Conceptual Design of the Coal to Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) Process Based on BGL Gasifier: Modeling and Techno-Economic Analysis

Abstract

Developing coal to synthetic natural gas (SNG) projects in China could alleviate the conflict between supply and demand of natural gas. The coal to SNG process based on Lurgi gasifier (Lurgi process) has been commercially implemented. However, low energy efficiency and high production cost restricted expansion of Lurgi processes. BGL gasifier developed based on Lurgi gasifier is considered to be more appropriate for coal to SNG projects. In this work, a novel BGL gasifier based coal to SNG process (BGL process) is proposed and simulated based on rigorous kinetics models. Based on simulation, techno-economic analysis and comparison is conducted over the conventional Lurgi process. The results show that objective energy efficiency of the BGL process is 8% larger than that of the Lurgi process, while increase of general energy efficiency is not obvious. Considering the income of product, ROI (return on investment) of the BGL process is 3% higher than that of the Lurgi process. However, the Lurgi process can ...