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Gasification of Coal

Gasification of coal converts coal into gaseous products for fuel and chemical synthesis through incomplete combustion. The process involves blowing air, steam, or oxygen through coal, producing gases with varying calorific values depending on the gasifying agent used. Three main gasification systems are the Winkler, Koppers-Totzek, and Lurgi gasifiers, each differing in design and operational parameters.

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10 views4 pages

Gasification of Coal

Gasification of coal converts coal into gaseous products for fuel and chemical synthesis through incomplete combustion. The process involves blowing air, steam, or oxygen through coal, producing gases with varying calorific values depending on the gasifying agent used. Three main gasification systems are the Winkler, Koppers-Totzek, and Lurgi gasifiers, each differing in design and operational parameters.

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GASIFICATION OF COAL

The gasification of coal in essence involves its conversion into gaseous products by
incomplete combustion for ulitization of domestic and industrial purposes as fuel as well
as a feed to the synthesis of chemicals , liquid fuels and some other gases. The difference
between carbonization and gasification is that in carbonization coke is desired end
product. But when maximum yield of gases is the main objective, then the char and
volatiles are further processed to get more gaseous products

(i)Basic principle of gasification

The basic. principle in gasification process involves the blowing of


(a) air, (b) steam (c) air-steam mixture, (d) oxygen (e).steam-oxygen mixture,
etc. either at atmospheric pressure or at high pressure through a glowing bed of
coal. Coal can be gasified to produce low calorific value gas of about
1200Kcal/m3, or a moderate calorific value gas of 2300Kcal/m3. By using air in
the process low calorific value gas are produced and with different combinations

high calorific value gas like Substitute Natural Gas (SNG) of about 7500Kcal/m3
are produced along with many other gases with variable heating and other
properties.
1
,
The principal gaseous products in the gasification of solid fuels with
air-steam/oxygen-steam mixtures or hydrogen are CO, H2 CO2,

undecomposed steam, small to moderate quantities of methane, nitrogen (in small


quantiles when oxygen and relatively large quantities when air is the gasifying
medium), and traces of sulphur-bearing gases. The overall reactions forming the
main compounds of the product gases are the following
Under normal gasification conditions the oxygen consuming reactions 1, 2 are
rapid and proceed to completion with respect to the disappearance of O2..
The carbon gasification reactions 3, 4 and 5 reach equilibrium at exit conditions
because equilibrium in these reactions require practically I00% steam decomposition
and negligible co2 content at temperatures above 11OO0C and pressure from 1-20
atmosphere. Reaction 5 is generally slower than 3 at equal reactant concentration.
The carbon monoxide or water-gas shift reaction 6 takes place on the solid surface
of the fuel in the gas phase. It is primarily a heterogeneous reaction with a
tendency to ·operate in opposite direction when there is Moderate amount of CO
present with adequate high percentage of steam decomposition. In this reaction
almost equilibrium over the range of steam decomposition may be taken to be over
11OOoC

Methane-forming reactions 7, 8 and 9 below llOO 0C and at normal to higher


atmospheric pressure arc of special importance in gasification. The formation of
methane and thereby its yield further increases in the presence of hydrogen or steam or
both when there is rapid heating. Thus, carbon in the coal can be completely converted
into methane at 9500C and 500 atmospheric pressure. In comparison to other
processes continuous feed fluid-bed methods yield substantially more methane. ·

Gasification systems

A number of gasification systems are available world over. These systems differ
from each other in respect of (a) the size distribution of coal as a feed, (b) the
agents of gasification such as steam-oxygen, steam, air oxygen and (c) the reaction
temperature and pressure. Presently three main processes / systems are in use. These
are the Winkler gasifier, the Koppers-Totzek gasifier and the Lurgi gasifier.

Winkler gasifier: This gasifier works on the principle of fluidized bed gasification
using oxygen and s:team at atmospheric pressure. For this process coal is crushed to -
8mm size particles with the production of minimum fines. The crushed coal is dried and
fluidized by the gasification agent at 800 to 1100 0C. Even at this temperature the gas

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phase interacts with the coal particles and maintains the pace of reaction. The soften
fly-ash produced in the system is cooled to 350-400 0C in a waste heat boiler prior to
its partial removal by wet scrubbers. Nearly 30% of the ash is deposed. The Winkler
gasifiers are normally 20m in height and 4m in internal diameter with a gas producing
capacity of 50,000m3/h.

Koppers -Totzek gasifiers: In this system, crushed coal is charged in the gasifier
through hoppers. In the walls of gasifier the burners are fixed and the body of the
gasifier is lined by refractory and water jacket (Fig. 8.3). The steam produced in the
water jacket is used to maintain the flame temperature of about 19000C. In this process,
nearly 50% ash comes out from the reactor along with gases as fly ash and the rest remains
as slag at the bottom of the gasifier. The advantage of this gasifier is that a wide spectrum
of coals can be gasified without having a significant change in the composition of the
produced gases.
Lurgi gasifier: The Lurgi gasifier system works principally on autothermic moving bed
process employing either steam and oxygen or steam and air as gasifying agent (Fig8.4). A
12 feet diameter system can gasify nearly 600 tons; of coal per da·y. This gasifier is a
water jacketed pressure cell to which 2mm particle size coal is periodically charged
through a lock-hopper system. The gasifying agen t (oxygen + steam or steam+air) is
passed through a rotary gate located at the bottom of the shell. The gasification ·reactions
are performed at a temperature ranging from 925°C·to1035°C. The gases produced
from oxygen and steam reaction contain 50% hydrogen 35% carbon monoxide
and15% methane.

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