Determination of running temperature in entrained flow gasifier in regard to coal ash melting thermal kinetic effects

The operating temperature of entrained flow gasifier is one of the important parameters to determine its gasification efficiency, which is empirically estimated by ash fusion temperatures (AFTs) in the industry. However, the measurements of AFTs in labs are conducted at a very low heating rate (5–10 °C/min) compared to industrial entrained flow gasifiers (several hundred °C/s). The melting behaviors of coal ash under such huge varied conditions are different due to thermo-kinetic effects. Here, the factors concerning coal ash melting thermo-kinetics including heating rate, particle size, and retention time are explored by AFTs analyzer, thermal mechanical analysis, in-situ hot stage microscope and differential scanning calorimetry. The results of the investigation demonstrated that ash particle size and retention time showed limited influence on ash fusion behavior, while the influence of heating rates can not be ignored. Furthermore, an Arrhenian-based regression model covering major thermo-kinetics was developed to quantitatively predict the running temperature. The developed model suggested using the temperature that shrinkage corresponds to 75% to extrapolate the running temperature. The model can help to determine the operating temperature of slagging gasifiers.