1980 Volume 1980 Issue 6 Pages 981-989
A thermal plasma gasification of coal has an object to obtain useful gases such as acetylene and hydrogen from coal. In order to improve the contact efficiency of coal particles with plasma flame, a new 100 kW plasma gasifier was developed. This 100 kW apparatus has characteristics that the three separate torches, tilted so as to focus each other, form one big flame and that coal powder is introduced together with carrier gas into the center of this flame.
Using this apparatus, gasification of Taiheiyo coal (sub-bituminous coal) and Akabira coal (bituminous coal) in argon and argon-hydrogen plasmas was studied. The effects of moisture in coal, hydrogen concentration in plasma gas, and electric power were examined. Dried coal yielded more acetylene and less carbon monoxide and hydrogen. As the hydrogen concentration in plasma gas increased, acetylene yield also increased whereas carbon monoxide reached a constant value. As the electric power increased, acetylene and carbon monoxide yields per unit electric energy increased to reach maximum and then decreased. The highest acetylene yield per 1 kWh was 34 g/kWh, which is twice as much as our previous results. The carbon conversion to acetylene was 15% and the concentration of acetylene in the exit gases was 5.5% under the same conditions.
Contact efficiency and decomposition of acetylene were also discussed.
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