Experimental program for the development of an advanced wet carbonization process. Project 61070 topical Phase I report, August 12, 1983-December 31, 1984

Technical Report · Sat Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985

OSTI ID:5664787

An existing continuous-flow Process Research Unit (PRU), designed and constructed under a previous DOE program for the wet carbonization of peat, was activated for tests in the current program. Peat from St. Louis County, Minnesota, was selected as the feedstock for the PRU tests, and ten successful tests were made. During these tests, the peat solids slurry concentration ranged from 6.1 to 9.5 wt %. The average reactor operating temperatures and residence times ranged from 350/sup 0/ to 500/sup 0/F and 1 to 60 minutes, respectively. The heating value enhancement of the wet-carbonized peat reached 21% and the mechanically dewatered wet-carbonized peat moisture content dropped to 30 wt %. A bench-scale continuous system for the two-phase anaerobic digestion to recover energy and treat the wet carbonization process effluent water was designed, fabricated, assembled, and tested. A base case operating condition was selected from the PRU tests for process design and economic studies. The operating condition selected included a temperature of 395/sup 0/F, a residence time of 10 minutes, and a feed slurry concentration of 10 wt %. The product peat moisture content was 46 wt % with a calorific value of 9500 Btu/lb (dry basis). For a plant producing 300,000 TPY (dry basis) of wet-carbonized peat, the total plant investment was determined to be about $32 million; the 20-year average cost of the wet-carbonized peat product was $2.18/million Btu. The results of Phase I have shown that thermal beneficiation of peat by the wet carbonization process is technically and economically feasible. IGT recommends that Phase II be initiated and that the optimum operating conditions identified in Phase I for wet carbonization of Minnesota peat be tested in the PRU.

• Research Organization: Institute of Gas Technology, Chicago, IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC22-83PC60775
• OSTI ID: 5664787
• Report Number(s): DOE/PC/60775-16; ON: DE85015008
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010401* -- Coal & Coal Products-- Carbonization-- (-1987)
010800 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Waste Management
ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS
ALKANES
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BIOCONVERSION
CAPITALIZED COST
CARBONIZATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMICAL REACTORS
COST
DATA
DECOMPOSITION
DIAGRAMS
DIGESTION
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLOWSHEETS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL SLURRIES
FUELS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
HIGH TEMPERATURE
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
LIQUID WASTES
MANAGEMENT
METHANE
MIXTURES
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC MATTER
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PEAT
PROCESS DEVELOPMENT UNITS
PROCESSING
SLURRIES
SUSPENSIONS
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
THERMOPHILIC CONDITIONS
TIME DEPENDENCE
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER
WATER TREATMENT
YIELDS