Fixed-bed gasification research using US coals. Volume 1. Program and facility description

The United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Mines, Twin Cities Research Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota is the site of a 6.5 foot diameter Wellman-Galusha gasifier, installed in 1977-1978. This gasifier, combustor/incinerator, and flue gas scrubber system in the past had been operated jointly by Bureau of Mines personnel, personnel from member companies of the Mining and Industrial Fuel Gas Group, and United States Department of Energy personnel-consultants. Numerous tests using a variety of coals have to date been performed. In May of 1982, Black, Sivalls and Bryson, Incorporated (BS and B) was awarded the contract to plan, execute, and report gasification test performance data from this small industrial fixed-bed gasification test facility. BS and B is responsible for program administration, test planning, test execution, and all documentation of program activities and test reports. The University of Minnesota, Particle Technology Laboratory (UMPTL) is subcontractor to BS and B to monitor process parameters, and provide analysis for material inputs and outputs. This report is the initial volume in a series of reports describing the fixed-bed gasification of US coals at the Bureau of Mines, Twin Cities Research Center. A history of the program is given in Section 1 and a thorough descriptionmore » of the facility in Section 2. The operation of the facility is described in Section 3. Monitoring systems and procedures are described in Sections 4 and 5. Data reduction tools are outlined in Section 6. There is no executive summary or conclusions as this volume serves only to describe the research program. Subsequent volumes will detail each gasification test and other pertinent results of the gasification program. 32 references, 23 figures, 15 tables.« less