Solid Hydrocarbons

Pulverized coal is transported pneumatically using an inert carrier gas into the gasifier, where it contacts oxygen and steam. To protect against the high gasification temperatures of up to 1600°C, a membrane wall that consists of high-pressure water/steam tubes is used. Multiple side burners and a proven swirl design allow efficient separation of the syngas from the slag. The slag flows down into a water bath, where it is extracted as a solid. The multiple burners provide the potential for easy scale-up.

The hot syngas that exits the gasifier is first quenched using ‘cold’ recycled syngas and then further cooled in an external convective cooler to generate high- and medium-pressure steam as valuable by-products. Alternatively, the hot syngas can also be cooled by direct contact with water in a bottom quench configuration.

Pulverized coal is mixed with water to form a slurry that is pumped into the gasifier via a single burner at the top of the reactor. Contact with oxygen starts the gasification reactions. In the slurry-feed process, the inside of the gasifier is lined with refractory bricks to protect against the high heat loads. The hot syngas and slag then pass through a quench water pool where molten solids are fused as slag and syngas is cooled while exiting the reactor.

In order to extract more useful heat from the hot syngas, a radiant syngas cooler can be applied directly at the exit of the gasifier such that the syngas is cooled and high-pressure steam is raised.