Pyrolysis and CO2 Gasification of Chinese Coals in a High-Pressure Wire-Mesh Reactor under Conditions Relevant to Entrained-Flow Gasification

Abstract

A high-pressure wire-mesh reactor has been successfully re-commissioned to operate at high temperatures (up to 2000 °C) and pressures (up to 30 bara) for characterization of coal samples under conditions relevant to entrained-flow gasification. A sample of coal supplied by the Thermal Power Research Institute (China) has been tested. Pyrolysis yields increased as the temperature increased and decreased as the pressure increased. The extent of gasification at low temperature (1000 °C for 1 s) must have been low, because the weight losses in CO2 and helium did not differ greatly. Nevertheless, the gasification yields at high temperature (1500 °C and 1 s) were significant, and near-complete conversion of the sample occurred in CO2. Non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis of residual char clearly showed an increased thermal deactivation with increased temperature and pressure. The coupled use of the high-pressure wire-mesh reactor and the thermogravimetric analyzer has potential as a laboratory tool to assess the reactivity of coals to be used in entrained-flow gasifiers.