Lurgi Gasifier

Coal Gasification in India

• Coal is the most abundant fuel resource in India with a cumulative total reserve of more
than 344 Billion tonnes, estimated up to the maximum depth of 1200m.

• In view of the limited reserves of petroleum and natural gas in the country, coal has the
potential to be the major energy, ammonia/urea and organic chemicals resource.

• However, the low calorific value (GCV about 3600 kcal) and high levels of inorganic
impurities (35-45%) of the Indian coal and availability of suitable technology to process
high ash coal restrict its use for alternate energy over imported crude oil and LNG.

• At present the 60% of available coal is consumed by the power production units, while
steel and cement industry consume around 4% and 7% respectively. Other 29% is used as
feedstock for producing various chemicals.

• For making best use of coal with an edge over the liquid and gas hydrocarbons, there is a
need to improve the efficiency in processing through efficient washing of coal and using
improved techniques for processing of coal to energy and/or chemical products.

• The coal gasification process which produces syn gas from coal by reaction with steam
(steam reforming) may be a solution for improving coal conversion efficiency. The clean
syn gases after removal of various hazardous emissions were being used in processing
plants to produce energy and chemical products.

• The high ash content in the Indian coal still remains a major hindrance towards
developing an appropriate technology which can be run on commercial basis.

• The three units of FCIL at Ramagundam, Sindri and Talcher which were setup during
1970-80 using coal gasification technology failed to achieve commercial success due to
high ash content of coal feed.

• Off late, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) has setup coal gasification project at Angul,
Orissa for its DRI (steel production) plant.

• A Joint Venture of Coal India Limited (CIL), GAIL (India) Limited, Rashtriya Chemical
Fertilizers Limited (RCF) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL) are in a
process of establishing a new coal gasification-based Fertilizer Complex (Ammonia Urea
Complex) at Talcher. It is understood the technology available so far restricts the use of
coal with ash content above 30%.

• In view of the potential of converting indigenous coal to energy and useful chemicals,
NITI Aayog has setup a Technical Committee to discuss and suggest roadmap and
 suitable technology for the development of Surface Coal Gasification (SCG) in Indian
conditions and a suitable business model for the development of SCG in the country.

Lurgi Gasification:

• The Lurgi gasification process is one of the several processes for which commercial
technology has been fully developed.

• Since its development in Germany before World War II, this process has been used in a
large number of commercial plants throughout the world.

• This process produces low- to medium-Btu gas as product gas.

• The older version of Lurgi process is dry ash gasification process that differs significantly
from the more recently developed slagging gasification process.

• The Lurgi gasifier is a pressurized, dry-ash, moving bed gasifier that produces syngas
from lump coal, steam, and oxygen as an oxidant. The dry ash Lurgi gasifier accepts
crushed noncaking coals only.

• In this gasifier, coal sized between 1.5 in. and 4 mesh reacts with steam and oxygen in a
slowly moving bed.

• The process is operated semi-continuously. The gasifier is equipped with the hardware
parts, viz.,

• coal lock hopper, coal distributor , revolving grate, ash lock chamber, gas scrubber

Working

• An automated coal lock chamber for feeding coal from a coal bin to the pressurized
reactor. This device is often called a coal lock hopper.

• A coal distributor through which coal is uniformly distributed into the moving bed.

• A revolving grate through which the steam and oxygen are introduced into the reacting
zone (coal bed) and the ash is removed.

• An ash lock chamber for discharging the ash from the pressurized reactor into an ash bin,
where the ash is cooled by water quenching.

• A gas scrubber in which the hot gas is quenched and washed before it passes through a
waste heat boiler.

• Coal enters the top of the gasifier through a lock hopper and is handled by a rotary
distributor as it begins its descent through the gasifier.
• The coal feed is supported at the base of the reactor by a revolving grate through which
the steam and oxygen mixture is introduced and the ash removed.

• Steam and oxygen enter from the bottom, while ash is removed at the bottom by a
rotating grate and lock hopper. This process takes place at around 24 to 31 atm and in the
temperature range of 620 to 760°C.

• The residence time in the reactor is about 1 h.

• Steam introduced from the bottom of the reactor provides the necessary hydrogen
species, and the heat is supplied by the combustion of a portion of the char.

• The product gas from a high-pressure reactor has a relatively high methane content
compared to a non-pressurized gasifier.
 Figure: Variation of gas composition and heating value with pressure

• The high methane content of the product gas is a result of the relatively low gasification
temperature.

• If oxygen is used as an injecting (and gasifying) medium, the exiting gas has a heating
value of approximately 450 Btu/scf.

• A high ratio of steam to oxygen helps moderate the temperature such that the ash does
not melt, but rather is removed as dry ash. More reactive feedstocks are preferred due to
the relatively low-temperature operation.

• The crude gas leaving the gasifier contains a substantial amount of condensable products
including tar, oil, phenol, etc., which are separated in a devolatilizer, where gas is cleaned
to remove unsaturated hydrocarbons and naphtha.

• Exiting raw syngas at up to 1,000°F is cooled and quenched using recycle water to
condense tars and oils. A water jacket cools the gasifier vessel and generates part of the
steam needed by the gasifier.

• The gas is then subjected to methanation (CO + 3H2 = CH4 + H2O) to produce a high-
Btu gas (pipeline quality).

Moving-bed gasifiers have the following characteristics:

• Simplicity of gasifier configuration and operation

• Relatively low oxidant (oxygen or air) requirement

• Less complex feedstock preparation with the use of coarse coal particles

• Product gas at relatively low temperatures, thus no need for expensive high-temperature
heat recovery equipment

• Feedstock flexibility: suitable to handle coals with high reactivity and moisture

• High "cold-gas" thermal efficiency, when the heating value of the produced hydrocarbon
liquids is accounted for

• High methane content in product gas

• Limited ability to handle coal fines

• Caking coals require design modifications to the gasifier

• Long feedstock residence time in gasifier and slag flow characteristics require carefully
controlled feed size distribution for proper operation

• Hydrocarbon liquids such as tars and oils are produced; increased effort to clean
produced gas if it is used for applications other than direct heating

• Explosion hazard without careful process monitoring

Effect of Operating Parameters on Gasification

• The composition of the product gas of gasification, which is a mixture of carbon

• Among the operating parameters, the temperature and the pressure of the gasifier have
the greatest effect on the product composition. It was found that in CFB gasifier that the
HHV of the produced gas increased by 10% for an increase in the temperature from 700
to 800oC

Boudouard Reaction

• Figure (a) shows the variation of volumetric carbon monoxide concentration with
temperature for the Boudouard reaction (CO2+ C = 2CO) at a pressure of 1 atm. It can be
seen from the figure that high temperature favors carbon monoxide formation.
 • Pressure has the opposite effect. Figure (b) shows that at a given temperature, carbon
monoxide formation is favored by low pressure. Thus, these figures suggest that if high
carbon monoxide content gas is desired, the gasifier should be designed to operate at a
high temperature and low pressure.

Water–Gas

• Figure (a) and (b) show the variation of carbon monoxide and hydrogen with temperature
at a pressure of 1 atm, and with pressure at a temperature of 800oC, respectively, for the
water–gas reaction (C + H2O = CO + H2).
Figure a & b : Water gas equilibrium: variation of CO, H2 and steam (a) with temperature at a
pressure of 1 atm, and (b) with pressure at 800oC
It can be seen that the forward reaction is favored by high temperature and low pressure. Since
hydrogen and carbon monoxide are produced at the same molar rate, they have the same molar
(or volumetric) concentration in the gas mixture at equilibrium.

Methanation

• Figure (a),(b) shows the variation of methane in the fuel gas with temperature at a given
pressure (1 atm), and with pressure at a given temperature (800oC), respectively. From
these figures for the methane formation reaction (C + 2H2 = CH4), it can be seen that high
methane concentration is favored by low temperature and high pressure

Increasing steam supply tends to increase hydrogen production and decrease CO production
through the shift reaction. However, the effect diminishes with increasing steam supply rates.
Although oxygen is normally not present in the final gas, changing the oxygen-to-fuel ratio
affects the final gas composition. In general, the concentration of the products of complete
oxidation, CO2 and H2O, the amount of heat released and the temperature levels inside the
gasifier all increase with increasing oxygen supply.

Technical Data:
Raw gas analysis (Dry and Tar free basis)

• H2 : 36-40%

• CO: 18-20%

• CO2: 27-32%

• CH4: 9-10%

• Calorific value: 11.5 MJ/Nm3

• Specific oxygen consumption: 220-300Nm3

• Specific steam consumption: 1-1.4 t (30 bar)

• Specific yield of gas: 1400-1700m3/t of coal

• Carbon conversion efficiency: 99%

• Gasification efficiency: 75-85%

• Thermal efficiency: 75%

Slagging Lurgi Gasifier

• This gasifier is an improved version of the Lurgi dry-ash gasifier. The temperature of the
combustion zone is kept higher than the ash fusion point.

• This is achieved by using a smaller amount of steam than dry-ash Lurgi gasifier, thus
lowering the steam/oxygen ratio.

• The ash is removed from the bottom as slag, not as dry ash.

• Therefore, the process can handle caking coals, unlike the conventional dry-ash gasifier.
The main advantage of this gasifier over the conventional dry-ash gasifier is that the yield
of carbon monoxide and hydrogen is high and the coal throughput also increases many
times. The steam consumption is also minimized.
• Therefore, the operating temperature of this gasifier is kept higher and the injection ratio
of steam is reduced to 1–1.5 mol/mol of oxygen. These two factors cause the ash to melt
easily and, therefore, the molten ash is removed as a slag.

• Coal is fed to the gasifier through a lock hopper system and distributor. It is gasified with
steam and oxygen injected into the gasifier near the bottom.

• The upward movement of hot product gases provides convective heat transfer and makes
the preheating and devolatilization of coal easier. Both volatile matter liberated from coal
and devolatilized char react with gasifying media, i.e., steam and oxygen.
 • The molten slag formed during the process passes through the slag tap hole. It is then
quenched with water and removed through a slag lock hopper.

• The amount of unreacted steam passing through the system has to be minimized in this
process for high energy efficiency.

• Also, the high operating temperature and fast removal of product gases lead to higher
output rates in a slagging Lurgi gasifier than a conventional dry ash Lurgi unit.

• The conventional Lurgi gasification is widely recognized for its role as the gasifier
technology for South Africa’s Sasol complex.

• The Lurgi gasifier has relatively high thermal efficiency because of its medium pressure
operation and the countercurrent gas-solid flow. At the same time, it consumes a lot of
steam and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the crude product gas is high.

• Also, the crude gas leaving the gasifier contains a substantial amount of carbonization
products such as tar, oil, naphtha, ammonia, etc. These carbonization products are results
of devolatilization, pyrolytic reactions, and secondary chemical reactions involving
intermediates. This crude product gas is passed through a scrubber, where it is washed
and cooled down by a waste heat boiler.

• A typical product composition for oxygen-blown operation is shown below. As can be

Typical Lurgi Gas Products (Mole Percentage)

• CO: 16.9, H2: 39.4, CH4: 9.0, C2H6: 0.7, C2H4: 0.1, CO2: 31.5, H2S + COS: 0.8, N2 +Ar:
1.6
Figure: British Lurgi Gasifier