Numerical simulation of coal gasification in a 1 T/H two-stage entrained flow gasifier

Coal gasification has received increasing attention in the past two decades due to the growing demand for clean gaseous fuels. Numerical simulations of the coal gasification process inside a two-stage dry feed entrained flow gasifier were carried out using the commercial CFD solver FLUENT. The predicted main product gas components and carbon conversion were in well agreement with the measured data, which verified the validity of the model. A series of calculations were carried out to investigate the effects of operating parameters on the performance of gasifier, including the coal particle size, coal type and coal feeding ratio between the first and the second stages. The flow field, coal particle deposition on the wall, gas temperature and mole fraction inside of the gasifier were analyzed. And the simulation results indicated that the performance of gasifier is improved with decreasing particle size. The low volatile component fraction or high ash content in coal is not propitious to the gasification performance. And the performance of gasifier of the case with coal distribution with 75% (first stage) vs. 25% (second stage) is better than the case with 50% (first stage) vs. 50% (second stage) and the case with 100% for the first stage. The calculation is helpful for designing the operating conditions of the gasifier.