Effect of potassium carbonate on the gasification of Illinois No. 6 coal

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982 · Prepr. Pap. - Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Fuel Chem.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6691506

Pulsifer, A H ^[1]; McGehee, J F; Saroff, L

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1. Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA

Catalyzed coal gasification can lead to reduced gasifier size and lower gasification temperatures which give greater thermal efficiencies. Therefore, an investigation of the steam gasification of a bituminous coal under moderately high pressures was conducted. The primary objective of the study was to determine the influence of an alkali metal carbonate catalyst on the kinetic parameters of the gasification reaction. The coal chosen for the study was an Illinois No. 6 coal and this material was gasified both with and without the addition of potassium carbonate. Experiments were carried out at temperatures between 700 and 900/sup 0/C and at a pressure of 2.17 MPa (21.4 atm). The partial pressures of steam, carbon dioxide and hydrogen were also varied during the investigation. The carbon gasification rate was modeled using an unreacted, shrinking-core model and kinetic constants and activation energies were determined. The overall gasification reaction was found to be first order with respect to steam concentration, with the rate being unaffected by CO/sub 2/ and inhibited by hydrogen. The variation of gasification rate with carbon conversion was described by the unreacted, shrinking-core model, with the rate constants for runs catalyzed by K/sub 2/CO/sub 3/ being about four times those for uncatalyzed runs. The activation energies for the catalyzed and uncatalyzed runs were 134 and 152 kJ/mol, respectively. The principal products of both catalyzed and uncatalyzed steam gasification were H/sub 2/ and CO/sub 2/. The water-gas shift reaction reached equilibrium for most experiments at 900/sup 0/C and some at 800/sup 0/C, with the presence of K/sub 2/CO/sub 3/ having little effect on the approach to equilibrium.

• OSTI ID: 6691506
• Report Number(s): CONF-820304-Vol.2
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Prepr. Pap. - Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Fuel Chem.; (United States) Journal Volume: 27:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010404* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Gasification
ACTIVATION ENERGY
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATES
CATALYSTS
CATALYTIC EFFECTS
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
COAL GASIFICATION
DATA
ENERGY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GASIFICATION
INFORMATION
KINETICS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POTASSIUM CARBONATES
POTASSIUM COMPOUNDS
REACTION KINETICS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES