Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: http://pia.sagepub.

com/ Journal of Power and Energy

A simple process modelling for a dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasifier

H Lee, S Choi and M Paek Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy 2011 225: 74 DOI: 10.1177/2041296710394249 The online version of this article can be found at: http://pia.sagepub.com/content/225/1/74

Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com

On behalf of:

Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Additional services and information for Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy can be found at: Email Alerts: http://pia.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://pia.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations: http://pia.sagepub.com/content/225/1/74.refs.html

>> Version of Record - Feb 1, 2011 What is This?

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013

74

A simple process modelling for a dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasier

H Lee1 , S Choi1 , and M Paek2 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Yuseong-Gu, Republic of Korea 2 Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd, Republic of Korea The manuscript was received on 20 April 2010 and was accepted after revision for publication on 9 September 2010. DOI: 10.1177/2041296710394249

Abstract: A dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasier was numerically modelled by simultaneously solving the rate equations for chemical reactions of the solid and gas phases. This model describes simplied physical and chemical processes in the entrained bed coal gasier. Chemical reaction processes for coal gasication and combustion are considered along with the simplied gas ow passage in the reactor, so that progress of reactions at the designated spatial location is represented. Gasication phenomena of coal particles were separated into devolatilization, gas-phase, and solid-phase reactions. Coal gasier geometry was simplied to a pseudo-two-dimensional (pseudo-2D) reactor model based on the 1D plug ow concept. The dimension in the pseudo2D model was conceptually divided by considering the recirculation effect. As a result, carbon conversion, cold gas efciency, and temperature distribution were obtained at variable oxygen to coal mass ratio, steam to coal mass ratio, and operating pressure. Operating conditions could be appropriately controlled by knowing the degree of reaction in the reactor. Keywords: coal gasication, entrained bed coal gasier, process analysis, chemical kinetics

INTRODUCTION

A coal integrated gasication combined cycle (IGCC) is a power cycle based on coal gasication technology. It is known that the net efciency of the IGCC is higher than that of the conventional pulverized coal power plant, and white emissions, such as SOx and NOx , are sufciently removed. The coal gasier is probably the most important unit among IGCC components. The gasier converts coal into combustible syngas, including CO and H2 , at high-temperature and high-pressure conditions. Since the performance of the gasier directly affects the following units of the IGCC, such as purier of pollutant, gas turbine, and steam turbine, operating the gasier is an essential technology. Although entrained bed coal gasiers have become available through a number of demonstration

Corresponding

author: Department of Mechanical Engineer-

ing, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 373-1, Guseong-Dong, Yuseong-Gu, Republic of Korea. email: hookyung@kaist.ac.kr
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part A: J. Power and Energy

projects, information on the commercial coal gasier is restricted. Therefore, an independent attempt to accumulate technical understanding is required because of the insufciency of open information. Previously, there has been some research on modelling the entrained bed coal gasier. Govind and Shah [1] developed a mathematical model to simulate a Texaco down-ow entrained bed pilot plant gasier. Ni and Williams [2] suggested a multivariable model for a Shell coal gasier on the basis of equilibrium, mass, and energy balances. Vamvuka et al. [3] developed a one-dimensional (1D), steady-state model based on mass and energy balances, heterogeneous reaction rates, and homogeneous gas-phase equilibrium. Chen et al. [4] developed a comprehensive 3D computational uid dynamics (CFD) simulation model. Approaches to modelling the entrained bed coal gasier are mainly classied into two ways based on research objectives: one is solving the chemical equilibrium state of reactants at given conditions and the other is CFD analysis. The equilibrium state of chemical reactants is meaningful because the reactions move towards the equilibrium state eventually. Equilibrium calculation can be used if research

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013

A simple process modelling for a dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasier

75

objectives are to obtain the performance of the reactor. The results can be regarded as an indication of the theoretical limits of gasication. On the other hand, uid ow as heat transfer can be interpreted by CFD analysis. CFD analysis provides results for the prediction of uid ow in the gasier with considerations of reactor geometry and operating conditions. The purpose of this study is to develop a model that could analyse chemical reaction processes in the gasier as a function of oxygen to coal mass ratio, steam to coal mass ratio, and operating pressure. This article shows a different approach compared with the previous equilibrium model or CFD analysis. It is intended that one develop reaction models in the entrained ow gasiers for designing and/or scaling up, as the available basic experimental data on phenomena in a high-temperature and pressurized gasier can be utilized [5]. As chemical reaction processes in terms of coal gasication and combustion are interpreted along with gasier height, the degree of reaction is obtained at variable operating conditions. For process analysis, simple chemical kinetics in terms of coal reaction is considered. As a result, it is possible to investigate the properties distribution along with the reactor. Visual Basic 6.0 code was used to write in-house codes. 2 A DRY-FEEDING ENTRAINED BED COAL GASIFIER

Fig. 1

Rough sketch of Shell a gasier and schematic of a simplied gasier model

Basic conditions of the model gasier for 300 MWe power generation
Value 17231873 K 4.2 MPa Circling up ow Slagging type Coal Dry-feeding Transport gas Nitrogen Oxidant (purity 95 vol%) Oxygen blown Coal 2450 tonnes/day Oxygen/coal mass ratio Steam/coal mass ratio Nitrogen/coal mass ratio Volume Height 0.75 0.05 0.112 50 m3 9m

Table 1

Operating condition Average temperature Average pressure Flow direction Ash extraction Feeding type Basic feedstock owrate

An entrained bed coal gasier is a representative gasier type used in coal IGCC plants. There is a national project for 300 MWe IGCC demonstration plant construction. Korea selected a Shell-type gasier, a dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasier with up-ow of feedstock, which can achieve high carbon conversion within short residence times. The residence time of coal particles and other gases is about 34 s [6]. The operating condition of the dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasier is on average 1800 K temperature and 4.2 MPa pressure, and ashes are extracted as molten format (slag) from the bottom. In this study, a simplied geometry of the gasier is described, as shown in Fig. 1. In this gasier, mixed oxygen and steam are introduced simultaneously from four burners at the lower wall of the reactor. At the same time, pulverized coal and nitrogen as transport gas are introduced from the same burners in partial oxidation condition. Coal and nitrogen are injected into the gasier through the centre hole of the burners, while a mixture of oxygen and steam is blown in through surrounding holes of the burner. The pulverized coal is mixed with limestone to lower the melting point of the ash in order to improve the slag discharge. Therefore, four diametrically opposed burners are fed simultaneously with a coallimestone blend transported by

Gasier dimension

nitrogen and an oxygensteam mixture at 423 K temperature. Table 1 shows the basic conditions of the subject gasier for 300 MWe power generation. The values were suggested by Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company. 3 3.1 MODELLING Gasier geometry

The specic dimension of the gasier is unknown because of a condential affair. Therefore, the geometry of the gasier is inevitably simplied. The real coal gasier is a 3D reactor including slag bath, complex burner geometry, and water membrane. As reactive heat is released, the heat is not regularly transferred to the wall because of radiation between heterogeneous coal particles. In addition, swirl ow makes the phenomena very complex. Therefore, a 3D model should be made for a detailed modelling of the gasier. However, it is inefcient to make the 3D model from the point of process analysis because heat
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part A: J. Power and Energy

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013

76

H Lee, S Choi, and M Paek

and mass transferred across the reactor radially are generally more dominant than that along with the reactor axially. If the distribution of the feedstocks is homogeneous over the gasier, 1D or 2D modelling is appropriate. This concept is based on the experimental results in pilot scale [4, 7]. In this study, gasier geometry is simplied to a steady-state pseudo-2D reactor model in stages. Figure 2 shows a simplied schematic of the pseudo-2D reactor model based on the CFD analysis result in the Shell gasier, as shown in Fig. 3 [8]. From the simulation with the CFD code, FLUENT , information about scale and passage of uid ow

in the reactor is obtained, including the recirculation pattern [8]. Therefore, the simplied ow pattern is described based on rough assumptions in the pseudo-2D model. The geometry in the coal gasier is conceptually divided into ve sections, (A) burner zone, (B) upper recirculation zone, (C) lower recirculation zone, (D) axial ow zone, and (E) dead zone, based on ow pattern as shown in Fig. 3. However, the mixed feedstocks ow as 1D plug ow in sequence as indicated in Fig. 2 and in each designated section of the pseudo-2D model through 2D effective crosssection of each zone. Feedstocks are introduced into the gasier through the two burners. It is assumed that feedstocks are homogeneously and perfectly mixed. If introduced ow reaches the central axis of the gasier through each burner of diameter 12 cm, the ow is separated into two ows. One is upper ow of 90 per cent and the other is lower ow of 10 per cent based on gas volume. They are recirculated in the upper and lower parts of the gasier, respectively. Since the path of the recirculation is known by CFD analysis, recirculation time can be calculated by using the rate equations for modelling coal gasication. After the ow is recirculated in the upper and lower parts, they meet together at the central axis and then the ow goes to the gasier exit. A uniform heat loss rate of 10 per cent in the burner zone and 3 per cent to the wall in the other zones is assumed [9]. 3.2 Coal gasication

Fig. 2 Conceptual divisions in the pseudo-2D reactor model

Understanding coal behaviour is critical in designing and operating the gasier. However, modelling coal gasication and combustion behaviour is not a simple task in terms of fundamental and theoretical description, and also in terms of a practical and predictive model of any meaning. It is possible to model coal gasication and combustion based on rough assumptions concerning physical and chemical processes. Volatiles are released from coal in a short period of time (in millisecond order) at high temperatures around 1800 K; on the other hand, the reaction rate of solid-phase reactions is relatively slower (in second order). Therefore, the complex reactive behaviour of coal can be divided into three steps by the difference of reaction rate in terms of devolatilization, heterogeneous reaction at solid particle surfaces, and homogeneous reaction of various gaseous components. Analysis data of design coal for this study are given in Table 2, but
Table 2 Analysis data of design coal
Proximate analysis (wt%, air dry) Fixed carbon Volatile matter Moisture Ash HHV (cal/g) 49.25 38.76 2.06 9.93 6925

Ultimate analysis (wt%, mf ) C H O N S 70.65 4.94 22.71 0.66 1.04

Fig. 3

Recirculation zone based on CFD analysis [8]

Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part A: J. Power and Energy

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013

A simple process modelling for a dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasier

77

the terminology of volatile matter and xed carbon is poorly dened. Interrelation among ultimate analysis, proximate analysis, and the heating value is not clear. In this study, however, proximate analysis means that the quantity of xed carbon is equal to that of char and volatiles are evolved as 38.76 per cent of input coal mass except for an inherent moisture of 2 per cent in coal. 3.2.1 Devolatilization

The importance of coal devolatilization as the initial step in coal conversion makes its understanding essential in the optimization of processes [10]. Volatile matter is composed of many complex substances. The composition of volatiles is not arbitrary, as it depends on the composition of original coal. If the components are assumed, they will remain on state of CX HY OZ based on mass balance. It is difcult to distinguish components of the volatiles easily. There is some experimental research for devolatilization. The effects of pressure, temperature, and particle size on the yield of products were interpreted [1013]. As a result, the main factors that inuence pyrolysis are heating rate and peak temperature in the reactor. However, there is no general theory to predict the behaviour expected for the wide variety of coals and conditions of interest. Complicated structures and physical and chemical phenomena of the coal reaction are a part of the reason. In this study, the components of volatiles were assumed to be CO, CO2 , CH4 , C2 H6 , H2 , H2 O, and C6 H6 . The mass of liquid hydrocarbons is represented by benzene (C6 H6 ) [14]. The kinetics of individual product formation is modelled using independent, parallel reactions, and is rst order in the amount of product yet to be formed. Equation (1) is the rst-order rate equation for modelling devolatilization dVi = dt kij 0 exp
i

based on a kinetic reaction, including an intermediate mechanism. It is difcult to consider the kinetics of all intermediate reactions for one chemical reaction. In this study, a simple global reaction was considered. It is appropriate to consider the global reaction because it has the advantage of simulating the overall coal reaction rate by considering many chemical reactions. Equation (2) is the rate equation for modelling the homogeneous reaction. The reaction rate is proportional to the concentration of reactants in the gas-phase reactions E d[X ] = Ai exp dt RTg 3.2.3 [X ]a [Y ]b (2)

Heterogeneous reaction

There are two kinds of representative reaction rate equations: nth-order and LangmuirHinshelwoodtype reaction rate equations [15]. In this study, the nth-order reaction rate was applied to describe the heterogeneous reaction. It is assumed that the overall char reaction rate is proportional to the nth power of partial pressure of the gasifying agent and follows the Arrhenius equation. Equation (3) is the rate equation for modelling the heterogeneous reaction dx E n exp = A0 PA dt RTs (1 x ) 1 ln(1 x ) (3) In modelling the solid-phase reaction, it is common to consider the chemical reaction as occurring on internal surfaces of the solid, but an estimate of the surface area of the char is very difcult because of a large amount of micro-pores. The random pore model was applied to describe the gasication model for arbitrary pore size distributions in the reacting solid [16]. It predicts the reaction surface area at a given conversion as a function of an initial pore structure parameter. In this modelling, the pore structure parameters were assumed as values in the literature [7, 17]. If the value of the pore structure parameter is zero, this means that the char is very porous. A larger value of the pore structure parameter means that the pore in the char grows with the progress of char gasication. Although many chemical reactions occur in the gasier, dominant chemical reactions were considered as shown in Table 3. The important reason why these reactions were selected is that rate constants had been specied in the open literature [7, 14, 15, 17]. Since kinetics should be considered over homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions, it is necessary to know kinetic data such as pre-exponential factor A and activation energy E . They are constitutive terms that represent the rate of each chemical reaction in the Arrhenius equation. The pre-exponential factor is the total number of molecular collisions per unit time and activation energy is a minimum amount of energy
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part A: J. Power and Energy

Eij RT

Vij ) (Vij

(1)

A rst-order kinetics model of devolatilization has been shown to have limitations. Nevertheless, it has been found to give an adequate representation of hydrocarbon yield. A complete devolatilization model would describe the composition and physical state of the coal or char particles at all stages of devolatilization. However, the microscopic analysis is not important in the objectives predicting the process in the reactor. Therefore, a one-step mechanism was applied. This means that coal char + volatiles can be written after pyrolysis nishes. 3.2.2 Homogeneous reaction

There are generally two ways to model gas-phase reactions. One is based on a global reaction and the other is

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013

78

H Lee, S Choi, and M Paek

Table 3
Volatile component Devolatilization [14] H2 O CO CO2 C6 H6 CH4 C2 H6 H2 Chemical reaction Homogeneous reaction [14] CH4 + 1.5O2 CO + 2H2 O (519.5 kJ/mol) C2 H6 + 2.5O2 2CO + 3H2 O (862.4 kJ/mol) C6 H6 + 4.5O2 6CO + 3H2 O (1471.3 kJ/mol) CO + 0.5O2 CO2 (283.1 kJ/mol) H2 + 0.5O2 H2 O (242.0 kJ/mol) CO + H2 O CO2 + H2 (41.2 kJ/mol) Chemical reaction Heterogeneous reaction [7, 15, 17] C(s) + 0.5O2 CO (110.5 kJ/mol) C(s) + H2 O CO + H2 (+131.3 kJ/mol) C(s) + CO2 2CO (+172.5 kJ/mol) C(s) + 2H2 CH4 (74.6 kJ/mol)

Rate constants [7, 14, 15, 17]

E (kJ/mol) V (wt%)

kij 0 (s1 ) 1013 1011 109 1013 107 5 109 5 1010 Ai (s1 ) 2.8 109 7.31 109 1.35 109 2.238 1012 8.8 1012 2.75 1010 A0 (s1 ) 1.36 106 8.55 104 6.78 104 1.8 10

312 238 168 312 91 214 222 E (kJ/mol) 202.64 125.6 125.6 167.47 168 83.8 E (kJ/mol) 130 140 163 138 a 0.3 0.1 0.1 1 0.25 0.5 b 1.3 1.65 1.85 0.25 0.25 1 n 0.68 0.84 0.73 0.5 c

16.38 6.54 3.55 12.04 0.04 0.08 0.13

0.5 [H2 O]

14 3 3 3

CO + 0.5O2 CO2 reaction has an additional exponent constant c for H2 O concentration.

to be transformed into products. From the viewpoint of collision theory, it can be seen that either increasing the pre-exponential factor or decreasing the activation energy will result in an increase of reactivity. In kinetic data with respect to the coal reaction, it is ambiguous to have faith in that accuracy because the data vary according to experimental conditions and coal type. Nevertheless, available data in different literatures were applied to coal gasication and combustion reactions in this study. This may cause uncertainty. Table 3 represents the rate constants applied to the rate equations. Each of the rate equations is evaluated along with the associated kinetic data to model a reactor considering operating condition. By simultaneous calculation of the rate equations after devolatilization occurs, the gas component per unit time is calculated and then gas temperature is calculated based on the gas component at that time. The heat of reaction, produced or absorbed, from each chemical reaction and the heat capacity of mixed gas are used. The initial temperature of feedstocks is 423 K. Heat capacity coefcients are from the literature [18]. It is assumed that the temperature of coal particles is higher than that of gases [14]. The velocity of the mixture is obtained by considering mass owrate of the mixture, average density of the mixture, and an effective cross-section where reaction occurs. Equations (4) and (5) indicate the relations. They are based on the ideal gas equation of state mix =
i

mix V =m

1 mix

1 Aeff

(5)

Mass and heat balance equations are obtained along with spatial location in the reactor. The phase is completely mixed after pyrolysis and each compartment is treated as a stirred tank reactor in the system. The number of moles of each species changes; however, total mass is conserved. As chemical reactions progress, heat is produced and absorbed because there are both exothermic and endothermic reactions. Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the mass and heat balances. Equations (6) and (7) show the mass balance and equation (8) shows the heat balance. Based on the assumptions, mass and heat balance equations are set up for each control volume as shown by (refer to Fig. 4) Gas phase (Wg,i )n+1 (Wg,i )n =
j

(i,j rj )prod
j

(i,j rj )react

(6)

Solid phase (Ws )n+1 (Ws )n =

k

(s,k rk )

(7)

P ,mix Tg + Ws CP ,s Ts )n+1 (Wg,mix C P ,mix Tg + Ws CP ,s Ts )n (Wg,mix C = ( Hj )rj +

j k

P Xi Rg,i Tg

( Hk )rk Hloss,wall , (8)

(4)

where T0 = 423 K

Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part A: J. Power and Energy

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013

A simple process modelling for a dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasier

79

uncertainty. Since each time different kinetic data are measured in experiment, it is impossible to reect accurate kinetic characteristics for the coal reaction. However, if the equilibrium state is not considered, the rate constants are inevitably required. The quantication of the rate constants should be seriously debated. 3.3.2 Heat transfer

The heat transfer mechanism is very complex in the gasier. The most important thing is the heat transfer among coal particles. Coal particles emit strong light during the combustion process. Modelling the interactive heat transfer is very difcult. Since the gasier operates at high temperature around 1800 K, radiation is the dominant mechanism. Irregular heat transfer complexies the coal gasication and combustion phenomena. However, simple and uniform heat loss to the wall was considered in this study. It is one of the reasons to cause the uncertainty. 3.3.3 Turbulence and swirl

Fig. 4

Schematic diagram of mass and heat balances in nth control volume

The above equations mean a total heat balance on both solid and gas phases in each control volume. The specic heat of the gaseous mixture is
2 Tg + c T3 P ,mix (Tg ) = a +b Tg +d C g

Tangential ring burners make strong swirl ow in the gasier and turbulence complexies coal gasication and combustion phenomena. However, the turbulence was assumed to be neglected in this study. It may cause the uncertainty. If the turbulence is additionally modelled, it will affect the mixing of the chemical species and other phenomena. 3.3.4 Minor species

= a
i

CPa,i Yi CPb,i Yi
i

= b = c
i

CPc,i Yi CPd,i Yi
i

= d

Syngas at the gasier exit is introduced into the following clean-up system. The rst purier is a desulphurizer, so it is important to predict the quantity of the COS and H2 S species for operation of the sequential purier system. As these are minor species, the concentration is very low. In this study, sulphur was not considered, so the concentration of the minor species cannot be predicted. Since nitrogen is assumed as inert, the concentration of poisonous gas such as NH3 cannot be predicted. (9) 3.3.5 Volatile yield The yield of volatiles and their composition depend not only on the volatile matter content of raw coal but also on the operating conditions during pyrolysis [13, 19, 20]. A variety of gases have been found in the volatiles with the proportions of different gases dependent on coal chemistry and the conditions of devolatilization. Although devolatilization kinetics is being strongly inuenced by physical processes during coal decomposition, the devolatilization process is simplied as a one-step mechanism.
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part A: J. Power and Energy

3.3 3.3.1

Major uncertainty Rate constant

The kinetic data were adopted from different references [7], [14], [15], and [17]. These are the incoherent rate constants incorporated from different experimental conditions and coal types. This is a serious problem for application of chemical kinetics because the rate constants are sensitive to the experimental environment. Therefore, it is one of the reasons to cause the

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013

80

H Lee, S Choi, and M Paek

Cold Gas Efficiency (%)

The composition of volatiles was assumed to be constant for seven species. This will cause the uncertainty. 3.3.6 Coal particle size

75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 0 1 2 3 4 Gasifier Height (m) 5

The shape of all particles is different. Most particles are generally pulverized to 50300 m before they are introduced into the gasier. The reactivity is different because of the difference in particle size. As the chemical reactions progress, the size of the particles will become smaller and only ash will remain. In this study, all particles were assumed to a uniform and spherical coal particle size of 100 m.

0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9

6

Fig. 6

Effect of oxygen to coal ratio on cold gas efciency

0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9

RESULT

2400 2300 2200 Temperature (K) 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 0

As a result of modelling the pseudo-2D model, carbon conversion, cold gas efciency, and gas temperature along with the gasier were calculated

Carbon conversion (per cent) = 1 Carbon in gasication residue Carbon in feedstock 100

Cold gas effciency (per cent) Heating value in product gas CO, H2 , CH4 = Heating value in feedstock 100

Gasifier Height (m)

Fig. 7

Effect of oxygen to coal ratio on gas temperature

100

Carbon Conversion (%)

The results shown in Figs 5 to 13 are values at the axial ow zone 6 m in the gasier. The gasier height on the abscissa is the height after the coal passed by the burner zone, which explains why a non-zero value was recorded at zero height.

95 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gasifier Height (m)

0.01 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2

100 Carbon Converion (%) 90 80 70 60 50 0 1 2 3 4 Gasifier Height (m) 5 6

Fig. 8

Effect of steam to coal ratio on carbon conversion

0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9

4.1

Effect of oxygen to coal ratio

Fig. 5 Effect of oxygen to coal ratio on carbon conversion

Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part A: J. Power and Energy

The oxygen to coal mass ratio is one of the most important variables to inuence gasier performance because the oxygen-blown gasier strongly depends on the concentration of oxygen. The heat required for char + CO2 and char + H2 O gasication reactions is supplied by the combustion of volatiles. In this study,

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013

A simple process modelling for a dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasier

81

70 65 Cold Gas Efficiency (%) 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gasifier Height (m)

0.01 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Cold Gas Efficiency (%)

70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 0 1 2 3 4 Gasifier Height (m)

2MPa 3MPa 4MPa

Fig. 9

Effect of steam to coal ratio on cold gas efciency

Fig. 12

Effect of operating pressure on cold gas efciency

0.01

2100 2000 Temperature (K) 1900 1800 1700 1600 0 1 2 3 4 5

0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2

2400 2300 Temperature (K) 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800

2MPa 3MPa 4MPa

Gasifier Height (m)

Gasifier Height (m)

Fig. 10

Effect of steam to coal ratio on gas temperature

100 90

Fig. 13

Effect of operating pressure on gas temperature

80 70 60 50 40 30 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gasifier Height (m) 2MPa 3MPa 4MPa

Fig. 11

Effect of operating pressure on carbon conversion

the oxygen to coal ratio varies from 0.3 to 0.9 as a parameter at 4.2 MPa pressure and with a steam to coal ratio of 0.05. Figure 5 shows the effect of oxygen to coal ratio on carbon conversion. As the concentration of oxygen

increases, carbon conversion increases rapidly and reaches about 100 per cent at the gasier exit. As the concentration of oxygen decreases, on the other hand, the rate of increase of carbon conversion is lower and the value at the gasier exit is also small. If it operates at an oxygen to coal ratio of 0.9, a length of 5 m is enough. If it operates at an oxygen to coal ratio of 0.7, a reactor length of 6 m is appropriate, but all carbon components are not converted into gases. If it operates at an oxygen to coal ratio of 0.3, carbon conversion is very low because there is not enough oxygen to burn carbon. Therefore, as the concentration of oxygen increases, enough carbon conversion is obtained and reactor length shorter than 6 m is sufcient to get the maximum efciency at a given oxygen to coal ratio. Figure 6 shows the effect of oxygen to coal ratio on cold gas efciency. As the concentration of oxygen decreases, cold gas efciency is higher during the early stages of combustion and gasication because incomplete combustion takes place. However, the rate of increase does not last because there is not enough heat to make endothermic gasication reactions, such as
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part A: J. Power and Energy

Carbon Conversion (%)

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013

82

H Lee, S Choi, and M Paek

char + CO2 and char + H2 O, active. Maximum cold gas efciency is shown in the vicinity of an oxygen to coal ratio of 0.5. Meanwhile, as the concentration of oxygen increases, cold gas efciency decreases because of re-combustion of fuel gas, such as CO, H2 , and CH4 . Cold gas efciency is competing with carbon conversion on deciding the oxygen to coal ratio. Therefore, the criteria for operating objectives are needed. Figure 7 shows the effect of oxygen to coal ratio on gas temperature. As the oxygen to coal ratio increases, the total mass owrate is higher. Therefore, gases pass through the burner zone fast before the combustion of volatiles ends. As a result, the initial temperature in Fig. 7 is smaller as the oxygen to coal ratio increases, and combustion of fuel gases lasts by oxidation reaction of excess oxygen. Therefore, peak temperature is higher as the oxygen to coal ratio increases. In this case, the maximum cooling point may be high along with the reactor. 4.2 Effect of steam to coal ratio

The purpose of steam input is to protect the refractory from rising temperature and to raise hydrogen yield. In this study, the steam to coal ratio varies from 0.01 to 0.2 as a parameter at 4.2 MPa pressure and with an oxygen to coal ratio of 0.75. A small amount of steam is introduced because this is the dry-feeding-type coal gasier. Figure 8 shows the effect of steam to coal ratio on carbon conversion. As the concentration of steam increases, carbon conversion efciency increases slowly during the early stages of reaction. However, it eventually reaches about 98 per cent at the gasier exit in all cases. As the concentration of steam increases, the rate of gasication and combustion is low because the overall temperature is low in the reactor. Rate equations are Arrhenius type and are a function of temperature. Figure 9 shows the effect of steam to coal ratio on cold gas efciency. As the concentration of steam increases, cold gas efciency decreases. Gasication reactions are endothermic reactions, so they require sufcient heat from the combustion of volatiles. As the steam to coal ratio increases, however, temperature will be low because steam has a relatively high heat capacity. Figure 10 shows the situation. As a result, the concentration of fuel gas produced by the gasication reaction is low except for hydrogen because the high concentration of steam results in a high concentration of hydrogen. 4.3 Effect of pressure

increases, the partial pressure of gasifying agents will increase, so the reactivity of the solid-phase reactions also increases. In this study, the pressure varies from 2 to 4 MPa as a parameter with oxygen to coal ratio 0.75 and steam to coal ratio 0.05. Figures 11 and 12 show the effect of pressure on carbon conversion and cold gas efciency, respectively. As operating pressure increases, both carbon conversion and cold gas efciency increase because the reactivity of char + H2 O and char + CO2 reactions increases. It is not easy to operate the gasier in the pressurized condition than in the atmospheric condition. However, it is clear that high efciencies can be obtained in the pressurized gasier. Meanwhile, Fig. 13 shows the effect of pressure on gas temperature. Although the rate of increase of temperature is higher as pressure increases during the early stages of gasication and combustion, peak temperature is lower. This is because the reactivity of endothermic gasication reactions becomes active fast after oxygen is consumed because of the combustion of volatiles. Therefore, one can know that peak temperature is inversely proportional to the operating pressure. 5 CONCLUSION

A dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasier was modelled for process analysis in the reactor. By considering chemical kinetics over gasication processes, the degree of reaction was obtained at variable operating conditions. Results from the numerical simulations of the process in the model gasier are carbon conversion, cold gas efciency, and gas temperature distributions. The main conclusions are as follows. 1. As the concentration of oxygen increases, enough carbon conversion was obtained and reactor length shorter than 6 m was sufcient to get maximum efciency at a given oxygen to coal ratio. 2. As the oxygen to coal ratio increases, combustion of fuel gases lasted by oxidation reaction of excess oxygen. Therefore, peak temperature was higher as oxygen to coal ratio increases. In this case, the maximum cooling point may be high along with the reactor. 3. Although the rate of increase of temperature is higher as pressure increases during the early stages of reaction, peak temperature is lower. This is because high pressure results in high reactivity of endothermic gasication reactions. As pressure increases, the partial pressure of the gasifying agents, CO2 and H2 O, will increase. As a result, carbon conversion and cold gas efciency also increase. This model has uncertainties as a simplied model. It relies on rate constants that are difcult to measure

Pressure is an important variable that affects the gasier performance. Especially, pressure inuences the reactivity of heterogeneous reactions. As pressure
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part A: J. Power and Energy

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013

A simple process modelling for a dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasier

83

at high temperature and pressure. There are few data in the open literature on the process analysis of the commercial gasier for benchmarking this model so that validation of the model is not easy. Therefore, model prediction may be best used to evaluate trends in the process of the dry-feeding entrained bed coal gasier rather than to provide specic values of these results. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was supported by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, New and Renewable Energy Center (2006-N-C012-P-01-0-000), Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Company Limited, and Brain Korea (BK) 21. Authors 2011 REFERENCES
1 Govind, R. and Shah, J. Modeling and simulation of an entrained ow coal gasier. AIChE J., 1984, 30(1), 7992. 2 Ni, Q. and Williams, A. A simulation study on the performance of an entrained-ow coal gasier. Fuel, 1995, 74(1), 102110. 3 Vamvuka, D., Woodburn, E. T., and Senior, P . R. Modeling of an entrained ow coal gasier: 1. Development of the model and general predictions. Fuel, 1995, 74(10), 14521460. 4 Chen, C., Horio, M., and Kojima, T. Numerical simulation of entrained ow coal gasiers. Part I: modeling of coal gasication in an entrained ow gasier. Chem. Engng Sci., 2000, 55, 38613874. 5 Kajitani, S., Suzuki, N., Ashizawa, M., and Hara, S. CO2 gasication rate analysis of coal char in entrained ow coal gasier. Fuel, 2006, 85, 163169. 6 Beath, A. C. Mathematical modeling of entrained ow coal gasication. PhD Thesis, University of Newcastle, Australia, 1996. 7 Watanabe, H. and Otaka, M. Numerical simulation of coal gasication in entrained ow coal gasier. Fuel, 2006, 85, 19351943. 8 Song, J., Kang, M., Seo, D., Hwang, J., and Lim, S. CFD modeling for a one-stage entrained ow coal gasier: effects of the operating conditions and swirl injection. In Proceedings of the 39th Korean Society of Combustion Symposium, Seoul, Korea, 2009, pp. 259269. 9 Lee, H., Choi, S., and Paek, M. Inuence of coal kinetic characteristics on IGCC coal gasier efciency. In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Power engineering, Kobe, Japan, 2009, vol. 2, pp. 1318. 10 Solomon, P. R. and Colket, M. B. Coal devolatilization. In Proceedings of the 17th International Symposium on Combustion, Leeds, UK, 1978, pp. 131143. 11 Solomon, P. R., Hamblen, D. G., Carangelo, R. M., and Krause, J. L. Coal thermal decomposition in an entrained ow reactor: experiments and theory. In Proceedings

12

13

14 15

16

17

18

19

20

of the 19th International Symposium on Combustion, Haifa, Israel, 1982, pp. 11391149. Kobayashi, H., Howard, J. B., and Sarom, A. F. Coal devolatilization at high temperatures. In Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Combustion, Massachusetts, USA, 1976, pp. 411424. Suuberg, E. M., Peters, W. A., and Howard, J. B. Product compositions in rapid hydropyrolysis of coal. Fuel, 1980, 59, 405412. Tomeczek, J. Coal combustion, 1994 (Krieger Publishing Company, Florida). Laurendeau, N. M. Heterogeneous kinetics of coal char gasication and combustion. Prog. Energy Combust. Sci., 1978, 4, 221270. Bhatia, S. K. and Perlmutter, D. D. A random pore model for uidsolid reactions. I. Isothermal, kinetic control. AIChE J., 1980, 26(3), 379386. Kajitani, S., Hara, S., and Matsuda, H. Gasication rate analysis of coal char with a pressurized drop tube furnace. Fuel, 2002, 81, 539546. Cengel, Y. A. and Boles, M. A. Thermodynamics: an engineering approach, 4th edition, 2002 (McGraw-Hill, New York). Niksa, S. and Lau, C.-W. Global rates of devolatilization for various coal types. Combust. Flame, 1993, 94, 293307. Niksa, S. Predicting the devolatilization behavior of any coal from its ultimate analysis. Combust. Flame, 1995, 100, 384394.

APPENDIX Notation a Aeff Ai A0 b CP ,mix CP ,s E Eij Hj Hk Hloss,wall ki kij 0 mmix n PA R rj global reaction component for species X effective cross-section (m2 ) pre-exponential factor for the rate equation of homogeneous reaction (s1 ) pre-exponential factor for the rate equation of heterogeneous reaction (s1 ) global reaction component for species Y specic heat of gas mixture (kJ/kmol K) specic heat of solid (kJ/kmol K) activation energy (kJ/mol) activation energy of reaction forming product i (kJ/mol) heat generated by the j th homogeneous reaction (kJ/s) heat generated or absorbed by the k th heterogeneous reaction (kJ/s) heat loss through reactor wall (kJ/s) rst-order rate constant of reaction forming product i (s1 ) pre-exponential factor in ki (s1 ) mass owrate of mixed gas (kg/s) pressure order of nth-order equation partial pressure of gasifying agent (Pa) gas constant (kJ/mol K) reaction rate of j th gas-involved reaction (kmol/s)
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part A: J. Power and Energy

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013

84

H Lee, S Choi, and M Paek

rk t T Tg Ts V Vi Vij
Vij

reaction rate of k th solid-phase reaction (kmol/s) times (s) absolute temperature (K) temperature of gas (K) temperature of solid particle (K) velocity of mixed gas (m/s) mass of volatile species i (kg) amount of product i generated up to time t , fraction of the original coal weight value of Vi at t = (ultimate yield), approximated by measurements at long reaction times, fraction of the original coal weight

Wg,i Wg,mix Ws x X Xi Y Yi i,j s,k mix

owrate of gas component i (kmol/s) owrate of gas mixture (kmol/s) owrate of solid (kmol/s) carbon conversion reactant X mass fraction of species i reactant Y mole fraction of species i stoichiometric parameter for gas component i in the j th reaction stoichiometric parameter for the solid in the k th reaction density of mixed gas (kg/m3 ) particle structure parameter

Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part A: J. Power and Energy

Downloaded from pia.sagepub.com at Edinburgh University on January 8, 2013