Coal Gasification

This chapter deals with coal gasification, which is a process that converts carbonaceous materials, such as coal, petroleum, petroleum coke, or biomass, into carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Coal gasification as a power-generation technology is gaining popularity due to the ready global availability of the raw material (coal), as well as positive environmental issues associated with this technology over other combustion technologies. To ensure optimal process efficiency, an in-depth understanding of the coal properties influencing gasification behavior is required. Gasification performance is dependent on coal type and gasifier configuration. Typically, gasifiers are classified according to the type of reactor used and the way in which fuels and oxidant flow. The choice of gasification technology is dependent on a variety of factors, but coal type is generally the least flexible factor and gasification technology selection is typically based on the coal to be processed.