DEVELOPMENT OF THERMAL PRECONDITIONING PROCESS FOR A COAL-WATER MIXTURE

The present investigation is aimed at finding a way to develop a thermal preconditioning process of a CWM for a coal gasification process. The liquid water in a CWM was evaporated very rapidly in a thermal preconditioner. Two-phase flow consisting of coal particles and steam was obtained at the exit of the thermal preconditioner, and this gas-solid mixture was considered as the feed material for an entrained-flow coal gasifier. Also, an analysis of a coal gasification process proved that the cold gas efficiency and the oxygen demand were considerably improved as a result of the incorporation of a thermal preconditioning process into a coal gasification process. Thus, it was concluded that the thermal preconditioning process proposed in this study was effective for increasing the gasification efficiency if the heat recovery for the thermal preconditioner was carried out appropriately.