Investigation into the operation of an autothermal two-section subbituminous coal fluidized bed gasifier

Using a newly developed experimental setup,the features and advantages of an autothermal single-casing atmospheric sub-bituminous coal fluidized bed air-blown gasifier,combining a combustion and gasification section,and mixing the dispersed phase(inert material,char)and heat exchange between them through an annular transfer device,have been revealed.To increase the efficiency of the gasifier,an experimental-computational method was developed find the conditions for optimal operation,combining changing the annular flow's geometry and regulating the primary air for gasification.A simple and reliable multizone thermodynamic calculation model makes it possible to predict the composition of char and syngas in the gasification section with acceptable accuracy.This method confirmed that a two-section fluidized bed gasifier can provide efficient gasification of solid fuels and is suitable for use in small-scale cogeneration plants.Syngas with a heating value of 3.6-4.5 MJ/m^(3)and CGE of 38.2%-42.3%was obtained in the experimental setup without optimizing the primary air flow rate.With optimization,the indicators increased to the heating value of syngas of 5.20-5.34 MJ/m^(3)and CGE of 42.5%-50.0%.With heat regeneration of 0.8,CGE increases to 70%.

A critical review on direct catalytic hydrogasification of coal into CH_(4):catalysis process configurations,evaluations,and prospects

Coal catalytic hydrogasification(CCHG)is a straightforward approach for producing CH_(4),which shows advantages over the mature coal-to-CH_(4) technologies from the perspectives of CH_(4) yield,thermal efficiency,and CO_(2) emission.The core of CCHG is to make carbon in coal convert into CH_(4) efficiently with a catalyst.In the past decades,intensive research has been devoted to catalytic hydrogasification of model carbon(pitch coke,activated carbon,coal char).However,the chemical process of CCHG is still not well understood because the coal structure is more complicated,and CCHG is a combination of coal catalytic hydropyrolysis and coal char catalytic hydrogasification.This review seeks to shed light on the catalytic process of raw coal during CCHG.The configuration of suitable catalysts,operating conditions,and feedstocks for tailoring CH_(4) formation were identified,and the underlying mechanisms were elucidated.Based on these results,the CCHG process was evaluated,emphasizing pollutant emissions,energy efficiency,and reactor design.Furthermore,the opportunities and strategic approaches for CCHG under the restraint of carbon neutrality were highlighted by considering the penetration of“green”H2,biomass,and CO_(2) into CCHG.Preliminary investigations from our laboratories demonstrated that the integrated CCHG and biomass/CO_(2) hydrogenation process could perform as an emerging pathway for boosting CH_(4) production by consuming fewer fossil fuels,fulfilling the context of green manufacturing.This work not only provides systematic knowledge of CCHG but also helps to guide the efficient hydrogenation of other carbonaceous resources such as biomass,CO_(2),and coal-derived wastes.

Experimental study on the activation of coal gasification fly ash from industrial CFB gasifiers

Coal gasification fly ash(CGFA)is an industrial solid waste from the coal circulating fluidized bed(CFB)gasification process,and it needs to be effectively disposed to achieve sustainable development of the environment.To realize the application of CGFA as a precursor of porous carbon materials,the physicochemical properties of three kinds of CGFA from industrial CFB gasifiers are analyzed.Then,the activation potential of CGFA is acquired via steam activation experiments in a tube furnace reactor.Finally,the fluidization activation technology of CGFA is practiced in a bench-scale CFB test rig,and its advantages are highlighted.The results show that CGFA is characterized by a high carbon content in the range of 54.06%–74.09%,an ultrafine particle size(d50:16.3–26.1 μm),and a relatively developed pore structure(specific surface area SSA:139.29–551.97 m^(2)·g^(-1)).The proportion of micropores in CGFA increases gradually with the coal rank.Steam activation experiments show that the pore development of CGFA mainly includes three stages:initial pore development,dynamic equilibrium between micropores and mesopores and pore collapse.The SSA of lignite fly ash(LFA),subbituminous fly ash(SBFA)and anthracite fly ash(AFA)is maximally increased by 105%,13%and 72%after steam activation;the order of the largest carbon reaction rate and decomposition ratio of steam among the three kinds of CGFA is SBFA>LFA>AFA.As the ratio of oxygen to carbon during the fluidization activation of LFA is from 0.09 to 0.19,the carbon conversion ratio increases from 14.4%to 26.8%and the cold gas efficiency increases from 6.8%to 10.2%.The SSA of LFA increases by up to 53.9%during the fluidization activation process,which is mainly due to the mesoporous development.Relative to steam activation in a tube furnace reactor,fluidization activation takes an extremely short time(seconds)to achieve the same activation effect.It is expected to further improve the activation effect of LFA by regulating the carbon conversion ratio range of 27%–35%to create pores in the initial development stage.

Influences of Temperature and Coal Particle Size on the Flash Pyrolysis of Coal in a Fast-entrained Bed

The experiments on the flash pyrolysis of a lignite were carried out in a fast-entrained bed reactor as a basic study on a so-called ＇ coal topping process＇. The investigation focused on the effects of pyrolysis temperature and coal particle size on the product distribution and composition. The experimental results show that an increase in the pyrolysis temperature results in a higher yield of gaseous products while a larger particle size leads to a decrease of the liquid yield. An optimum temperature for the liquid yield was found to be 650℃. A certain amount of phenol groups was found in the liquid products, which may be used to produce high-valued fine chemicals. The FTIR analyses of the coal and chars show that aliphatic structures in the chars are gradually replaced by aromatic structures with the increasing of pyrolysis temperature and coal particle size. The results of this study provide fundamental data and optimal conditions to maximize light oils yields for the coal topping process.

Co-pyrolysis of bituminous coal and biomass in a pressured fluidized bed

An experimental study on co-pyrolysis of bituminous coal and biomass was performed in a pressured fluidized bed reactor.The blend ratio of biomass in the mixture was varied between 0 and 100 wt%,and the temperature was over a range of 550–650℃ under 1.0 MPa pressure with different atmospheres.On the basis of the individual pyrolysis behavior of bituminous coal and biomass,the influences of the biomass blending ratio,temperature,pressure and atmosphere on the product distribution were investigated.The results indicated that there existed a synergetic effect in the co-pyrolysis of bituminous coal and biomass in this pressured fluidized bed reactor,especially when the condition of bituminous coal and biomass blend ratio of 70:30(w/w),600℃,and 0.3 MPa was applied.The addition of biomass influenced the tar and char yields and gas and tar composition during co-pyrolysis.The tar yields were higher than the calculated values from individual pyrolysis of each fuel,and consequently the char yields were lower.The experimental results showed that the composition of the gaseous products was not in accordance with those of their individual fuel.The improvement of composition in tar also indicated synergistic effect in the co-pyrolysis.

A numerical simulation study on mechanical behaviour of coal with bedding planes under coupled static and dynamic load

To investigate the bedding influence on coal mechanical behaviour in underground environments such as coal or rock burst, simulations of dynamic SHPB tests of pre-stressed coal specimens with different bedding angles were carried out using a particle flow code 2-dimensional(PFC2D). Three impact velocities of 4, 8 and 12 m/s were selected to study dynamic behaviours of coal containing bedding planes under different dynamic loads. The simulation results showed that the existence of bedding planes leads to the degradation of the mechanical properties and their weakening effect significantly depends on the angle h between the bedding planes and load direction. With h increaseing from 0° to 90°, the strength first decreased and subsequently increased and specimens became most vulnerable when h was 30° or 45°.Five failure modes were observed in the specimens in the context of macro-cracks. Furthermore, energy characteristics combined with ultimate failure patterns revealed that maximum accumulated energy and failure intensity have a positive relation with the strength of specimen. When bedding planes were parallel or perpendicular to loading direction, specimens absorbed more energy and experienced more violent failure with increased number of cracks. In contrast, bedding planes with h of 30° or 45° reduced the specimens' ability of storing strain energy to the lowest with fewer cracks observed after failure.

Co-firing of coal and biomass in oxy-fuel fluidized bed for CO2 capture: A review of recent advances

The co-firing of coal and biomass in oxy-fuel fluidized beds is one of the most promising technologies for capturing CO2.This technology has attracted wide attention from academia and industry in recent years as a negative emission method to capture CO2 produced by carbon contained in biomass.In the past decades,many studies have been carried out regarding experiments and numerical simulations under oxy-fuel combustion conditions.This paper firstly briefly discusses the techno-economic viability of the biomass and coal co-firing with oxycombustion and then presents a review of recent advancements involving experimental research and computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulations in this field.Experimental studies on mechanism research,such as thermogravimetric analysis and tube furnace experiments,and fluidized bed experiments based on oxy-fuel fluidized beds with different sizes as well as the main findings,are summarized as a part of this review.It has been recognized that CFD is a useful approach for understanding the behaviors of the co-firing of coal and biomass in oxyfuel fluidized beds.We summarize a recent survey of published CFD research on oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustion,which categorized into Eulerian and Lagrangian methods.Finally,we discuss the challenges and interests for future research.

Optimization strategy and procedure for coal bed methane separation

Coal bed methane （CBM） has a huge potential to be purified to relieve the shortage of natural gas meanwhile to weaken the greenhouse effect. This paper proposed an optimal design strategy for CBM to obtain an integrated process configuration consisting of three each single separation units, membrane, pressure swing absorption, and cryogenics. A superstructure model was established including all possible network configurations which were solved by MINLP. The design strategy optimized the separation unit configuration and operating conditions to satisfy the target of minimum total annual process cost. An example was presented for the separation of CH4/N2 mixtures in coal bed methane （CBM） treatment. The key operation parameters were also studied and they showed the influence to process configurations.

Prediction of geotemperatures in coal-bearing strata and implications for coal bed methane accumulation in the Bide-Santang basin,western Guizhou,China

The geothermal fields of coal-bearing strata have become a key topic in geological research into coal and coal bed methane(CBM).Based on temperature data from 135 boreholes that penetrate the Upper Permian coal-bearing strata in the Bide-Santang basin,western Guizhou,the precisions of geothermal predictions made using a geothermal gradient model and a gray sequence GM(1,1)model are analyzed and compared.The results indicate that the gray sequence GM(1,1)model is more appropriate for the prediction of geothermal fields.The GM(1,1)model is used to predict the geothermal field at three levels with depths of 500,1000,and 1500 m,as well as within the No.6,No.16,and No.27 coal seams.The results indicate that the geotemperatures of the 500 m depth level are between 21.0 and 30.0°C,indicating no heat damage;the geotemperatures of the 1000 m depth level are between 29.4 and 44.7°C,indicating the first level of heat damage;and the geotemperatures of the 1500 m depth level are between35.6 and 63.4°C,indicating the second level of heat damage.The CBM contents are positively correlated with the geotemperatures of the coal seams.The target area for CBM development is identified.

Study on the emission characteristics of nitrogen oxides with coal combustion in pressurized fluidized bed

Nitrogen oxides are one of the most significant pollution sources during coal combustion. This experimental study was conducted in a 15 kWth lab-scale pressurized fluidized bed (inner diameter = 81-100 mm, H = 2100 mm) firing with bituminous coals. The effects of operating parameters, including bed temperature (800℃-900℃), operating pressure (0.1-0.4 MPa), excess air level (16%-30%) and flow pattern on NOX and N2O emissions were systematically studied during the tests. During each test the interaction effects of all the operating parameters were properly controlled. The results show that most operating parameters have an opposite effect on NOX and N2O emissions, and the N2O emissions mainly depend on the bed temperature. Increasing the operating pressure can significantly suppress the fuel-N conversion to NOX but enhance its conversion to N2O. With the rise of the excess air level and fluidization number, NOX emissions grow distinctly while N2O emissions remain almost unchanged. Total nitrogen oxide emissions increase with the bed temperature while decrease with the operating pressure.

Experimental Study of Integrated Ebullated-bed and Fixed-bed for Hydrotreating Mid-Low Temperature Coal Tar to Clean Fuel

A new hydrotreating technology integrating the ebullated-bed(EB) and the fixed-bed(FB) hydrogenation was proposed to investigate the efficiency for hydrotreating mid- low-temperature coal tar to clean fuel, and multiple tests at the bench scale were carried out. The results showed that the distillates obtained from EB reactors were greatly upgraded and could meet the requirements of FB unit without discarding any tail oil. The naphtha produced from FB reactors could be fed to the catalytic reforming unit, while a high quality diesel was also obtained. The unconverted oil(UCO) could be further hydrocracked to clean fuel. It is found that the removal of impurities from the coal tar oil is related with the molecular aggregation structure and composition of the coal tar. Application of the integrated hydrotreating technology to the hightemperature coal tar processing demonstrated that more than half of heavy components could be effectively upgraded.

A continuous and high-efficiency process to separate coal bed methane with porous ZIF-8 slurry:Experimental study and mathematical modelling

Coal bed methane has been considered as an important energy resource.One major difficulty of purifying coal bed methane comes from the similar physical properties of CH_4 and N_2.The ZIF-8/water-glycol slurry was used as a medium to separate coal bed methane by fluidifying the solid adsorbent material.The sorption equilibrium experiment of binary mixture(CH_4/N_2)and slurry was conducted.The selectivity of CH_4 to N_2 is within the range of 2-6,which proved the feasibility of the slurry separation method.The modified Langmuir equation was used to describe the gas-slurry phase equilibrium behavior,and the calculated results were in good agreement with the experimental data.A continuous absorption-adsorption and desorption process on the separation of CH_4/N_2 in slurry is proposed and its mathematical model is also developed.Sensitivity analysis is conducted to determine the operation conditions and the energy performance of the proposed process was also evaluated.Feed gas contains 30 mol%of methane and the methane concentration in product gas is 95.46 mol%with the methane recovery ratio of 90.74%.The total energy consumption for per unit volume of product gas is determined as 1.846 kWh Nm^(-3).Experimental results and process simulation provide basic data for the design and operation of pilot and industrial plant.

Co-combustion of municipal solid waste and coal gangue in a circulating fluidized bed combustor

Mixed incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW) in existing coal gangue power plant is a potentially highefficiency and low-cost MSW disposal way. In this paper, the co-combustion and pollutants emission characteristic of MSW and coal gangue was investigated in a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) combustor. The effect of MSW blend ratio, bed temperature and excess air ratio was detailedly studied. The results show the NOX and HC1 emission increases with the increasing MSW blend ratio and the SO2 emission decreases. With the increase of bed temperature, the CO emission decreases while the NOX and SO2 emission increases. The HC1 emission is nearly stable in the temperature range of 850-950℃. The increase of excess air ratio gradually increases the NOX emission but has no significant effect on the SO2 emission. The HC1 emission firstly increases and then decreases with the increase of excess air ratio. For a typical CFB operating condition with excess air ratio of 1.4, bed temperature of 900℃ and MSW blend ratio of 10%, the original CO, NOX, SO2 and HC1 emissions are 52, 181, 3373 and 58 mg/Nm^3 respectively.

Seismic studies of coal bed methane content in the west coal mining area of Qinshui Basin

The coal bed methane content(CBMC)in the west mining area of Jincheng coalfield,southeastern Qjnshui Basin,is studied based on seismic data and well-logs together with laboratory measurements.The results show that the Shuey approximation has better adaptability according to the Zoeppritz equation result;the designed fold number for an ordinary seismic data is sufficient for post-stack data but insufficient for pre-stack data regarding the signal to noise ratio(SNR).Therefore a larger grid analysis was created in order to improve the SNR.The velocity field created by logging is better than that created by stack velocity in both accuracy and effectiveness.A reasonable distribution of the amplitude versus offset(AVO)attributes can be facilitated by taking the AVO response from logging as a standard for calibrating the amplitude distribution.Some AVO attributes have a close relationship with CBMC.The worst attribute is polarization magnitude,for which the correlation coefficient is 0.308;and the best attribute is the polarization product from intercept,of which the correlation coefficient is-0.8136.CBMC predicted by AVO attributes is better overall than that predicted by direct interpolation of CBMC;the validation error of the former is 14.47%,which is lower than that of the latter 23.30%.CBMC of this area ranges from2.5 m^3/t to 22 m^3/t.Most CBMC in the syncline is over 10m^3/t,but it is below 10m^3/t in the anticline;on the whole,CBMC in the syncline is higher than that in anticline.

Theories and techniques of coal bed methane control in China

Coal bed methane control with low permeability is a hot issue at present. The current status of coal bed methane control in China is introduced. The government-support policies on coal bed methane control are presented. This paper proposes the theories of methane control in depressurized mining, including methane extraction in depressurized mining, simultaneous mining technique of coal and methane without coal pillar, and circular overlying zone for high-efficiency methane extraction in coal seams with low permeability. The techniques of methane control and related instruments and equipments in China are introduced. On this basis, the problems related to coal bed methane control are addressed and further studies are pointed out.

Parametric optimization of packed bed for activated coal fly ash waste heat recovery using CFD techniques

Coal fly ash is an industrial solid waste generated from coal preparation during the processing and cleaning of coal for electric power generation.Comprehensive investigation on the reutilization of waste heat of activated coal fly ash is of great economic significance.The method of recovering the waste heat,proposed in this study,is the transfer of heat from activated coal fly ash to gas with the movement of air using the packed bed,providing valuable energy sources for preheating the raw coal fly ash to reduce the overall energy consumption.The investigation is carried on the heat transfer characteristics of gas–solid(activated coal fly ash)phases and air temperature fields of the packed bed under some key conditions via computational fluid dynamics.A two dimensional geometry is utilized to represent key parts of packed bed.The distribution mechanism of the temperature field for gas phase is analyzed based on the transient temperature contours at different times.The results show that the obtained rule of gas–solid heat transfer can effectively evaluate the influences of operating parameters on the air temperature in the packed bed.Simultaneously,it is found that no temperature differences exist in the hot air at the outlet of the packed bed.The investigation provides guidance for the design and optimization of other similar energy recovery apparatuses in industries.

Assessment of coal gasification in a pressurized fixed bed gasifier using an ASPEN plus and Euler–Euler model

With the help of Aspen Plus,a two-dimensional unsteady CFD model is developed to simulate the coal gasification process in a fixed bed gasifier.A developed and validated two dimensional CFD model for coal gasification has been used to predict and assess the viability of the syngas generation from coal gasification employing the updraft fixed bed gasifier.The process rate model and the sub-model of gas generation are determined.The particle size variation and char burning during gasification are also taken into account.In order to verify the model and increase the understanding of gasification characteristics,a set of experiments and numerical comparisons have been carried out.The simulated results in the bed are used to predict the composition of syngas and the conversion of carbon.The model proposed in this paper is a promising tool for simulating the coal gasification process in a fixed bed gasifier.

CO_2 –H_2O–coal interaction of CO_2 storage in coal beds

In order to study the physical and chemical reaction after CO2 injected into coal beds at different condition.The physical and chemistry reaction among CO2,H2O and coal was studied,and the influence on permeability and porosity of coal beds was carried out.The experimental method was used,so did the basic theory of mineralogy,coal petrology,geochemistry,analytical geochemistry and physical chemistry.In this experiment,the changes of mineral and permeability of coal and water quality were observed through CO2 solution reacting with different coal samples.The differences could be found out by comparing the properties and microcrystalline structure before and after the reaction.There are three results were carried out:First,the content of carbonate in coal beds decreases because of the dissolution reaction between carbonate minerals and CO2 solution,and precipitation is formed by reaction of chlorite and orthoclase.Second,the result that permeability and porosity of coal beds are improved after the reaction is proposed.Third,the initial permeability of different coal samples plays a great role on the reaction,and the improvement of permeability is not obvious in the samples which have too low or too high permeability,and the improvement is good in medium permeability(0.2–3 mD).

Productivity enhancement in multilayered coalbed methane reservoirs by radial borehole fracturing

Coalbed methane(CBM)is an important unconventional natural gas.Exploitation of multilayered CBM reservoir is still facing the challenge of low production rate.Radial borehole fracturing,which integrates radial jet drilling and hydraulic fracturing,is expected to create complex fracture networks in multilayers and enhance CBM recovery.The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms and efficacy of radial borehole fracturing in increasing CBM production in multiple layers.First,a two-phase flow and multi-scale 3 D fracture network including radial laterals,hydraulic fractures and face/butt cleats model is established,and embedded discrete fracture model(EDFM)is applied to handle the complex fracture networks.Then,effects of natural-fracture nonuniform distribution are investigated to show the advantages of targeted stimulation for radial borehole fracturing.Finally,two field CBM wells located in eastern Yunnan-western Guizhou,China were presented to illuminate the stimulation efficiency by radial borehole fracturing.The results indicated that compared with vertical well fracturing,radial borehole fracturing can achieve higher gas/water daily production rate and cumulative gas/water production,approximately 2 times higher.Targeted communications to cleats and sweet spots and flexibility in designing radial borehole parameters in different layers so as to increase fracture-network complexity and connectivity are the major reasons for production enhancement of radial borehole fracturing.Furthermore,the integration of geology-engineering is vital for the decision of radial borehole fracturing designing scheme.The key findings of this paper could provide useful insights towards understanding the capability of radial borehole fracturing in developing CBM and coal-measure gas in multiple-thin layers.

Some parameters of coal methane system that cause very slow release of methane from virgin coal beds(CBM)

In some worldwide hard coal basins recovery of methane from virgin coal beds is difficult. In general,mentioned difficulties are related to geo-mechanical, petrographical and physical-chemical properties of coals in question, occurring for example in the Bowen Basin(Australia) or the Upper Silesian Coal Basin(Poland). Among numerous properties and parameters, the following are very essential: susceptibility of coal beds to deformation connected with coal stress state change and contemporary shrinkage of the coal matrix during methane desorption. Those adverse geo-mechanical and physical-chemical effects are accompanied by essential change of the porous coal structure, which under these disadvantageous conditions is very complex. This study aims to show difficulties, which occur in phase of recognition of the methane-reach coal deposit. Volume absorbed methane(not surface adsorbed) in sub-micropores having minimal size comparable with gas molecule diameter must possess energy allowing separation of the nodes and methane release to micropores.