Reactor performance during rapid-rate hydrogasification of subbituminous coal

Conference · Sun Sep 10 04:00:00 EDT 1978 · Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Fuel Chem., Prepr.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6415403

Epstein, M; Chen, T P; Ghaly, M A

In rapid-rate coal hydropyrolysis, pulverized coal particles are contacted with hot, high-pressure hydrogen for a short period of time. Typical conditions include temperatures of 1,000/sup 0/F to 2,000/sup 0/F, hydrogen partial pressures of 500 to 3,000 psi, and particle residence times of 0.05 to 5 seconds. Rapid-rate coal hydropyrolysis involves a number of complex chemical and transport phenomena which are not well understood. These phenomena include devolatilization of the solid coal, hydrogenation of reactive volatile matter, hydrogenation of char, diffusion of volatile matter from the coal particles, and intrusion of hydrogen to stabilize the reactive volatiles or react with the active char. Excellent reviews of the subject have been presented by Anthony and Howard and by Pyrcioch et al. Bechtel Corporation has conducted a program for the DOE to investigate the operability potential and scaleup feasibility of the Cities Service, Rocketdyne, PERC, and Brookhaven coal hydrogasification processes, relating to DOE plans for a hydrogasifiction process development unit (PDU). Bechtel has: (1) collected bituminous, subbituminous, and lignite coal hydrogasification data; (2) performed a reactor model study for each of the processes; and (3) developed a conceptual full-scale hydrogasification reactor design for converting subbituminous coal to SNG. As part of the reactor model study, semiempirical correlations for predicting overall carbon conversion and carbon conversion to gaseous products have been fitted to the data. This paper presents: (1) results of the reactor model study for the hydrogasification of subbituminous coal in the Rocketdyne and Cities Service reactor systems; and (2) the design basis for a full-scale subbituminous coal hydrogasifier.

• Research Organization: Bechtel National, Inc., San Francisco, CA
• OSTI ID: 6415403
• Report Number(s): CONF-780902-P1
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Fuel Chem., Prepr.; (United States) Journal Volume: 23:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010404* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Gasification
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMICAL REACTORS
COAL
COAL GASIFICATION
CORRELATIONS
DECOMPOSITION
DESIGN
ENERGY SOURCES
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GASIFICATION
HYDROGENATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PILOT PLANTS
PYROLYSIS
SUBBITUMINOUS COAL
TESTING
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES