Coal Gasification in a Transport Reactor

An advanced transport reactor gasifier was operated using three different coals:  Illinois #6 bituminous, Wyodak Powder River Basin subbituminous, and a Sufco Utah bituminous coals. A steady-state model was developed to evaluate the relative contributions of coal combustion and gasification of coal/char in this high-throughput reactor. The tests employed in-bed calcium-based sorbent for sulfur capture. The model was based on elemental mass and energy balances and assumed instantaneous devolatilization and combustion and kinetically limited gasification reactions in a continuously stirred tank reactor. The experimental results on the reaction of these three coals were compared with model predictions. The simulated results compared favorably with the experimental results (e.g., gas composition, carbon conversion, and reactor temperature). The bituminous coal data were accurately simulated as substoichiometric combustion processes. The more reactive subbituminous coal exhibited significant gasification conve...