Characteristics of air-blown gasification in a pebble bed gasifier

High temperature air-blown gasification is a new concept to utilize the waste heat from gasifier that is called multi-staged enthalpy extraction technology. This process was developed to solve the economic problems due to air separation costs for the oxygen-blown as a gasifying agent. In this study, we have constructed a pebble bed gasifier and operated it by controlling the pebble size and bed height with three different types of coal (Kideco, Datong and Drayton coal). As a result, we can produce syngas with a calorific value of 700 kcal/Nm³ at an air temperature of 650 °C; the performance of high temperature air gasification was strong in the order of Kideco coal, Datong coal and Drayton coal. Also, from the data of the exterior analysis of slag that is attached to the surface of pebbles, we can know that the iron component is considerably high. This means the increase in restored metallic iron component seems to contribute to the solidification of slag.     

Gasification of food waste with steam in fluidized bed

Biomass has became an important renewable alternative energy resource. Million tons of food sludge, which is difficult to handle because of its rank smell and water content, is generated in Korea. Thermochemical conversion is one way to convert biomass to energy; it can be divided into carbonization, liquefaction, and gasification. Carbonization of food waste was carried out in a conventional stainless steel autoclave of 2 L capacity at different temperatures. Since gasification produces hydrogen-rich synthesis gas, which can be used for methanol synthesis, gasification of carbonized solid was studied in the fluidized-bed gasifier. The reaction parameters in the gasification of carbonized solids were investigated. Presented at the Int’l Symp. on Chem. Eng. (Cheju, Feb. 8–10, 2001), dedicated to Prof. H. S. Chun on the occasion of his retirement from Korea University.     

Experimental studies of 1 ton/day coal slurry feed type oxygen blown, entrained flow gasifier

Experimental Studies of a 1 Ton/Day coal slurry feed type oxygen blown, entrained flow gasifier have been performed with the slurry concentration and gasifier temperature at 65% and above 1,300 ‡C, respectively. The characteristics of ash fusion temperature with addition of CaO as a flux were investigated to maintain the proper slag tapping condition in the range of reaction temperature. As the flux addition increased, ash fusion temperature showed a eutectic effect with the eutectic at around 20–30% CaO. In order to analyze the gasification characteristics, the effects of O₂/coal feed ratio on the product gas composition, heating value, gasifier temperature and cold gas efficiency were evaluated. From the results, it was shown in the case of Kideco coal that the cold gas efficiency was 44–60% and the heating value was 1,700-2,200 kcal/Nm³, while Drayton coal showed a cold gas efficiency of 55–62% and a heating value of 1,800-2,200 kcal/Nm³. In the case of Datong coal, the cold gas efficiency was 38–65%, and the heating value was 2,000-2,300 kcal/Nm³. Also, the results showed that the optimal operating condition of O₂/coal ratio for the three different coals was 0.9. Presented at the Int’/Symp. on Chem. Eng. (Cheju, Feb. 8–10, 2001), dedicated to Prof. H. S. Chun on the occasion of his retirement from Korea University.     

Gasification of rice husk in a cyclone gasifier

The experimental results of air gasification of rice husk in the cyclone gasifier were presented at the fuel rate of 20.1 kg/h. With the equivalence ratios varied in the range of 0.21–0.32, the heating value of the producer gas decreases from 6.98 MJ/Nm³ to 3.11 MJ/Nm³ and the cold gas efficiency decreases from 64% to 31%. However, the tar content in the prouder gas decreases with the increase of the equivalence ratio. The rice husk and ash were examined under a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) elemental analysis. The outer surface of the fuel particle which is of scale structure does not change basically during the gasification. The pyrolyzed gas is mainly released from the inner surface of the fuel particle. This work was presented at the 7 ^th China-Korea Workshop on Clean Energy Technology held at Taiyuan, Shanxi, China, June 26–28, 2008.     

Adsorption characteristics of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4-dinitrophenol in a fixed bed adsorber

The influence of temperature and initial pH of aqueous solution on adsorption has been discussed in detail using the Sips equation. Single-component adsorption equilibria of 2,4-D and 2,4-DNP dissolved in water have been measured for three kinds of GACs (F400, SLS103, and WWL). For 2,4-D, the magnitude of adsorption capacity was in the order of F400>SLS103>WWL, and that for 2,4-DNP was SLS103>F400>WWL. These results may come from the effects of the pore size distribution, surface area, surface properties, and difference in adsorption affinity. Kinetic parameters were measured in a batch adsorber to analyze the adsorption rates of 2,4-D and 2,4-DNP. The internal diffusion coefficients were determined by comparing the experimental concentration curves with those predicted from surface diffusion model (SDM) and pore diffusion model (PDM). The linear driving force approximation (LDFA) model was used to simulate isothermal adsorption behavior in a fixed bed adsorber and successfully simulated experimental adsorption breakthrough behavior under various operation conditions. Efficiency of desorption for 2,4-D and 2,4-DNP was about 80% using distilled water at pH of 6.     

Air oxidation of aqueous cyanides in a countercurrent fixed bed reactor

This study was conducted to discuss the removal of cyanides from water by air oxidation. Experiments were carried out in a countercurrent fixed bed reactor for three different values of temperature, concentration, gas and liquid flow rates. It was operated at pH 12 by using delrin (formaldehyde polymer) as packing material. Effects of some operating parameters on the conversion were studied, and it was observed that the conversion percent increased by increasing temperature and decreasing gas and liquid flow rates. Effect of concentration was not steady. A conversion of 89% was achieved under optimum conditions while it ranges from 44 to 79% at room temperature.     

Operation performance of a pilot-scale gasification/melting process for liquid and slurry-type wastes

A gasification/melting facility that can operate up to 10 bar and 1,550 °C with a maximum 1 ton/day capacity was developed for liquid and slurry-type combustible wastes. The main focus of the system development was minimal use of expensive fuel for maintaining the reaction temperature by replacing it with cheap waste oil for energy input. The carbon conversion obtained was 97% while the cold gas efficiency reached 77.6% for the refined waste oil. When the feed was refined oil mixed with fly ash from a municipal waste incinerator, the carbon conversion and cold gas efficiency were 93% and 71.9%, respectively, with a slag conversion ratio of 0.93. The slag produced from fly ash exhibited environmentally acceptable heavy-metal leaching values and thus can be applicable as road material and for other purposes. The optimal O₂/feed ratio was 0.9–1.0 when only the refined waste oil was gasified, whereas the O₂/feed ratio had to be higher than 1.2 when fly ash was mixed. In addition, data showed that gasifier temperature can be estimated by on-line methane concentration measurements.     

Hydrogenation of CO2 over Fe-K based catalysts in a fixed bed reactors at elevated pressure

Catalytic hydrogenation of CO₂to produce hydrocarbons was conducted in a fixed bed reactor (1.6 cm-IDx60 cm-High). Fe-K based catalysts (KRICAT-A, B) were used for more than 850 hours to maintain CO₂ conversion level up to 30 C-mol% in the fixed bed micro-reactor. Effects of operating variables on the CO₂ conversion, hydrocarbon yield and its selectivity were investigated. The CO₂ conversion and total hydrocarbon yield increased with increasing reaction temperature (250-325 °C), pressure (0.5-2.5 MPa) and H₂/CO₂ mol ratio (2-5); however, they decreased with increasing space velocity (1,000-4,000 ml/g_cathr) in the reactor. The selectivities of liquid products increased with increasing reaction pressure; however, they decreased with increasing temperature, space velocity and H₂/CO₂ ratio. From the results of an experimental study, optimum operating conditions for the maximum yield of olefinic liquid products were found as T=315 °C, P=1.5 MPa, SV=2,000 ml/g_cathr and H₂/CO₂ ratio=3 in the fixed bed reactor within these experimental conditions. Presented at the Int’l Symp. on Chem. Eng. (Cheju, Feb. 8-10, 2001), dedicated to Prof. H. S. Chun on the occasion of his retirement from Korea University.     

Adsorption of chlorinated volatile organic compounds in a fixed bed of activated carbon

Adsorption isotherms of dichloromethane and 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane on an activated carbon pellet, Norit B4, were studied. For these chemicals, the Sips equation gave the best fit for the single component adsorption isotherm. The adsorption affinity on activated carbon was greater for dichloromethane than that of 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane. An experimental and theoretical study was made for the adsorption of dichloromethane and 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane in a fixed bed. Experimental results were used to examine the effect of operation variables, such as feed concentration, flow rate and bed height. Intraparticle diffusion was able to be explained by a surface diffusion mechanism. An adsorption model based on the linear driving force approximation (LDFA) was found to be applicable to fit the experimental data.     

Gasification and co-gasification of biomass wastes: Effect of the biomass origin and the gasifier operating conditions

Air gasification of different biomass fuels, including forestry (pinus pinaster pruning) and agricultural (grapevine and olive tree pruning) wastes as well as industry wastes (sawdust and marc of grape), has been carried out in a circulating flow gasifier in order to evaluate the potential of using these types of biomass in the same equipment, thus providing higher operation flexibility and minimizing the effect of seasonal fuel supply variations. The potential of using biomass as an additional supporting fuel in coal fuelled power plants has also been evaluated through tests involving mixtures of biomass and coal–coke, the coke being a typical waste of oil companies. The effect of the main gasifier operating conditions, such as the relative biomass/air ratio and the reaction temperature, has been analysed to establish the conditions allowing higher gasification efficiency, carbon conversion and/or fuel constituents (CO, H₂ and CH₄) concentration and production. Results of the work encourage the combined use of the different biomass fuels without significant modifications in the installation, although agricultural wastes (grapevine and olive pruning) could to lead to more efficient gasification processes. These latter wastes appear as interesting fuels to generate a producer gas to be used in internal combustion engines or gas turbines (high gasification efficiency and gas yield), while sawdust could be a very adequate fuel to produce a H₂-rich gas (with interest for fuel cells) due to its highest reactivity. The influence of the reaction temperature on the gasification characteristics was not as significant as that of the biomass/air ratio, although the H₂ concentration increased with increasing temperature.     

Adiabatic fixed bed gasification of dairy biomass with air and steam

Including dairy biomass (DB) as feedstock in gasification processes for locally based power generation could mitigate the environmental impact from DB produced in large US farms (56 million dry tons per year) and fossil-fuels emissions, since biomass is a CO₂ neutral fuel. The current paper presents experimental results obtained from adiabatic, fixed bed gasification of DB using air and steam as oxidizers. The effect of equivalence ratio (ER) and steam to fuel ratio (S:F) ratio on temperature profile, gas composition (CO, CO₂, H₂, N₂, CH₄, and C₂H₆), gross heating value (HHV) and energy conversion efficiency (ECE) are discussed. The results show that the peak temperature (T_peak), ECE, and CO decrease and H₂ and CO₂ increase with increase in ER; the increase in S:F at same ER increases H₂, CO₂, CH₄, HHV, and ECE, and decreases CO.     

Steam gasification of an australian bituminous coal in a fluidized bed

To produce low calorific value gas, Australian coal has been gasified with air and steam in a fluidized bed reactor (0.1 m-I.Dx1.6 m-high) at atmospheric pressure. The effects of fluidizing gas velocity (2–5 U_f/U_mf), reaction temperature (750–900 °C), air/coal ratio (1.6-3.2), and steam/coal ratio (0.63–1.26) on gas composition, gas yield, gas calorific value of the product gas and carbon conversion have been determined. The calorific value and yield of the product gas, cold gas efficiency, and carbon conversion increase with increasing fluidization gas velocity and reaction temperature. With increasing air/coal ratio, carbon conversion, cold gas efficiency and yield of the product gas increase, but the calorific value of the product gas decreases. When steam/coal ratio is increased, cold gas efficiency, yield and calorific value of the product gas increase, but carbon conversion is little changed. Unburned carbon fraction of cyclone fine decreases with increasing fluidization gas velocity, reaction temperature and air/coal ratio, but is nearly constant with increasing steam/coal ratio. Overall carbon conversion decreases with increasing fluidization velocity and air/ coal ratio, but increases with increasing reaction temperature. The particle entrainment rate increases with increasing fluidization velocity, but decreases with increasing reaction temperature. This paper is dedicated to Professor Dong Sup Doh on the occasion of his retirement from Korea University.     

Gasification of an Indonesian subbituminous coal in a pilot-scale coal gasification system

Indonesian Roto Middle subbituminous coal was gasified in a pilot-scale dry-feeding gasification system and the produced syngas was purified with hot gas filtering and by low temperature desulfurization to the quality that can be utilized as a feedstock for chemical conversion. Roto middle coal produced syngas that has a typical composition of 36–38% CO, 14–16% H₂, and 5–8% CO₂. Particulates in syngas were 99.8% removed by metal filters at the operating temperature condition of 200–250°C. Sulfur containing compounds of H₂S and COS in syngas were also desulfurized in the Fe chelate system to yield less than 0.5 ppm level. The full stream gasification and syngas purifying system has been successfully operated and thus can provide clean syngas for the research on the conversion of syngas to chemicals like DME and on the future IGFC using fuel cells. This work was presented at the 6 ^th Korea-China Workshop on Clean Energy Technology held at Busan, Korea, July 4–7, 2006.     

Gasification of biomass wastes in an entrained flow gasifier: Effect of the particle size and the residence time

Experimental tests in an entrained flow gasifier have been carried out in order to evaluate the effect of the biomass particle size and the space residence time on the gasifier performance and the producer gas quality. Three types of biomass fuels (grapevine pruning and sawdust wastes, and marc of grape) and a fossil fuel (a coal-coke blend) have been tested. The results obtained show that a reduction in the fuel particle size leads to a significant improvement in the gasification parameters. The thermochemical characterisation of the resulting char-ash residue shows a sharp increase in the fuel conversion for particles below 1 mm diameter, which could be adequate to be used in conventional entrained flow gasifiers. Significant differences in the thermochemical behaviour of the biomass fuels and the coal-coke blend have been found, especially in the evolution of the H₂/CO ratio with the space time, mainly due to the catalytic effect of the coal-coke ash. The reaction temperature and the space time have a significant effect on the H₂/CO ratio (the relative importance of each of these parameters depending on the temperature), this value being independent of the fuel particle size.     

Identification of reaction zones in a commercial Sasol-Lurgi fixed bed dry bottom gasifier operating on North Dakota lignite

The Sasol-Lurgi fixed bed dry bottom gasification technology has the biggest market share in the world with 101 gasifiers in operation. To be able to further improve the technology and also to optimise the operating plants, it is important that the fundamentals of the process are understood. The main objective of this study was to determine the reaction zones occurring in the Sasol-Lurgi fixed bed dry bottom (S-L FBDB) gasifier operating on North Dakota lignite. A Turn-Out sampling method and subsequent chemical analyses of the gasifier fuel bed samples was used to determine the reaction zones occurring in the commercial MK IV, S-L FBDB gasifier operating on North Dakota lignite. The reaction zones were further compared with the same reactor operating on bituminous coal.Based on the results obtained from this study it was found that about two thirds of the gasifier volume was used for drying and de-volatilising the lignite thus leaving only about a third of the reactor volume for gasification and combustion. Nonetheless, due to the high reactivity of the lignite, the char was consumed within a third of the remaining gasifier volume. Clear overlaps between the reaction zones were observed in the gasifiers thus confirming the gradual transition from one reaction zone to another as reported in literature. Due to the high moisture content in the lignite, the pyrolysis zone in the gasifiers operating on North Dakota lignite occurred lower/deeper in the gasifier fuel bed as compared to the same gasifier operating on South African bituminous coal from the Highveld coalfield. All the other reaction zones in the gasifier operating on bituminous coal were also higher in the bed compared to the lignite operation. This can therefore explain the higher gas outlet temperatures for the S-L FBDB gasifiers operating on higher rank coals when compared to the gasifiers operating on lignite. The fact that the entire reactor volume was utilized for drying, de-volatilisation, gasification and combustion with carbon conversion of >98% makes the S-L FBDB gasifier very suitable for lignite gasification.     

Trace element behaviour in the Sasol-Lurgi fixed-bed dry-bottom gasifier. Part 3 - The non-volatile elements: Ba, Co, Cr, Mn, and V

Coal contains most of the naturally occurring chemical elements in (at least) trace amounts, with specific elements and their concentrations dependent on the rank of the coal and its geological origins. The focus of this paper is to discuss more recent environmentally-focused research developments by Sasol, where trace element simulation and validation of model predictions have been undertaken for the gasification process operating on low-rank bituminous Highveld coal. A Sasol-Lurgi fixed-bed dry-bottom (FBDB) gasifier was mined via turn-out sampling in order to determine the trace element changes through the gasifier, results being used for comparison with Fact-Sage modelled data for the non-volatile trace elements Ba, Co, Cr, Mn and V.Considering the experimental error, good agreement between measured results and model predictions in terms of ash phase partitioning behaviour was obtained for Ba, Co, Mn and V. On the contrary, rather poor agreement between model predicted and measured results were obtained for Cr partitioning to the solid ash fraction, which yielded a large overbalance (outside of experimental error) in the case of the measured results. This anomaly was found to not be caused by erosion of the gasifier internals, but rather possibly be ascribed to accumulation and contamination caused by likely condensation and vaporisation of this species during the gasifier sampling campaign, as well as by the particle size reduction processes utilized prior to elemental analyses. When considering the predicted speciation behaviour of the elements studied, the model output in some cases needs to be treated with some caution when validating findings with standard text book data for the elements studied, but was found to correctly model the elemental ash phase partitioning behaviour during fixed-bed gasification. Leaching tests have been conducted on the bottom ash collected from the gasifier and results have shown that the trace elements studied are firmly bound into the ash matrix and therefore would not be released during later disposal. The relative enrichment in trace element content observed for Cr within the gasifier should be further investigated.     

Experimental investigation of a 125 kW twin-fire fixed bed gasification pilot plant and comparison to the results of a 2 MW combined heat and power plant (CHP)

Fixed bed biomass gasification is a promising technology to produce heat and power from a renewable energy source. A twin-fire fixed bed gasifier based CHP plant was realized in the year 2003 in Wr. Neustadt, Austria. Wood chips are used as fuel, which are dried and sieved before being gasified to a low calorific gas of about 5.8 MJ/Nm³_dry. Before the clean gas is fed into a gas engine a cyclone and a RME (rapemethylester)/H₂O quench system followed by a wet electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is used for gas cleaning. The CHP plant has a fuel power of 2 MW_th and an electric output of 550 kW_el. As scale up and optimization tool a hot test rig with a capacity of 125 kW_th was built. Basic parameters like the type of wood chips, power and air distribution were varied to investigate the effect on gas composition, tar content in the producer gas and carbon content in the ash. Additionally a temperature profile over the height of the 125 kW hot test rig was measured. Furthermore, the results from the hot test rig are discussed and compared with the results from the 2 MW_th demonstration plant.     

The fate of fuel-nitrogen during gasification of biomass in a pressurised fluidised bed gasifier

The distribution of fuel-nitrogen in gases, tar and char from gasification of biomass in a pressurised fluidised bed gasifier was investigated. Four species of biomass: birch, Salix, Miscanthus and Reed canary grass were gasified at 0.4 MPa and 900 °C. Oxygen-enriched nitrogen was used as fluidising agent. As a reference, gasification of Daw Mill coal was also carried out under the same experimental conditions. The experimental results illustrate that both the nature of the original fuels and the chemical structure of the nitrogen in the fuel have influence on the distribution of fuel-nitrogen in gases (NH₃, HCN, NO), tar and char under the employed experimental conditions. The present work also shows that the types of nitrogen heterocyclic compounds (NHCs) in the tar from different kinds of biomass are the same and the major compound is pyridine. However, the distribution of the various NHCs in the tar from the four species of biomass varies: the higher the content of fuel-nitrogen, the higher the concentration of two-ring NHCs in the tar. An effective method for extracting NHCs from the acidic absorption of the product gas was introduced in the present work. The method makes use of solid phase extraction (SPE) by a silica-based C₁₈ tube to extract the NHCs which subsequently were analysed by gas chromatography (GC) with flame ionisation detection (FID). The recovery and reproducibility of the SPE technique for NHCs is discussed.     

Simulation of fixed bed reactor for dimethyl ether synthesis

Dimethyl Ether (DME) is considered as one of the most promising candidates for a substitute for LPG and diesel fuel. We analyzed one-step DME synthesis from syngas in a shell and tube type fixed bed reactor with consideration of the heat and mass transfer between catalyst pellet and reactants gas and effectiveness factor of catalysts together with reactor cooling through reactor wall. Simulation results showed strong effects of pore diffusion. We compared two different arrangements of catalysts, mixture of catalyst pellets (methanol synthesis catalyst and methanol dehydration catalyst) and hybrid catalyst. Hybrid catalyst gave better performance than a mixture of pellets in terms of CO conversion and DME productivity, but more difficulties with reactor temperature control. Use of inert pellets and inter-cooling was also simulated as a means of controlling maximum reactor temperature.     

Numerical analysis of fixed bed adsorption kinetics using orthogonal collocation

Fixed bed adsorption kinetics is analyzed to test the validity of the simplified model based on the linear driving force approximation by comparison with the exact model by using the orthogonal collocation method. The axial dispersion, the external film diffusion, and the intraparticle diffusion are considered to be the major mass transfer phenomena involved with the fixed bed adsorption kinetics in this study. It is assumed that a local equilibrium is attained at the fluid-solid interface and the equilibrium can be described by the Langmuir isotherm. A homogeneous particle diffusion model is employed to describe the intraparticle diffusion.