis gas or gas generated in a gasification process as a reburn fuel in conventional boilers fired with fossil fuels. Investigation showed that generated gas from coal, biomass and sewage sludge pyrolysis and gasification have high NOx reduction efficiencies compared to methane or low calorific gases using it as a reburn fuel in coal fired boilers. In order to take advantage of this pretreatment process the release of organic as well as of mineral compounds during the pyrolysis or gasification has to be investigated. For coal pyrolysis and gasification the reactions are known since there was a lot of research all over the world. Biomass or sewage sludge have other structures compared to fossil fuels and contain alkali, chlorine and other problematic compounds, like heavy metals. The release of those elements and of the organic matter has to be investigated to characterize the gas and the residual char. The optimum process parameters regarding the composition of the generated gas and the residual char have to be found out. The IVD has studied the co-pyrolysis of biomass and sewage sludge together with a high volatile hard coal. The main parameters to be investigated were the temperature of the pyrolysis reactor (400°C–1200°C) and the coal/biomass and coal/sewage sludge blends. Besides co-pyrolysis experiments test runs with unmixed main fuels were carried out with the hard coal, straw as biomass, and a sewage sludge. It was expected that the high reactivity of biomass and sewage sludge would have an effect on the product composition during co-pyrolysis. The test runs provided information about fuel conversion efficiency, pyrolysis gas and tar yield, and composition of pyrolysis gas and tar. Besides gas and tar analysis investigations regarding the path of trace elements, like heavy metals, alkali, chlorine and nitrogen components, during the pyrolysis process varying different parameters have been carried out. The fuel nitrogen distribution between pyrolysis gas, tar and char has been analyzed as well as the ash composition and thus the release of mineral components during pyrolysis. Increasing reaction temperatures result in a higher devolatilization for all fuels. Biomass shows a devolatilization of up to 80% at high temperatures. Hard coal shows a weight toss of approx. 50% at same temperatures. Sewage sludge devolatilizes also up to 50%, which is nearly a total release of organic matter, because of the high ash content of about 50% in sewage sludge. Gaseous hydrocarbons have a production maximum at about 800°C reaction temperature for all feedstocks. Carbon monoxide and hydrogen are increasingly formed at high pyrolysis temperatures due to gasification reactions. Mineral elements are released during straw pyrolysis, but within the hot gas filtration unit further recombination reactions and condensation of elements on panicles take place. There is no release of mineral elements during sewage sludge pyrolysis and only a slight release of heavy metals at high pyrolysis temperatures. The effect of co-pyrolysis depends on the feedstocks used in association with the panicle size. The co-pyrolysis test runs showed that a synergetic effect exists when using sewage sludge and hard coal. There is a higher char production related to the unmixed fuels; gas and tar formation are lowered. Co-pyrolysis test runs with biomass and coal did not show this effect on the pyrolysis products. Reasons for this behaviour could be a difference in particle size and material structure which influences the devolatilization velocity of the fuels used or the relatively short residence time in the entrained flow reactor. It seems possible that coal pyrolysis is influenced by the reaction atmosphere, generated in co-pyrolysis. In the co-pyrolysis of coal and sewage sludge, the sludge degases much faster than coal because of the structure of sewage sludge and its small panicle. The coal pyrolysis taking place afterwards in the reaction tube occurs in a different atmosphere, compared to the mono-pyrolysis experiments. The devolatilization of coal in the co-pyrolysis experiments together with straw was not disturbed by the gaseous products of straw pyrolysis, because the large straw particles showed a delayed degasing compared to the coal particles.

This study investigates the influence mechanism of key factors on the heating value of syngas during underground coal gasification (UCG) and proposes an optimization path for enhanced energy conversion efficiency based on typical global field test data. Integrating data review and pattern analysis, it systematically explores the influence of core factors, including coal seam characteristics, reactor structure, and gasification agent ratio. It is found that the relationship between syngas heating value and coal rank is not simply linear, with representative heating values ranging from 4.13 to 11.96 MJ/m3. Medium-rank coal, characterized by “medium volatile matter and low ash content”, yields high-heating-value syngas when paired with air/steam as the gasification agent. Shaftless reactor structures demonstrate superior overall performance compared to shaft-based designs, with the representative heating value improving from 3.83 MJ/m3 to 7.8 MJ/m3. The combination of U-shaped horizontal wells with the Controlled Retracting Injection Point (CRIP) technology improves the heating value. Effective control over the syngas heating value can be achieved by optimized composition and ratio of the gasification agent, with representative value of 9.10 MJ/m3 in oxygen-enriched steam gasification compared to 4.28 MJ/m3 in air gasification. Based on an evaluation of data fluctuation characteristics, the significance ranking of the factors is as follows: gasification agent, coal rank, and reactor structure. Consequently, an engineering optimization path for enhancing UCG syngas heating value is proposed: prioritize optimizing the composition and ratio of the gasification agent as the primary means of heating value control; on this basis, rationally select coal rank resources, focusing on process compatibility to mitigate performance fluctuations; and then incorporate advanced reactor structures to construct a synergistic and efficient gasification system. This research can provide theoretical support and data references for engineering site selection, process design, and operational control of UCG projects.

Study on pulverized coal gasification using waste heat from high temperature blast furnace slag particles

Effect of operating conditions in Chemical-Looping Combustion of coal in a 500 Wth unit

Comparison of a pilot scale gasification installation performance when air or oxygen is used as gasification medium 1. Tars and gaseous hydrocarbons formation

To reduce the oxygen production cost in the coal gasification process and to utilize the CO2 , this study presents a novel technique based on coal gasification integrated with chemical looping air separation (CLAS) by thermodynamic methods. CLAS offers an advantage over the other mature technologies in that it can significantly reduce its capital cost with about less than 40-60% operating costs of conventional oxygen production technologies, while recycling CO2 separated from gasification gas by CCS could not only promote oxygen production (oxygen uncoupling) of CLAS, but also enhance the coal gasification process by boudouard reaction. The thermodynamic performances, as the conversion of metal oxides (Mn2 O3 /Mn3 O4 ) during oxidation and reduction process, gasification gaseous compositions and cold gas efficiency (η) were the main subject of focus. The effects of three key variables, as air flow rate, reduction temperature, and recycling CO2 ratio (β) were investigated. Highlights: 1. The chemical looping air separation is providing oxygen and steam as gasification agents to coal gasification process. 2. CO2 is getting full used by acting as inert component and also as coal gasification agent.

Influence of volatile-char interaction time on the evolution of reducing and nitrogen containing components during coal partial gasification

Thermodynamic optimization of biomass gasification for decentralized power generation and Fischer–Tropsch synthesis

Conversion of pulverized coal in a two-stage gasifier is studied. When considering carbon capture power plants, mixtures of oxygen with carbon dioxide may be used as a gasification agent. Carbon dioxide is a gasification agent, so characteristics of the gasification process change significantly compared to gasification in oxygen-nitrogen mixtures. The conversion efficiency is determined by the thermophysical factor (change in the heat capacity of the gas mixture and transfer coefficients) and the concentration factor (increase in the concentration of the gaseous reagent). The ratio of primary and secondary fuel consumption determines the leading stage of the process. The influence of process efficiency on oxygen concentration is estimated in the range of 21–30 vol. %.

Investigation into biochar supported Fe-Mo carbides catalysts for efficient biomass gasification tar cracking

Manganese and ceria sorbents for high temperature sulfur removal from biomass-derived syngas – The impact of steam on capacity and sorption mode

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVArticleNEXTH2S Removal from Coal Gas at Elevated Temperature and Pressure in Fluidized Bed with Zinc Titanate Sorbents. 1. Cyclic TestsWahab Mojtahedi and Javad AbbasianCite this: Energy Fuels 1995, 9, 3, 429–434Publication Date (Print):May 1, 1995Publication History Published online1 May 2002Published inissue 1 May 1995https://doi.org/10.1021/ef00051a006RIGHTS & PERMISSIONSArticle Views287Altmetric-Citations29LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InReddit PDF (3 MB) Get e-Alerts Get e-Alerts

Coal oxidation and calcium loading on oxidized coal

Energy conversion and utilization, particularly carbon-based fuel burning in air phase, have caused great environmental pollution and serious problems to society. The reactions in water phase may have the potential to realize clean and efficient energy conversion and utilization. Coal gasification in supercritical water is a typical carbon-based fuel conversion process in water phase, and it takes the advantages of the unique chemical and physical properties of supercritical water to convert organic matter in coal to H2 and CO2. N, S, P, Hg and other elements are deposited as inorganic salts to avoid pollution emission. The State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering has obtained extensive experimental and theoretical results based on coal gasification in supercritical water. Supercritical water fluidized bed reactor was developed for coal gasification and seven kinds of typical feedstock were selected. The hydrogen yield covers from 0.67 to 1.74 Nm3/kg and the carbon gasification efficiency is no less than 97%. This technology has a bright future in industrialization not only in electricity generation but also in hydrogen production and high value-added chemicals. Given the gas yield obtained in laboratory-scale unit, the hydrogen production cost is U.S.$ 0.111 Nm3 when the throughput capacity is 2000 t/d. A novel thermodynamic cycle power generation system based on coal gasification in supercritical water was proposed with the obvious advantages of high coal-electricity conversion efficiency and zero pollutant emission. The cost of U.S.$ 3.69 billion for desulfuration, denitration and dust removal in China in 2013 would have been saved with this technology. Five kinds of heat supply methods are analyzed and the rates of return of investment are roughly estimated. An integrated cooperative innovation center called a new type of high-efficient coal gasification technology and its large-scale utilization was founded to enhance the industrialization of the technology vigorously.

Impact of temperature and fuel-nitrogen content on fuel-staged combustion with coal pyrolysis gas