Air-based coal gasification in a two-chamber gas reactor with circulating fluidized bed

Abstract

During the bed gasification of solid fuels, the process temperature in the reaction zone is not high enough for reaching the maximum rate of the chemical efficiency factor of the gasification process. In order to increase the chemical efficiency factor, it is necessary to supply extra heat to the reaction zone to increase the reaction temperature. In this article, coal gasification in a chamber with forced fluidized bed is considered and it is proposed to supply extra heat with a circulating flow of an inert particulate heat transfer agent. Circulating inert particulate material is successively heated by coal combustion in a cone chamber with bubbling fluidized bed and in a combustion chamber with a spherical nozzle that inhibits the forced fluidized bed. After that, the heat transfer agent heated to 930–950°C enters first in a gasification chamber with bubbling bed and then in a chamber with forced fluidized bed, where it transfers the physical heat to the air fuel mixture. The experiments conducted with crushed Borodinsky coal and inert particulate heat transfer agent (electrocorundum) showed the temperature rise in a gasification chamber with from 760 to 870°C and the increase in the combustible component (CO) concentration in the gasification products by 5.5%. Based on the kinetic equations of the fuel combustion reactions and the CO2 reduction to CO and on the thermal balance equations of combustion and gasification chambers, the simulation model for the gas composition and the temperature rate calculated by the height of reaction chambers was developed. The experimental temperature rates and product gas compositions are in good agreement with the simulation results based on the proposed kinetic gasification model.