Catalytic steam gasification of coal and coke in a miniature fluidized bed

Reasons for pursuing improvements in coal gasification technology have increased exceedingly in recent times. This cleaner method of utilizing energy is reason enough to develop it further, but the global depletion of oil necessitates using another known, plentiful energy source. It is important to employ each source as efficiently as possible. This study focuses on the conversion of solid carbon in coal or coke into carbon gas. The fluidized bed system demonstrated many useful trends regarding steam flow rate, reaction temperature, and catalyst influence. Catalyst types and loadings were heavily experimented with, but dispersion techniques and binary catalyst mixtures were also of interest. Conversions up to 83% were achieved with the PRB coal and up to 95% with the Petroleum Coke at 750°C. These conversions neglected the carbon gas that was certainly present in the condensed water at high pressure (∼600 psig for PRB and ∼800 psig for Pet Coke).