CFD simulation of coal gasification in an entrained-flow gasifier

A study on predicting different chemical and physical processes occurring within an entrained-flow coal gasifier using computational fluid dynamics is carried out. The synthesis gas produced as a result of the gasification process is composed primarily of a combustible mixture of CO and hydrogen (water and CO being the other major constituents). The abundant availability of coal coupled with the flexibility of feedstock usage, fluctuations in natural gas prices, and increased environmental concerns make gasification an attractive alternative to conventional thermal power plant solutions for the energy requirements of tomorrow. Power plants using the Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle technology are being developed to utilize conventional feedstock in a cleaner and more efficient manner. Their intended use in gasification technology based power plants are expected to bring about improvements in reliability, emission control, efficiency, and feedstock flexibility. The feedstock used for a gasification system can be coal, petroleum coke, biomass, heavy oil, or even natural gas. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 2010 AIChE Annual Meeting (Salt Lake City, UT 11/7-12/2010).