Abstract
Coal gasifier which produces the syngas is an important part of the IGCC plant. Models of the coal gasifier for the process modeling of the IGCC plant are typically developed based on heat and mass balance and equilibrium calculations. An upgraded gasifier model is proposed with an aim to incorporate the coal kinetic rate characteristics. Three steps of coal gasification, devolatilization, homogeneous reactions, and heterogeneous reactions are considered. Importance of coal devolatilization as the initial step in coal conversion makes its understanding essential in the optimization of processes and the development of pollution control strategies. Homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions are considered with reactivity of coal or char. Because these reactions progress simultaneously, they are dealt with by explicit method for numerical analysis. For the gasifier efficiency, carbon conversion and cold gas efficiency are defined and calculated.
