ENTRAINED FLOW GASIFICATION OF COARSELY GROUND CHINESE REED

An entrained flow process for hydrogen production by gasification (par tial oxidation) of coarsely ground Chinese reed has been developed. On e of the main characteristics of this process is the withdrawal of liq uid slag from the reaction zone. The slag outlet is heated with two sw irl burners in which fuel gas is burned with excess oxygen. The excess oxygen is heated up by the flames and subsequently used for the reed gasification. For gasifier design, the chemical and hydrodynamic behav iour of the reed has been investigated and a mathematical reactor mode l has been developed. The performance of the process has been demonstr ated by gasification experiments on a semi-technical scale. These meas urements show that Chinese reed can be gasified in an entrained flow r eactor with a high degree of carbon conversion without grinding the fe edstock to particle sizes below 100 mum as is necessary for coal gasif ication. Reed with particle sizes of a few millimeters can be gasified during short residence times in entrained flow reactors firstly becau se the volatile matter content of the reed is about twice that of coal and secondly the resulting char is extremely reactive.