Chemical Composition Changes during the Commercial Entrained-Flow General Electric and Gaskombinat Schwarze Pumpe Coal Gasification Processes

Abstract

The chemistry of the feed coals and coal gasification residues derived from the commercial entrained-flow General Electric (GE) and Gaskombinat Schwarze Pumpe (GSP) coal gasification plants in China was investigated by proximate and ultimate and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer analyses. The chemical compositions of the feed coals and gasification residues derived from the commercial GE and GSP coal gasification plants provided an understanding of the behaviors of the chemical components during entrained-flow coal gasification. The fate of chemical compositions during the commercial entrained-flow coal gasification was evaluated through systematic sampling and chemical analyses. Although the feed coals used in the GE and GSP coal gasification plants were generally similar in properties, the coal gasification residue ashes derived from the GSP gasification were more heterogeneous than those from the GE gasification. However, more proportions of carbon in the feed coal were converted during the GSP coal gasification according to the unreacted carbon contents in the gasification residues indicated by the loss on ignition value. Si and Al were stable in both the GE and GSP gasification processes, while Mg, Na, and P tended to be more volatile. However, the ashes of the GE coal gasification residues and GSP coal gasification residues were respectively ferricalsialic and calsialic, as was mainly determined by the properties of the feed coals instead of the gasification technology. A comparison to previous research showed that the GE and GSP coal gasification residues have a potential for carbon recovery and being used as the raw materials of inorganic materials such as geopolymers.