Novel Gasification Concepts

Multi-scale simulation tools are being co-developed for the purpose of evaluating state-of-the-art gasifier designs and generating a framework for studying novel gasification concepts. This task is currently focused on the assessment of coal-liquid carbon dioxide slurry (CCO2S) as an alternative to coal-water slurry (CWS) for the feeding system of pressurized gasifiers. Liquid carbon dioxide is readily available in plants with carbon capture and its thermophysical properties are significantly more attractive than those of water, promising better feedstock flexibility, system cost, and performance. The chemistry and kinetics of gasification in a CO2-rich atmosphere, the interaction of liquid CO2 and coal, and the techno-economics of coal-CO2 slurry are among the multiple aspects of this concept being studied. Modeling tools on the system and reduced-order level, as well as computational fluid dynamics are being used for this purpose.