An understanding of lump coal physical property behaviour (density and particle size effects) impacting on a commercial-scale Sasol-Lurgi FBDB gasifier

Thermal processes which utilize coarse coal, such as fixed-bed gasification and chain grate stoker boilers, are dependant on a stable particle size for stable operation. During coarse coal utilization, thermal fragmentation of lump coal (upon heating) produces hydrodynamic effects (pressure drop fluctuations) manifesting itself in a variety of ways, and include: channel-burning and solids elutriation. Primary thermal fragmentation occurring in the drying zone of a fixed-bed reactor is primarily a function of moisture content release with ensuing particle size reduction. Large particles tend to fragment more than finer particles, thus leading to hydrodynamic problems. From fragmentation studies it was elucidated that a thermal “stable size” is reached through the process of thermal fragmentation for optimum heat transfer and utilization during the drying and pyrolysis zone regions of the coarse coal utilization process.In this paper, the Sasol-Lurgi MK IV FBDB gasifier turn-out physical property profiles (bulk density and particle size distribution) results will be discussed. It was found that these profiles provided significant insight into the complex heterogeneous nature of the coal transformation processes occurring within the fixed-bed reactor. In the case of the bulk density profile, a shrinking core and flaking mechanism was proposed to explain the increase in density occurring in the bottom half of the gasifier.The +25 mm size fraction distribution profile was found to clearly show the fragmentation effects occurring within the reactor. Primary fragmentation was inferred as the mechanism responsible for causing breakage of this size fraction down to a remaining ca. 15% +25 mm fraction. The significant breakage of the coarse +25 mm fraction is expected to influence unstable gasifier conditions in the top part of the gasifier, due to pressure drop fluctuations caused by void packing. A good correlation was obtained for the relationship between bulk density versus the ?25 mm + 6.3 mm size fraction content, indicating that the bed-packing density is highly dependent on the relative abundance of this intermediate size fraction. The ?6.3 mm size fraction distribution profile was found to not be significantly different between the four reaction zones identified in the gasifier. Breakage of the coarser +6.3 mm sizes occurred continuously, and could possibly be related to breakage caused by the ash-grate when sampling.The Ergun Index was successfully used to profile the fragmentation zones identified and to show areas within the gasifier where pressure drop and resultant instability occurs. This is the first-ever identification of this phenomenon occurring within a fixed-bed gasifier and is expected to lead to significant optimization challenges to ensure better stability.     

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 MK IV FBDB gasifier. Part 1 - The volatile elements: Hg, As, Se, Cd and Pb

Coal-fired power and heat production are the largest single source of Hg in the atmosphere, and in March 2005, the US-EPA ruled regarding Hg reduction from coal utilization in the USA. Appropriate Hg pollution control of technology, as well as reductions in the uses of Hg and coal-containing Hg can readily reduce the releases of Hg from coal utilities. Integrated multi-pollutant (SOx, NOx, particulate matter and Hg) control technologies may be a cost-effective approach. Prior to considering mitigation technologies, it is necessary to understand the quantity of mercury in the feed coal, its mode of occurrence (i.e. mineral or organic associations), its partitioning behaviour during the process, and the volume and species in which it is being emitted via stacks. These factors have all been investigated up to the point of release for the Sasol gasification and steam-raising plants, including other trace elements.The focus of this paper is to discuss the more recent environmental research developments by Sasol, where trace element simulation and validation of model predictions have been undertaken for the Sasol-Lurgi gasification process operating on lump coal. Fact-Sage thermodynamic equilibrium modeling was used to simulate the trace elements: Hg, As, Se, Cd and Pb gas phase and ash phase partitioning and speciation behaviour occurring in a fixed-bed pressurised gasifier. A Sasol-Lurgi Mark IV (MK IV) fixed-bed dry bottom (FBDB) gasifier was mined via turn-out sampling in order to determine the trace element changes through the gasifier, findings being used to validate the modeled results. This paper will focus on the behaviour of the volatile Class I trace elements: Hg, As, Se, Cd and Pb within the Sasol-Lurgi MK IV FBDB gasifier as function of coal quality. This study excludes the downstream gas cleaning partitioning and speciation behaviour of these elements, which will form the basis of a future paper.Good agreement between model-predictions and measurements have been attained in this study, with the exception of As. Hg, Cd, Pb, As and Se were all found to be highly volatile, partitioning into the gas phase. Hg was found to be the most volatile element during fixed-bed gasification and is present in the gas phase in the form of elemental Hg (g). As, Se, Cd and Pb have lower volatilities when compared to Hg, and they vary in an order: Hg > Se > Cd > Pb > As. Speciation predictions showed that: Hg, AsH₃, H₂Se, PbSe, Cd, CdS, and PbS/Pb/PbCl, species could potentially exist in the raw gas phase.     

Manipulation of gasification coal feed in order to increase the ash fusion temperature of the coal enabling the gasifiers to operate at higher temperatures

Coal is a crucial feedstock for South Africa’s unique synfuels and petrochemicals industry and used by Sasol as a feedstock to produce synthesis gas via the Sasol-Lurgi Fixed Bed Dry Bottom (FBDB) gasification process. The ash fusion temperature (AFT) gives detail information on the suitability of a coal source for gasification purposes, and specifically to which extent ash agglomeration or clinkering is likely to occur within the gasifier. Ash clinkering inside the gasifier can cause channel burning and unstable operation.Sasol-Lurgi FBDB gasifiers are currently operated with the philosophy of adding an excess of steam to the process to control the H₂/CO ratio of the syngas produced, but indirectly also to control the maximum gasifier temperature below the AFT of the coal. An opportunity exists to increase the AFT of the coal fed to the gasifiers by adding AFT increasing minerals to the coal blend before it is fed into the gasification process. For the aim of this study a South African coal source was investigated, as being used by the gasification operations in Secunda.With the specific aim of this study, to increase the AFT, the determination of the AFT of the coal blends where acidic components such as silica (SiO₂), alumina (Al₂O₃) and titania (TiO₂) were added was conducted. The Al₂O₃ had the biggest and most significant effect on the AFT with the least addition to the coal blend. The effect of SiO₂ and TiO₂ were very similar, but the effect was much smaller and further Al₂O₃ was needed to increase the AFT to a similar AFT level in comparison to the SiO₂ used. Kaolinite, roof and floor components (containing mainly Al₂O₃ and SiO₂) were also added, also showing an increase in the AFT with up to 4 mass% addition. Another observation was that the AFT was non-additive (not a linear weighted calculated average) and not the weighted average AFT as was expected for the other coal properties such as the ash content, for example. The ash slagging characteristics is a non-additive property of individual coal sources in the blend and therefore difficult to predict.In general it can be concluded that the unique opportunity exists to increase the AFT, was tested, proven and mechanistically outlined in this study on the coal source fed to the Sasol-Lurgi FBDB gasifiers. The AFT can be increased to >1350 °C by adding AFT increasing minerals or species to the coal blend before it is fed into the gasification process. By increasing the AFT, the direct effect will be that steam consumption can be decreased, which in turn will improve carbon utilization.     

An understanding of the behaviour of a number of element phases impacting on a commercial-scale Sasol-Lurgi FBDB gasifier

Chemical properties of coal which impact on gasification performance relate to those processes which do effect a change in chemical constitution, these in turn may lead to changes in physical properties such as particle size distribution and surface area of the coal. Turn-out samples obtained from a commercial-scale Sasol-Lurgi fixed-bed dry bottom (FBDB) gasifier were characterized to understand and interpret the internal chemical property behaviour and are discussed in relation to the residual C, H, N, S and O distribution profiles obtained. Thermodynamic equilibrium simulation of the organic and inorganic speciation behaviour occurring within a fixed-bed gasifier was modelled using the Fact-Sage simulation package, and used to support the measured ultimate analysis profile data obtained.The measured gasifier ultimate analysis profiles provided good insight into understanding the development of aromaticity of the char, expressed by the carbon:hydrogen ratio calculated on a mass basis. Equilibrium compositional profiles calculated for C, H, N, S and O provided discernment regarding the speciation and partitioning behaviour occurring within the fixed-bed-reactor. Fact-Sage thermodynamic equilibrium modeling of the gasifier related to the ultimate analysis results, was found to be useful in identifying an oxygen scavenging effect created by the mineral transformation behaviour occurring during reduction. It was found that oxygen-containing species such as Mg₂Al₄Si₅O₁₈ (corderite) and Fe₂Al₄Si₅O₁₈ (ferro-corderite) form within the reduction zone. It would appear that mineral composition is a more fundamental property than merely ash content in the gasification process, when viewed on an oxygen consumption basis.     

Trace element behaviour in the Sasol-Lurgi MK IV FBDB gasifier. Part 2 - The semi-volatile elements: Cu, Mo, Ni and Zn

Gasification is a coal conversion process that could be considered to be more amenable with regards to environmental impact factors when compared to combustion, as it provides minimum direct emission to the atmosphere due to the opportunity to apply a series of gas cleaning processes. Emissions could be in the form of the well known trace elements labelled as toxic present in feed coal. Due to the minimal literature available on coal gasification when compared to coal combustion, a large amount of inference to coal combustion has been applied in discussing the partitioning behaviour of trace elements during coal utilization. Conducting mass balance calculations of trace elements around gasification processes have proven to be a challenging task. This is due to the limitation of the analytical techniques employed to quantify at the parts per million levels at which trace elements exist. The other challenge is analyzing for trace elements in all the different stream phases that occur after gasification. The availability of thermodynamic equilibrium packages i.e. Fact-Sage to perform high temperature calculations, at the same time handling all phases of material involved has simplified the challenges. Results obtained from such calculations have also proved to be close to reality, but have not been related to the fixed-bed counter-current gasification reactor operating on lump coal.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. Fact-Sage thermodynamic equilibrium modelling was used to simulate the semi-volatile trace elements (Cu, Mo, Ni and Zn) gas phase and ash phase partitioning and speciation behaviour occurring in a fixed-bed pressurized gasifier. A Sasol-Lurgi Mark IV FBDB gasifier was mined via turn-out sampling in order to determine the trace element changes through the gasifier, results being used to validate the modelled results.The semi-volatile elements: Cu, Mo, Ni and Zn all showed limited (5% in the case of Zn) de-volatilization behaviour in the drying and pyrolysis zone of the fixed-bed gasifier. Predictions revealed that within the reduction zone of the fixed-bed gasifier that they are all highly volatile, producing gaseous species with an increase in temperature, varying in the order: Zn > Mo > Cu > Ni, which is contrary to what was found from the experimental results. This could imply that thermodynamic equilibrium conditions do not necessarily prevail in a fixed-bed gasifier operating on lump coal, since in reality mass and heat transfer limitations across coarse coal particles apply and the reactions are therefore more kinetically limited. Over-balances of Ni and Mo partitioning to the solid ash fraction, was found for 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 these species during the gasifier sampling campaign, as well as by the particle size reduction processes utilized prior to elemental analyses. Leaching tests conducted on the bottom ash collected from the gasifier 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 Ni and Mo within the gasifier should be further investigated.     

Air blown partial gasification of coal in a pilot plant pressurized spout-fluid bed reactor

The advanced high efficiency cycles are all based on gas turbine technology, so coal gasification is the heart of the process. A 2 MW_th spout-fluid bed gasifier has been constructed to study the partial gasification performance of a high ash Chinese coal. This paper presents the results of pilot plant partial gasification tests carried out at 0.5 MPa pressure and temperatures within the range of 950–980 °C in order to assess the technical feasibility of the raw gas and residual char generated from the gasifiier for use in the gas turbine based power plant. The results indicate that the gasification process at a higher temperature is better as far as carbon conversion, gas yield and cold gas efficiency are concerned. Increasing steam to coal ratio from 0.32 to 0.45 favors the water–gas and water–gas shift reactions that causes hydrogen content in the raw gas to rise. Coal gasification at a higher bed height shows advantages in gas quality, carbon conversion, gas yield and cold gas efficiency. The gas heating value data obtained from the deep-bed-height displays only 6–12% lower than the calculated value on the basis of Gibbs free energy minimization. The char residue shows high combustion reactivity and more than 99% combustion efficiency can be achieved.     

A kinetic study of gaseous potassium capture by coal minerals in a high temperature fixed-bed reactor

The reactions between gaseous potassium chloride and coal minerals were investigated in a lab-scale high temperature fixed-bed reactor using single sorbent pellets. The applied coal minerals included kaolin, mullite, silica, alumina, bituminous coal ash, and lignite coal ash that were formed into long cylindrical pellets. Kaolin and bituminous coal ash that both have significant amounts of Si and Al show superior potassium capture characteristics. Experimental results show that capture of potassium by kaolin is independent of the gas oxygen content. Kaolin releases water and forms metakaolin when heated at temperatures above 450 °C. The amounts of potassium captured by metakaolin pellet decreases with increasing reaction temperature in the range of 900–1300 °C and increases again with further increasing the temperature up to 1500 °C. There is no reaction of pre-made mullite with KCl at temperatures below 1300 °C. However, the weight gain by mullite is only slightly smaller than that by kaolin in the temperature range of 1300–1500 °C. A simple model was developed for the gas–solid reaction between potassium vapor and metakaolin pellet at 900 °C.     

Carbon particle type characterization of the carbon behaviour impacting on a commercial-scale Sasol-Lurgi FBDB gasifier

Char-form analysis, whilst not yet an ISO standard, is a relatively common characterization method applied to pulverized coal samples used by power utilities globally. Fixed-bed gasification coal feeds differ from pulverized fuel combustion feeds by nature of the initial particle size (+6 mm, −75 mm). Hence it is unlikely that combustion char morphological characterization schemes can be directly applied to fixed-bed gasifier chars. In this study, a unique carbon particle type analysis was developed to characterize the physical (and inferred chemical) changes occurring in the particles during gasification based on coal petrography and combustion char morphology. A range of samples sequentially sampled from a quenched commercial-scale Sasol-Lurgi fixed-bed dry-bottom (FBDB) Gasifier were thus analysed.It was determined that maceral type (specifically vitrinite and inertinite) plays a pivotal role in the changes experienced by carbon particles when exposed to increasing temperature within the gasifier. Whole vitrinite particles and vitrinite bands within particles devolatilized first, followed at higher temperatures by reactive inertinite types. By the end of the pyrolysis zone, all the coal particles were converted to char, becoming consumed in the oxidation/combustion zone as the charge further descended within the gasifier.The carbon particle type results showed that both the porous and carbominerite char types follow similar burn-out profiles. These char types formed in the slower pyrolysis region within the pyrolysis zone, increasing to around 10% by volume within the reduction zone, where 53% carbon conversion occurred. Both of these char forms were consumed by the time the charge reached the ash-grate at the base of the reactor, and therefore did not contribute to the carbon loss in the ash discharge. It would appear as if the dense char and intermediate char types are responsible for the few percent carbon loss that is consistently obtained at the gasification operations.The carbon particle type analysis developed for coarse coal to the gasification process was shown to provide a significant insight into the behaviour of the carbon particles during gasification, both as a stand alone analysis and in conjunction with the other chemical and physical analyses performed on the fixed-bed gasifier samples.     

Pipe reactor gasification studies of a south african bituminous coal blend. Part 1 - Carbon and volatile matter behaviour as function of feed coal particle size reduction

The Sasol-Lurgi fixed-bed dry-bottom (FBDB) MKIV gasifiers are proven to be robust as far as acceptable coal properties are concerned, in particular its ability to accommodate a range of particle size distributions (PSD) fractions. Over the years, the findings from a number of studies conducted at Sasol have played a key role in the optimization of the Sasol-Lurgi gasifiers as far as the limited amount of coal preparation by crushing and screening is concerned. The continued optimization efforts by Sasol over many years have led to a robust and reliable gasification technology for coal conversion, and more improvements are envisaged for the near future.In this study, gasification profiles inside real coal beds were investigated experimentally using a pilot scale combustor unit (pipe reactor), where the top size of the coal blend was systematically reduced from 75 mm, 53 mm and 37.5 mm. The pilot scale combustor has an inside diameter of 400 mm, is approximately 3 m long and the combustion rate is controlled by regulating the oxygen/nitrogen ratio of the gas feed. Ash is not removed continuously, so the combustion front moves upwards through the coal bed with time, resulting in a temperature gradient across the bed. The combustion process can be stopped at any point in time by removing all of the oxygen from the feed gas (i.e. quenching with nitrogen). The combustor was constructed so that it can be tilted onto its side and opened up like a coffin to allow sample taking and visual inspection of the combustion profile. In this case, equivalent sized slices were taken across the length of the reactor bed contents and the samples were analysed for PSD, proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, Fisher assay and coal char CO₂ reactivity. This paper focuses on the coal property transformational behaviour (as characterized by the proximate analysis and Fischer tar results) through packed coal beds of different feed coal size distributions.The proximate analysis results showed clear reaction zone profiles to be occurring within the pipe reactor, i.e. drying, pyrolysis, reduction and combustion (ash bed) zones, in agreement with the SL-FBDB MKIV commercial-scale findings. It was found that a decrease in feed coal particle size resulted in better heat transfer across the particles with ensuing faster volatile matter and tar evolution.     

Optimization of coal reburning in a 1 MW tangentially fired furnace

This paper deals with an experimental study on the influence of coal reburn on NO_x reduction efficiency, unburned carbon in fly ash and the furnace temperature distribution along the height in a 1 MW (heat input power) tangentially firing furnace with multiple low NO_x control technologies. Several variables associated with the reburn system have been investigated in the experiment which includes the air stoichiometry in reburn zone, the location of reburn burner and reburn coal fineness. The optimum location of reburn nozzles has been found where NO_x reduction efficiency is highest. With the decrease of reburn coal size (average diameter from 53.69 μm to 11.47 μm), NO_x reduction efficiency increases slightly, but the burnout performance of coal is improved noticeably. In the process of coal reburning, the temperature of flue gas is 70–90 °C lower in primary combustion, but 130–150 °C higher at the top of furnace as compared to baseline.     

Lime enhanced gasification of solid fuels: Examination of a process for simultaneous hydrogen production and CO2 capture

The lime enhanced gasification (LEGS) process uses CaO as a CO₂ carrier and consists of two coupled reactors: a gasifier in which CO₂ absorption by CaO produces a hydrogen-rich product gas, and a regenerator in which the sorbent is calcined producing a high purity CO₂ gas stream suitable for storage. The LEGS process operates at a pressure of 2.0 MPa and temperatures less than 800 °C and therefore requires a reactive fuel such as brown coal. The brown coal ash and sulfur are purged from the regenerator together with CaO which is replaced by fresh limestone in order to maintain a steady-state CaO carbonation activity (a_ave). Equilibrium calculations show the influence of process conditions and coal sulfur content on the gasifier carbon capture (>95% is possible). Material balance calculations of the core process show that the required solid purge of the sorbent cycle is mainly attributed to the necessary removal of ash and CaSO₄ if the solid purge is used as a pre-calcined feedstock for cement production. The decay in the CaO capture capacity over many calcination–carbonation cycles demands a high sorbent circulation ratio but does not dictate the purge fraction. A thermodynamic analysis of a LEGS-based combined power and cement production process, where the LEGS purge is directly used in the cement industry, results in an electric efficiency of 42% using a state of the art combined cycle.     

Characterization of coal fly ash for possible utilization in glass production

The recycling of three different fly ashes obtained from the coal fired thermal power plants has been studied. Coal fly ashes were vitrified by melting them at 1773 K for 5 h without any additives. After the glass production, glass samples were subjected to a heat treatment process to be able to see whether or not the glasses could be transformed into a microcrystalline structured materials. Produced glass samples were heated to 1423 K and held at this temperature for 2 h to determine the effect of heat treatment process on the properties of glasses. The properties of glass and the heat treated glass samples produced from coal fly ash were investigated by means of differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. DTA study indicated that there were only inflection points of the endothermic peaks in the DTA curves of the glass samples. XRD analysis showed the amorphous state of the glass samples and also the presence of only the diopside phase in the heat-treated glass samples. SEM investigations revealed that small amount of crystallites occurred in the microstructure of the heat treated glass samples in contrast to the amorphous structure of the glass samples. The mechanical, physical and chemical properties of the heat-treated glass samples are found better than those of the glass samples. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) results showed that the heavy metals of fly ashes were successfully immobilized into both glass and heat treated glass samples. It can be said that glass and heat treated glass samples obtained by the recycling of coal fly ash can be taken as a non-hazardous material. Overall, results indicated that the vitrification technique is an effective way for the stabilization and recycling of coal fly ash.     

Some process fundamentals of biomass gasification in dual fluidized bed

The dual fluidised bed gasification technology is prospective because it produces high caloric product gas free of N₂ dilution even when air is used to generate the gasification-required endothermic heat via in situ combustion. This study is devoted to providing the necessary process fundamentals for development of a bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) biomass gasifier coupled to a pneumatic transported riser (PTR) char combustor. In a steam-blown fluidized bed of silica sand, gasification of 1.0 g biomass, a kind of dried coffee grounds containing about 10 wt.% water, in batch format clarified first the characteristics of fuel pyrolysis (at 1073 K) under the conditions simulating that prevailing in the gasifier intended to develop. The result shown that via pyrolysis more than 60% of fuel carbon and up to 75% of fuel mass could be converted into product gas, while the simultaneously formed char was about 22% of fuel mass. With all of these data as the known input, a process simulation using the software package ASPEN then revealed that the considered dual bed gasification plant, i.e. a BFB gasifier + a PTR combustor, is able to sustain its independent heat and mass balances to allow cold gas efficiencies higher than 75%, given that the fuel has suitable water contents and the heat carried with the product gas from the gasifier and with the flue gas from the char combustor is efficiently recovered inside the plant. In a dual fluidized bed pilot gasification facility simulating the gasification plant for development, the article finally demonstrated experimentally that the necessary reaction time for fuel, i.e. the explicit residence time of fuel particles inside the BFB gasifier computed according to a plug granular flow assumption, can be lower than 160 s. The results shown that varying the residence time from 160 to 1200 s only slightly increased the gasification efficiency, but the reaction time available in the PTR, say, about 3 s in our case, was too short to assure the finish even of fuel pyrolysis.     

Low temperature catalytic steam gasification of HyperCoal to produce H2 and synthesis gas

HyperCoal is an ultra clean coal with ash content <0.05 wt%. Catalytic steam gasification of HyperCoal was carried out with K₂CO₃ at 775–650 °C for production of H₂ rich gas and synthesis gas. The catalytic gasification of HyperCoal showed nearly four times higher gasification rate than raw coal. The major gases evolved were H₂: 63 vol%, CO: 6 vol% and CO₂: 30 vol%. Catalyst was recycled for four times without any significant rate loss. The partial pressure of steam was varied from 0.5 atm to 0.05 atm in order to investigate the effect of steam pressure on H₂/CO ratio. The H₂/CO ratio decreased from 9.5 at 0.5 atm to 1.9 at 0.05 atm. No significant decrease in gasification rate was observed due to change in partial pressure of steam. Gasification rate decreased with decreasing temperature and become very slow at 650 °C. The preliminary results showed that HyperCoal, an ash less coal, could be a potential hydrocarbon resource for H₂ and synthesis gas production at low temperature by catalytic steam gasification process.     

Dry pressed ceramic tiles based on fly ash–clay body: Influence of fly ash granulometry and pentasodium triphosphate addition

Fly ash from brown coal (70 wt.%) and stoneware clay (30 wt.%) were used for the dry pressed ceramic tiles (according to EN 14411) raw materials mixture. The effects of fly ash milling and pentasodium triphosphate addition as a deflocculant and fluxing agent on the properties of green body (flexural strength, bulk density) and fired body (EN ISO 10545—water absorption, bulk density, true density, apparent porosity, flexural strength, frost resistance) were studied and explained as a function of the firing temperature (1000–1150 °C). Fly ash milling (corresponding to 5 wt.% residue of fly ash grains on 0.063 mm sieve) increased the sintering abilities of the fly ash–clay body. A similar effect was achieved by 1.3 wt.% pentasodium triphosphate (PST) addition with an increase in green body flexural strength and a decrease in water content of the granulate. Fly ash–clay bodies can be frost resistant with water absorption above 10% due to positive pore size distribution, which were examined using the high-pressure mercury porosimetry method.     

Simulation of coal pyrolysis by solid heat carrier in a moving-bed pyrolyzer

A one-dimensional, steady state, numerical model for coal pyrolysis by solid heat carrier in moving-bed has been developed. The multiple-reaction model of coal pyrolysis and the gas–solid–solid three phases heat transfer theory in packed bed have been applied to account for the pyrolysis process. The results show that the axial temperature distribution of the coal particles increase with a heating rate more than 600 K/min. Coal particle size has significant influence on the heating rate, while blending ratio is the determinant factor of pyrolysis temperature. Given the main operating parameters, product distributions (H₂, CO, CH₄, tar, etc) are calculated by the model. The modeling results are found to agree the experimental data using a moving-bed pyrolyzer with processing capacity 10 kg h^?1 of coal.     

Characterization of low-temperature coal ash behaviors at high temperatures under reducing atmosphere

The coal ash obtained at 815 °C under oxidizing atmosphere was further treated at 1300 °C and 1400 °C under reducing atmosphere. The resultant ashes were examined by XRD, SEM/EDX and FTIR. The results show that the residence time of coal ash at high temperatures has considerable influences on the compositions of coal ash and little effect on the amounts of unburned carbon. The amorphous phase of mineral matters increases with the increasing temperature. The FTIR peaks due to presence of different functional groups of minerals support the findings of XRD, and supply additional information of amorphous phase which cannot be detected in XRD. The ash samples generated from a fixed bed reactor during char gasification were also studied with FTIR. The temperatures of char preparation are responsible for the different transformation of minerals during high temperature gasification.     

Plasma wind tunnel testing of ultra-high temperature ZrB2–SiC composites under hypersonic re-entry conditions

The resistance to oxidation and optical properties of a hot-pressed ZrB₂–SiC composite were studied under aero-thermal heating in a strongly dissociated flow that simulates hypersonic re-entry conditions. Ultra-high temperature ceramic models with a blunt or sharp profile were exposed to high enthalpy flows of an N₂/O₂ gas mixture up to 10 MJ/kg for a full duration of 540 s, the surface temperatures approaching 2100 K. Stagnation-point temperatures as well as spectral emissivities were directly determined using an optical pyrometer. Microstructural features of the oxidized layers were correlated to optical properties through computational fluid dynamics calculations which allow for numerical rebuilding of key parameters like surface temperatures, wall heat fluxes, shear stresses or concentrations of the species composing the reacting gas mixture. Gradients of temperature on the surfaces facing the hot gas flow established different boundary conditions that led to the formation and evolution of distinct layered oxide scales.     

Modelling pressure drop evolution on high temperature filters

A high temperature high pressure filtration facility is available at the ETSI-University of Seville, which allows testing different elements and cleaning reverse-flow pulse strategies using real coal ash under diverse operating conditions. The facility is capable of processing 850 Nm³/h gas flow rate at maximum temperature and pressure of 550 °C and 7.5 barg respectively. An extensive testing campaigns have been carried out with the aim of evaluating alternatives for hot gas filtration technologies and optimising the performance of commercial filtering elements.In this framework, this paper focuses on a semi-empirical model developed for predicting the rise of the pressure drop with time. The model is based on theoretical considerations and the application of the experimental data generated using four filtering elements (PTFE and 3MFB700 bag filters, DSN1020 and CS1150 rigid filters). Nonlinear regression has been used to estimate and validate the coefficient of the model (specific dust cake coefficient) with arbitraries relations between independent and dependent parameters, by using iterative estimation algorithms. This is a valuable tool to select the best filtration options and optimum cleaning strategies in high temperature applications. Investigations about the factors affecting the specific dust cake resistance coefficient (filtration velocity, temperature, filter medium) are also presented.