Simulation of entrained flow gasification reactor with Multi Phase Particle in Cell (MP-PIC) approach

Abstract

An Entrained flow gasification reactor is studied in this work. Entrained flow reactors are best suited for a feed with small particles at large capacity, at high temperatures, pressures and with short residence time. This gives cleaner syngas as compared to fluidized and fixed bed reactors with very low amounts of tar. A kinetics-based simulation model was developed to study the entrained flow gasification process in Barracuda®. The software is based on the MultiPhase Particle-In-Cell (MP-PIC) approach. The reactor was modeled as an open cylinder with a conical shaped outlet at the bottom. The model was used to study fluid dynamics inside the reactor and the product gas composition. The product gas composition, gas temperature and gas flow rates were monitored during the simulation. The average molar composition of the produced gas on nitrogen-free dry basis is 0.467 of CO, 0.275 of H2, 0.226 of CO2 and 0.032 of CH4. The reactor temperature at different cross-sections shows that the temperature distribution becomes uniform with an increase in the reactor depth.