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Title: Energy and environmental research emphasizing low-rank coal -- Task 3.10, Gas separation and hot-gas cleanup

Abstract

Catalytic gasification of coal to produce H{sub 2}-, CO-, and CH{sub 4}-rich mixtures of gases for consumption in molten carbonate fuel cells is currently under development; however, to optimize the fuel cell performance and extend its operating life, it is desired to separate as much of the inert components (i.e., CO{sub 2} and N{sub 2}) and impurities (i.e., H{sub 2}S and NH{sub 3}) as possible from the fuel gas before it enters the fuel cell. In addition, the economics of the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) can be improved by separating as much of the hydrogen as possible from the fuel, since hydrogen is a high-value product. Researchers at the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) and Bend Research, Inc., investigated pressure-driven membranes as a method for accomplishing this gas separation and hot-gas cleanup. These membranes are operated at temperatures as high as 800 C and at pressures up to 300 psig. They have very small pore sizes that separate the undesirable gases by operating in the Knudsen diffusion region of mass transport or in the molecular sieving region of mass transport phenomena. In addition, H{sub 2} separation through a palladium metal membrane proceeds via a solution-diffusion mechanism for atomicmore » hydrogen. This allows the membranes to exhibit extremely high selectivity for hydrogen separation. Specific questions to be answered in this project include: what are the effects of membrane properties (i.e., surface area, pore size, and coating thickness) on permeability and selectivity of the desired gases; what are the effects of operating conditions (i.e., temperature, pressure, and flow rate) on permeability and selectivity; what are the effects of impurities (i.e., small particulate, H{sub 2}S, HCl, NH{sub 3}, etc.) on membrane performance?« less

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
North Dakota Univ., Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy and Environmental Research Center
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
206507
Report Number(s):
DOE/MC/30097-5086
ON: DE96000618; TRN: AHC29607%%24
DOE Contract Number:
FC21-93MC30097
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Aug 1995
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT; FUEL GAS; HOT GAS CLEANUP; MEMBRANES; PERFORMANCE TESTING; PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS; HYDROGEN SULFIDES; HYDROCHLORIC ACID; AMMONIA; FLY ASH; CARBON DIOXIDE; NITROGEN; COAL GASIFICATION; MEMBRANE TRANSPORT; TEST FACILITIES; SUBBITUMINOUS COAL; PALLADIUM; SILVER; EXPERIMENTAL DATA; HYDROGEN

Citation Formats

Swanson, M.L. Energy and environmental research emphasizing low-rank coal -- Task 3.10, Gas separation and hot-gas cleanup. United States: N. p., 1995. Web. doi:10.2172/206507.
Swanson, M.L. Energy and environmental research emphasizing low-rank coal -- Task 3.10, Gas separation and hot-gas cleanup. United States. doi:10.2172/206507.
Swanson, M.L. Tue . "Energy and environmental research emphasizing low-rank coal -- Task 3.10, Gas separation and hot-gas cleanup". United States. doi:10.2172/206507. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/206507.
@article{osti_206507,
title = {Energy and environmental research emphasizing low-rank coal -- Task 3.10, Gas separation and hot-gas cleanup},
author = {Swanson, M.L.},
abstractNote = {Catalytic gasification of coal to produce H{sub 2}-, CO-, and CH{sub 4}-rich mixtures of gases for consumption in molten carbonate fuel cells is currently under development; however, to optimize the fuel cell performance and extend its operating life, it is desired to separate as much of the inert components (i.e., CO{sub 2} and N{sub 2}) and impurities (i.e., H{sub 2}S and NH{sub 3}) as possible from the fuel gas before it enters the fuel cell. In addition, the economics of the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) can be improved by separating as much of the hydrogen as possible from the fuel, since hydrogen is a high-value product. Researchers at the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) and Bend Research, Inc., investigated pressure-driven membranes as a method for accomplishing this gas separation and hot-gas cleanup. These membranes are operated at temperatures as high as 800 C and at pressures up to 300 psig. They have very small pore sizes that separate the undesirable gases by operating in the Knudsen diffusion region of mass transport or in the molecular sieving region of mass transport phenomena. In addition, H{sub 2} separation through a palladium metal membrane proceeds via a solution-diffusion mechanism for atomic hydrogen. This allows the membranes to exhibit extremely high selectivity for hydrogen separation. Specific questions to be answered in this project include: what are the effects of membrane properties (i.e., surface area, pore size, and coating thickness) on permeability and selectivity of the desired gases; what are the effects of operating conditions (i.e., temperature, pressure, and flow rate) on permeability and selectivity; what are the effects of impurities (i.e., small particulate, H{sub 2}S, HCl, NH{sub 3}, etc.) on membrane performance?},
doi = {10.2172/206507},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995},
month = {Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995}
}

Technical Report:

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  • This report summarizes the accomplishments of three subtasks completed in support of the current and future hot-gas cleanup activities at the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC). The overall objective of the EERC hot-gas cleanup task is to develop reliable methods to remove particulate matter from high-temperature, high-pressure gas streams produced from coal combustion and/or gasification. Near-term task objectives include (1) design, fabrication, and assembly of a high-temperature, high-pressure bench-scale filter vessel; (2) design, fabrication, and assembly of a high-temperature, high-pressure sampling train; and (3) the preliminary design of a pilot-scale high-temperature, high-pressure filter vessel and support systems. Bench-scale hot-gasmore » filter research will be performed with the pressurized fluid-bed reactor (PFBR) or the continuous fluid-bed reactor (CFBR) and a hot-gas filter vessel. The objectives of future work with the bench-scale system will be to determine particulate and vapor-phase alkali degradation of candidate ceramic filter structures as well as filter performance relative to particulate collection efficiency, differential pressure, and filter cleanability. Construction of the high-temperature, high-pressure sampling system was intended to support bench- and pilot-scale activities with respect to conventional particulate sampling (total mass and particle-size distribution) and hazardous air pollutant (HAP) sampling. Finally, pilot-scale tests will be performed to evaluate filter performance and determine alkali corrosion of ceramic materials with a hot-gas filter vessel attached to the EERC Transport Reactor Development Unit (TRDU).« less
  • Supercritical water extraction of organic pollutants from solids is extremely effective because supercritical water has a low dielectric constant and can, therefore, efficiently solvate organics. However, the decrease in the dielectric constant of water can be achieved at much milder conditions (pressures of a few bar and temperatures of ca. 200{degrees}{minus}250{degrees}C) than the conditions used for supercritical water (pressure > 221 bar and temperature > 374{degrees}C) extractions. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were extracted from a highly contaminated soil using using water at temperatures ranging from 50{degrees} to 400{degrees}C, and pressures from 5 to 600 bar. Most PAHs could not bemore » extracted at 50{degrees}C but were completely removed at a temperature of 250{degrees}C. Additional increases to 300{degrees}C (still subcritical conditions) and 400{degrees}C (supercritical water) did not increase the recoveries significantly. The removal of PAHs had very little dependence on pressure when the temperature was 250{degrees}C, except that steam extraction (at 5 bar) yielded lower recoveries than the liquid water extractions (at 50, 350, and 600 bar). Therefore, the optimal conditions for extracting PAHs using water were 50 bar and 250{degrees}C (hot water). Based on the extraction rates obtained for several of the PAHs, the solubility of high molecular weight PAHs increased at least several thousandfold by increasing the water temperature to 200{degrees}{minus}300{degrees}C. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were extracted from an industry soil and a sediment using hot-water (subcritical) extraction at 50 bar and 250{degrees}C. The high removal efficiencies of PCBs from soil and sediment agree very well with those obtained for PAHs from highly contaminated soil at the same extraction conditions, demonstrating that water is a potentially useful extraction solvent for many organics.« less
  • The scope of work for this task was limited to the development of a general process to evaluate coal fly ash for use in applications beyond cement and concrete. Two coal fly ash samples were evaluated for appropriateness in structural fill as an example of how to use alternative classification protocol as ash use standards are developed for the industry. The goal of this project is to develop a classification system for fly ash based on parameters that relate to performance specification of engineering and construction applications. The new classification system will provide a means of evaluating the suitability ofmore » coal ash for use in certain products that currently have no reality-based standards or classifications. Recent work by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Committee E50 on Pollution Prevention has proposed a standard practice for use of coal ash for structural fill applications. Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) coal ash researchers have worked on preparing this standard practice, and the development of criteria for the coal ash to be used in this application will facilitate the use of this standard once approved by ASTM. A preliminary flowchart for classification criteria was developed and is shown in figure 1.« less
  • Atomobile evaporative emission canisters contain activated carbon sorbents that trap and store fuel vapors emitted from automobile fuel tanks during periods of hot ambient temperatures and after engine operation. When a vehicle is started, combustion air is pulled through the canister, and adsorbed vapors are removed from the sorbent and routed to the intake manifold for combustion along with fuel from the tank. The two primary requirements of an effective canister sorbent are that (1) it must be a strong enough adsorbent to hold on to the fuel vapors that contact it and (2) it must be a weak enoughmore » adsorbent to release the captured vapors in the presence of the airflow required by the engine for fuel combustion. Most currently available commercial canister sorbents are made from wood, which is reacted with phosphoric acid and heat to yield an activated carbon with optimum pore size for gasoline vapor adsorption. The objectives of Task 5.7 were to (1) design and construct a test system for evaluating the performance of different sorbents in trapping and releasing butane, gasoline, and other organic vapors; (2) investigate the use of lignite char as an automobile fuel evaporation canister sorbent; (3) compare the adsorbing and desorbing characteristics of lignite chars with those of several commercial sorbents; and (4) investigate whether the presence of ethanol in fuel vapors affects sorbent performance in any way. Tests with two different sorbents (a wood-derived activated carbon and a lignite char) showed that with both sorbents, ethanol vapor breakthrough took about twice as long as hydrocarbon vapor breakthrough. Possible reasons for this, including an increased sorbent affinity for ethanol vapors, will be investigated. If this effect is real (i.e., reproducible over an extensive series of tests under varying conditions), it may help explain why ethanol vapor concentrations in SHED test evaporative emissions are often lower than would be expected.« less
  • Current analytical methods are inadequate for accurately measuring sulfur forms in coal. This task was concerned with developing methods to quantitate and identify major sulfur forms in coal based on direct measurement (as opposed to present techniques based on indirect measurement and difference values). The focus was on the forms that were least understood and for which the analytical methods have been the poorest, i.e., organic and elemental sulfur. Improved measurement techniques for sulfatic and pyritic sulfur also need to be developed. A secondary goal was to understand the interconversion of sulfur forms in coal during thermal processing. This taskmore » had as its focus the development of selective extraction methods that will allow the direct measurement of sulfur content in each form. Therefore, selective extraction methods were needed for the major sulfur forms in coal, including elemental, pyritic, sulfatic, and organic sulfur. This study was a continuation of that of previous analytical method development for sulfur forms in coal which resulted in the successful isolation and quantitation of elemental and sulfatic sulfur. Super- and subcritical extractions with methanol or water with and without additives were investigated in an attempt to develop methods for pyritic and organic sulfur forms analysis in coal. Based on these studies, a sequential extraction scheme that is capable of selectively determining elemental, sulfatic, pyritic and two forms of organic sulfur is presented here.« less