Numerical Simulation of Pulverized Coal Injection in the Dome Zone of a COREX Melter Gasifier

Abstract

The dome zone is the freeboard at the top of the COREX melter gasifier (MG), and the secondary injection systems are installed in the dome zone to recycle dust and oxygen. Pulverized coal injection (PCI) in the dome zone of the COREX MG is used to transform the oxygen burners (OBs) into oxygen–coal burners (OCBs) and cooperates with the dust burners (DBs) to realize the function of gasification. In this work, a three-dimensional (3-D) steady-state mathematical model was developed to simulate the transport phenomenon in the dome zone with and without PCI. The results show that when 150 kg/t of pulverized coal is injected into the dome zone, the impinging stream area expands and the average temperature in the dome zone increases by about 40 K. The proportion of CO2 in the reduction gas decreases by 7.8 pct, while the proportion of H2 increases by 7.4 pct at the outlet of the MG with the PCI in the dome zone. The total effective volume fraction of reducing gas at the outlet of MG can reach 83.3 pct, which is a benefit to improving the reduction processes in the shaft furnace. Due to the intensification of circulation and the complexity of particle behavior, the residence time of particles increases by about 10 seconds in the case of PCI and the burnout rate of recycling dust and pulverized coal can reach above 99 pct. Graphical abstract