Experimental testing of a catalytically treated coal in a moving-bed gasifier. Final report

This was an experimental study to produce and gasify coal prepared by the Battelle Treated Coal (BTC) process. The process results in the intimate incorporation of calcium into the coal structure. In this study, over 7 tons of BTC were prepared from Illinois No. 6 and Ohio No. 6 coals and gasified to evaluate performance in Dravo's 3 ft I.D. pilot-scale Wellman-Galusha (moving-bed) gasifier. Briefly, these tests confirmed smaller scale results and demonstrated the following: (1) Sulfur reduction in the range of 70 to 90% was achieved with both high sulfur Illinois and Ohio coals. (2) Tar formation was eliminated with both Illinois and Ohio coals and condensed hydrocarbon yields were reduced by approximately 90%. (3) The cold gas efficiency was approximately 83%, which is significantly higher than would be expected from the gasification of untreated coal, due to the elimination of tars and corresponding increase in gas production. A preliminary cost evaluation showed that the treatment process for making the lime impregnated BTC had an incremental cost of approximately $25/ton above the raw coal costs. 10 refs., 12 figs., 14 tabs.