The Use of Catalysts in Coal Gasification

Abstract

Abstract Existing and projected shortages of natural gas in the United States have stimulated extensive research to develop the technology for commercial production of synthetic high-Btu gases of pipeline quality. In this general effort, coal gasification has been given particular emphasis because of the extensive availability of coal as a natural re source in this country, and several large-scale process-development programs are currently being conducted under government and industrial support. The major thrust of these programs has been to utilize modern technologies to develop processes with significantly improved efficiencies as compared with classical European gasification systems. Data available from the different programs currently at various stages of development already indicate that the objectives of improved efficiency and performance will indeed be achieved in the relatively near future. This evidence also indicates, however, that practical limitations still exist to efficiency levels obtainable solely through manipulation of process configurations and the use of modern gas-solid contacting systems, and that these limitations are due primarily to the chemistry inherent to coal gasification in the absence of major catalytic influences. The fact that these limitations are not theoretical or thermodynamic in nature but, instead, result from relative and absolute chemical kinetic characteristics, has created considerable interest in the use of catalysts in gasification systems as a basis for further significant improvement in process efficiencies.