Biological removal of organic constituents in quench waters from high-Btu coal-gasification pilot plants

Technical Report · Fri Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5581798· OSTI ID:5581798

Stamoudis, V C; Luthy, R G

Studies were initiated to assess the efficiency of bench-scale, activated-sludge treatment for removal of organic constituents from coal-gasification process effluents. Samples of pilot-plant, raw-gas quench waters were obtained from the HYGAS process of the Institute of Gas Technology and from the slagging, fixed-bed (SFB) process of the Grand Forks Energy Technology Center. The types of coal employed were Bituminous Illinois No. 6 for the HYGAS and Indian Head lignite for the SFB process. These pilot-plant quench waters, while not strictly representative of commercial condensates, were considered useful to evaluate the efficiency of biological oxidation for the removal of organics. Biological-reactor influent and effluent samples were extracted using a methylene chloride pH-fractionation method into acid, base, and neutral fractions, which were analyzed by capillary-column gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry. Influent acid fractions of both HYGAS and SFB condensates showed that nearly 99% of extractable and chromatographable organic material comprised phenol and alkylated phenols. Activated-sludge treatment removed these compounds almost completely. Removal efficiency of base-fraction organics was generally good, except for certain alkylated pyridines. Removal of neutral-fraction organics was also good, except for certain alkylated benzenes, certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and certain cycloalkanes and cycloalkenes, especially at low influent concentrations.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5581798
• Report Number(s): ANL/PAG-2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010404 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Gasification
010800* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Waste Management
ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS
CHEMICAL EFFLUENTS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
COAL GASIFICATION
COAL GASIFICATION PLANTS
EXTRACTION
FLUIDS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
GAS FUELS
GASES
GASIFICATION
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYGAS PROCESS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
LIQUID WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PILOT PLANTS
PROCESSING
QUENCHING
REMOVAL
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SNG PROCESSES
SPECTROSCOPY
TESTING
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER