Reactor performance with primary/secondary swirl intensity and direction in coal gasification process

In order to evaluate the effect of swirl direction and intensity of primary/secondary stream on pulverized coal gasification performance, a numerical study was conducted. Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches are used for the gas and solid phase, respectively. The computation code was formulated with PSI‐cell method, k–? model for turbulence flow, Monte‐Carlo method for radiative heat transfer, and eddy dissipation model for gas‐phase reaction rate. A one‐step two‐reaction model is employed for the devolatilization of Kideco coal. Flow and reactor performance are varied by primary/secondary swirl intensity and direction. For weak primary swirl, the WSF region is minimized at the secondary vane angle beginning generation of internal recirculation zone and having peak coal burnout. The flame stability is improved at counterswirl rather than coswirl due to its intense shear. Meanwhile, for strong primary swirl, flow distribution and coal burnout are the reverse trend with those of weak swirl and the flame stability is somewhat enhanced at coswirl rather than counterswirl. To improve coal burnout and flame stability, it is confirmed that the swirl condition be proposed for moving the flame front position toward upstream. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A numerical study on the effect of flow distribution on reactor performance

A numerical study was conducted to analyse the effect of flow distribution of stirred part and plug flow part on combustion efficiency at the coal gasification process in an entrained bed coal reactor. The model of computation was based on gas‐phase Eulerian balance equations of momentum and mass. The solid phase was described by Lagrangian equations of motion. The k–ϵ model was used to calculate the turbulence flow and the eddy dissipation model was used to describe the gas‐phase reaction rate. The radiation was solved using a Monte‐Carlo method. A one‐step two parallel reaction model was employed for the devolatilization process of a high volatile bituminous Kideco coal. The computations agreed well with the experiments, but the flame front was closer to the burner than the measured one. The flow distribution of a stirred part and a plug flow part in a reactor was a function of the magnitude of recirculation zone resulting from the swirl. The combustion efficiency was enhanced with decreasing stirred part and the maximum value was found to be around S=1·2, having the minimum stirred part. The combustion efficiency resulted from not only the flow distribution but also from the particle residence time through the hot reaction zone of the stirred part, in particular for the weak swirl without IRZ (internal recirculation zone) and the long lifted flame. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

煤粉射流吸热着火稳燃机理及新型稳燃技术的探讨

详细地介绍煤粉射流在炉膛内着火的机理，全面地分析了对流换热和辐射换热对不同粒径煤粉颗粒的加热作用，对传统的煤粉着火作了评论和分析，同时分析了其它影响火焰稳定的因素。分析了直流煤粉燃烧器和旋流燃烧器稳燃机理，着重指出了这两类燃烧器各自的优缺点。在综合了直流和旋流煤粉燃烧器优点的基础上，提出了一种多功能、可调节、自适应外旋流、内直流煤粉主燃烧器，初步讨论了其应用的可能性。     

燃尽风对炉内流动和燃烧过程影响的数值模拟

燃尽风作为降低锅炉NOx排放浓度的一个措施已在我国得到逐步推广应用。应用数值模拟方法，对1台600MW对冲燃烧煤粉锅炉，在满负荷下燃尽风对炉内流动、燃烧和传热过程的影响开展了研究工作。应用混合分数／概率密度函数法模拟湍流燃烧，用P-1辐射模型开展辐射传热模拟，利用拉格朗日／欧拉法处理气固两相间的动量、质量和能量交换，对挥发份的析出采用单步反应模型，采用动力／扩散反应速率模型模拟煤粉颗粒的表面燃烧。研究发现：一方面，燃尽风的应用改善了炉内气流的充满情况，延迟了煤粉燃烧过程氧气的供应，加强了炉内的还原性气氛，降低了炉内最高火焰温度，有利于降低NOx排放浓度；但另一方面。燃尽风的应用将导致煤粉燃烧效率下降。     

降维后的离散传递法及其在煤粉火焰传热中的应用

针对具有二维特征的辐射传热问题，介绍了一种降维方法。用经过降维处理的离散传递法（DTM）对含有吸收、发射性介质的圆管形腔体和煤粉火焰的辐射传热进行数值计算，并与按三维辐射计算的结果和试验数据进行比较，结合符合很好。这表明：用降维后的离散传递法描述煤粉火焰的辐射传热过程是可行和精确的。     

A Comparative Exploration of Enhancing Thermal Characteristics of Natural Gas Flame by Synchronous Combustion Technique

This article is a comparative study of how the injection of micro kerosene droplets and pulverized anthracite coal particles affects soot particle nucleation inside natural gas flame and, subsequently, radiation. To this end, the yellow chemiluminescence of soot particles and IR photography were used to locate radiative soot particles and discover their qualitative distribution. The IR filter was tested with a Thermo Nicolet Avatar 370 FTIR Spectrometer for its spectral transmittance to be specified. Also, the spectral absorbance of soot particles, which are formed in flame, was measured by BOMEM FTIR. Furthermore, the variations of flame temperature, transient heat transfer, and thermal efficiency were investigated. The results indicate that, for equal heating values, kerosene droplets are more effective than coal particles in improving the radiation and thermal characteristics of natural gas flame. Also, kerosene droplets cause a higher rise in the temperature in flame downstream and make the axial flame temperature more uniform than coal particles do. In quantitative terms, when kerosene droplets were injected, the radiative heat transfer and thermal efficiency of flame were 93% and 35% higher than the corresponding values for the coal particles injection mode.     

Study on strengthening combustion and NOx formation properties of rough‐surfaced bluff‐bodies

A new type of pulverized coal burner combining a bend with a rough surface taper 60° bluff‐body has been designed. The cold state test showed that behind the rough‐surfaced bluff‐body there exists a larger recirculation zone, recirculation ratio and stronger turbulence, but its pressure drop increases by about 15–20 per cent more than that of the smooth‐surfaced bluff‐body. The hot state test in a one‐dimensional furnace indicates that the rough‐surfaced bluff‐body has much faster ignition, higher flame temperature and higher burnout ratio. A heat balance model was established using a lumped parameter method for the recirculation zone. Through it, the condition of the primary air was derived for flame stability and the strengthening combustion ability of rough surface in bluff‐body was proved. On the basis of a hot state test, numerical stimulation was performed on NO_x formation. This suggests that rough‐surfaced bluff‐body only increases the production of NO_x a little. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new principle of ignition and flame stability for low-volatile pulverized coal with slitted bluff-body burner

On the basis of analysing the lean flammability limits of pulverized coal combustion and the mechanism of flame stabilization of low-volatile pulverized coal by the bluff-body burner, a new principle is presented that improves ignition and flame stability of low-volatile pulverized coal. For example, some methods separate the low-volatile pulverized coals from primary air just after they enter the combustion chamber and concentrate them around the boundary and inside of the recirculation region where favourable conditions are created for the volatile contents to be released and matched with the ambient air. According to this principle a new kind of burner, called a slitted bluff-body, is invented, with which it is easier to ignite low-volatile pulverized coal and to stabilize and intensify the flame.     

Numerical simulation of the combustion processes in a W‐shaped boiler furnace under different operating conditions

Numerical simulations of gas–solid flows, heat transfer and gas–particle turbulent combustion have been conducted for a three‐dimensional, W‐shaped boiler furnace. The gas–particle flow, distributions of temperature and concentrations of gaseous constituents, distributions of the rates of heat release, burnout rates of coal particles, and formations of volatiles have been predicted. The results indicate that a steady high‐temperature zone is formed under the arch of the W‐shaped flame boiler, this zone would be of benefit to the ignition and carbon burn‐out and suggest that the W‐shaped flame boiler is suitable for burning low‐quality coals and can operate well under different operating conditions for full and partial loads. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coal steam-gasification model in chemical regime to produce hydrogen in a gas–solid moving bed reactor using nuclear heat

A theoretical model of the coal gasification with steam in a chemical moving bed reactor is developed. A very high temperature nuclear reactor provides the energy for accomplishing the endothermic gasification reactions. The model is developed in chemical regime giving information about the temperature profiles, the coal conversion and the specific productivity in the gasification process. For the heat transfer, the three resistances have been included (conduction, convection and radiation). The results have shown that the coal conversion in the heterogenic water “shift” reaction is smaller than the ones in mass transfer control. The gas velocity can change strongly the conversion, for velocities under 0.06 m/s, for bigger quantities the change is negligible. An increase in the gas temperature at the reactor input leads to an increase in the coal conversion; an increase in the temperature from 900 K to 1300 K increases the conversion 40%.     

Pressurized drop tube furnace tests of global coal gasification characteristics

Pressurized drop tube furnace (PDTF) tests were performed with an Indonesian sub‐bituminous coal while temperature, oxygen/coal ratio, steam/coal ratio and pressure were systematically varied. The tests were designed to investigate the effects of these experimental parameters on the pulverized coal gasification characteristics at elevated pressure. The results showed that the gasification at elevated pressure is more productive than that at atmospheric pressure, considering the carbon conversion and cold gas efficiency. The oxygen/coal ratio at the maximum cold gas efficiency ranged between 0.5 and 0.7 g/g. Only when the temperature was sufficiently high, did the increase of steam/coal ratio result in the improvement of cold gas efficiency. As the pressure increased, the contribution of carbon conversion by heterogeneous reactions increased while the conversion by pyrolysis decreased. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of multi-component diffusion and heat release on laminar diffusion flame liftoff

Numerical simulations were conducted of the liftoff and stabilization phenomena of laminar jet diffusion flames of inert-diluted C₃H₈ and CH₄ fuels. Both non-reacting and reacting jets were investigated, including multi-component diffusivities and heat release effects (buoyancy and gas expansion). The role of Schmidt number for non-reacting jets was investigated, with no conclusive Schmidt number criterion for liftoff previously arrived at in similarity solutions. The cold-flow simulation for He-diluted CH₄ fuel does not predict flame liftoff; however, adding heat release reaction lead to the prediction of liftoff, which is consistent with experimental observations. Including reaction was also found to improve liftoff height prediction for C₃H₈ flames, with the flame base location differing from that in the similarity solution - the intersection of the stoichiometric and iso-velocity (equal to 1-D flame speed) is not necessary for flame stabilization (and thus liftoff). Possible mechanisms other than that proposed for similarity solution may better help to explain the stabilization and liftoff phenomena.     

Effect of coal type on gasification in pressurized drop tube furnace

In order to understand the effect of coal type on coal gasification process at 15 atmospheric pressure of pressurized drop tube furnace (PDTF), a numerical study was conducted. Eulerian approach is used for the gas phase, whereas Lagrangian approach is used for the solid phase. Turbulence is modelled using the standard k–ε model. The turbulent gas‐phase combustion model incorporates the eddy dissipation model. One‐step two‐reaction model is employed for the devolatilization. Effect of coal type on carbon conversion at the same coal feed rate and gas flow rate cannot be verified due to the variation of equivalence ratio according to coal composition. Therefore, the same equivalence ratio is chosen to evaluate the effect of coal type on gasification. It is found that the volatile release based on experimental results should be taken in computations to predict accurate carbon conversion, especially in coal gasification due to the low gasification reaction. Even at over 1500 K and 15 atmospheric pressure, at which reactions are primarily diffusion‐controlled, the exit carbon conversion varies with the coal type. The temperature gradient in near‐burner region becomes gentle with increasing proximate volatile and moisture contents, but the volatiles released can make the temperature gradient steep by means of the fast reaction with oxygen. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A numerical study of pulverized coal ignition by means of plasma torches in air–coal dust mixture ducts of utility boiler furnaces

Paper presents selected results of numerical simulation of processes in air–coal dust mixture duct of pulverized coal utility boiler furnace with plasma-system for pulverized coal ignition and combustion stabilization. Application of the system in utility boiler furnaces promises to achieve important savings compared with the use of heavy oil burners. Plasma torches are built in air–coal dust mixture ducts between coal mills and burners. Calculations have been performed for one of rectangular air–coal dust mixture ducts with two opposite plasma torches, used in 210 MW_e utility boiler firing pulverized Serbian lignite. The simulations are based on a three-dimensional mathematical model of mass, momentum and heat transfer in reacting turbulent gas-particle flow, specially developed for the purpose. Characteristics of processes in the duct are analyzed in the paper, with respect to the numerical results. The plasma-system thermal effect is discussed as well, regarding corresponding savings of liquid fuel. It has been emphasized that numerical simulation of the processes can be applied in optimization of pulverized coal ignition and combustion stabilization and enables efficient and cost-effective scaling-up procedure from laboratory to industrial scale.     

Modeling of NOx emissions from a W-shaped boiler furnace under different operating conditions

A numerical model for gas-particle flow dynamics has been combined with an NO_x chemistry post-processor to predict the formation of nitric oxide in a three-dimensional, W-shaped boiler furnace burning pulverized fuel. The model includes complex interactions in gas-particle turbulent flow, heat transfer, gaseous chemical reaction, coal combustion, and NO_x reaction chemistry. Because fuel nitrogen is released in proportion to burnout of pulverized coal particles, the particles are treated in a Lagrangian framework in order to track burning pulverized coal particles through the gas continuum. The results show capability of the model to describe NO_x emissions under different operating conditions for full and partial loads.     

Flame propagation in a gasification channel

In the present study, propagation of a gasification flame through a coal channel is considered. A simplified physical model incorporating all of the main physical factors determining the flame front propagation in a gasification reactor is suggested. It is demonstrated that the flame propagation is governed by the energy balance in the channel. The suggested model is in an agreement with experimental observations obtained in underground gasification of coal (UCG).     

流化床-煤粉复合燃烧锅炉的炉膛传热计算方法

针对流化床－煤粉复合燃烧锅炉的特点,在综合考虑流化床、火焰和受热面之间换热的基础上,推导了流化床－煤粉复合燃烧锅炉炉膛传热计算的基本方程,得到了复合燃烧锅炉炉膛传热计算的零维模型半径验法。以某７５ｔ／ｈ树皮流化床－煤粉复合燃烧锅炉为例,进行了炉膛传热计算。图１表６参５     

Effect of supplementary firing options on cycle performance and CO2 emissions of an IGCC power generation system

Supplementary firing is adopted in combined‐cycle power plants to reheat low‐temperature gas turbine exhaust before entering into the heat recovery steam generator. In an effort to identify suitable supplementary firing options in an integrated gasification combined‐cycle (IGCC) power plant configuration, so as to use coal effectively, the performance is compared for three different supplementary firing options. The comparison identifies the better of the supplementary firing options based on higher efficiency and work output per unit mass of coal and lower CO₂ emissions. The three supplementary firing options with the corresponding fuel used for the supplementary firing are: (i) partial gasification with char, (ii) full gasification with coal and (iii) full gasification with syngas. The performance of the IGCC system with these three options is compared with an option of the IGCC system without supplementary firing. Each supplementary firing option also involves pre‐heating of the air entering the gas turbine combustion chamber in the gas cycle and reheating of the low‐pressure steam in the steam cycle. The effects on coal consumption and CO₂ emissions are analysed by varying the operating conditions such as pressure ratio, gas turbine inlet temperature, air pre‐heat and supplementary firing temperature. The results indicate that more work output is produced per unit mass of coal when there is no supplementary firing. Among the supplementary firing options, the full gasification with syngas option produces the highest work output per unit mass of coal, and the partial gasification with char option emits the lowest amount of CO₂ per unit mass of coal. Based on the analysis, the most advantageous option for low specific coal consumption and CO₂ emissions is the supplementary firing case having full gasification with syngas as the fuel. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

旋风炉内气相燃烧及两相流动的数值模拟

在有反应两相流动及煤粉燃烧的全双流体模型（ＰＴＦ模型,ｐｕｒｅ ｔｗｏ－ｆｌｕｉｄ ｍｏｄｅｌ）基础上,采用修正的ｋ－ε－ｋｐ两相湍流模型,对旋风炉内的湍流气相燃烧（甲烷和一氧化碳的燃烧）及在气相燃烧条件下的两相流动进行了数值模拟研究,模拟结果表明,在有燃烧的情况下,在旋风炉的底部存在近壁回流区,该回流区有利于火焰稳定,气粒两相切向速度分布具有类似的Ｒａｎｋｉｎｅ涡结构,该研究为煤粉燃烧的数值模拟     

超浓相火焰燃烧难燃煤探讨

研究表明，煤粉气流着火存在最佳煤粉浓度，在最佳浓度时火焰传播速度和温度可达到最大值，试验得知难燃煤粉气流从喷嘴出口的最佳风、粉重量比接近1.0时着火、燃烧稳定。将一次风粉混合物通过喷嘴前的分离器，分离成超浓和稀淡两股，分别送入炉膛四角内外并列下倾布置的对应喷嘴，形成炉膛中央的浓粉区，近墙四周为富氧淡粉的“风包粉”气流，构成下射“W”形新的切圆旋转燃烧，利于难燃煤及早着火、稳定燃烧、充分燃烬。文中简要介绍燃烧器设计和调控要点