Fengxi Linyi syngas and steam co-generation gasifier put into operation

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Operation of Fengxi Linyi Syngas and Steam Co-generation Gasification Furnace / Author/Source: China Chemical Industry News, Date: 2016-04-06, Clicks: 11. At 20:40 on April 1, the syngas and steam co-generation gasification furnace, developed jointly by the Shanxi Clean Energy Research Institute of Tsinghua University, Shanxi Yangmei Fengxi Fertilizer (Group) Co., Ltd., and Shanxi Yangmei Chemical Machinery (Group) Co., Ltd., was successfully ignited for the first time, fed with materials, and started generating gas at the Yangmei Fengxi Linyi branch. This is the world’s first gasifier to use water-coal slurry + water wall + radiant steam generator, with fully independent intellectual property rights. As of the time of writing, the gasifier has been operating continuously and stably for over 100 hours, with all design specifications met from the outset. Yue Guangxi, the project’s lead expert, professor at Tsinghua University, member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and head of the expert committee at Tsinghua University’s Shanxi campus, pointed out that the core component of this technology is a radiant steam generator installed within the gasification furnace. This generator is capable of absorbing the heat from the high-temperature syngas and producing steam as a by-product, thereby enabling traditional gasification furnaces to generate steam alongside syngas production. In addition, this steam generator draws on the design concepts of liquid slag-discharge cyclone boilers, enabling it to effectively avoid the problems of slag blockage and ash accumulation associated with similar foreign technologies. Professor Zhang Jiansheng, the project leader and executive deputy dean of Tsinghua University’s Shanxi Branch, explained that the successful deployment of this technology achieved two world firsts: firstly, it was the first time that a combination of \"water-coal slurry + water-cooled walls + radiant steam generators\" was used, and this combination was successfully put into industrial use; secondly, it was the first time that an existing gasification furnace (water-coal slurry + refractory bricks + quenching process) was upgraded directly through modifications to a more efficient and reliable co-generation furnace (water-coal slurry + water-cooled walls + radiant steam generators + quenching process), thus setting a precedent for the transformation of new coal gasification technologies. According to Li Guangmin, executive director of Yangmei Fengxi and chairman of Yangmei Chemical Machinery, the entity responsible for the construction of this demonstration project, it holds great significance for transforming traditional coal chemical industries as well as for developing new types of coal chemical industries such as coal-to-natural gas, coal-to-oil, coal-to-olefins, and coal-to-ethylene glycol. The coal feeding rate of the upgraded gasifier has increased by 50%, rising from 500 tons per day to 750 tons per day; the operating temperature in the combustion chamber can be raised from 1400°C to over 1600°C, which solves the problem of gasifying coal with high ash content, high sulfur content, and high ash melting point in Shanxi, thereby improving the adaptability of the gasifier to different types of coal. By converting one unit into two, not only syngas can be produced, but also approximately 40 tons of high-temperature, high-pressure steam at 5.4 MPa can be generated per hour for use in combined heat and power generation, resulting in high energy utilization and annual economic benefits of over 32 million yuan. Tsinghua Shanxi Institute is a research institute dispatched by Tsinghua University, established with the support of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government. This project is one of the first major initiatives undertaken by Tsinghua Shanxi Institute since its establishment in 2015, and it benefits from the support of Shanxi Province’s key science and technology projects.