Detailed Numerical Modeling of Solar Coal Gasification in a Perfectly-stirred Reactor

摘要

Gasification of carbonaceous materials using concentrated solar radiation can be an efficient and cost-effective way of supporting the endothermic reactions. To understand the effect of solar energy flux on the gasification process, we developed a multiphysics constant-volume well-stirred reactor model. This model considers detailed gas-phase chemistry, devolatilization kinetics, particle-phase reactions, boundary layer diffusion, pore evolution, as well as full coupling between the two phases at various scales for mass, species, and energy exchange. Numerical simulations were conducted using an in-house code to understand the effects of solar energy flux on conversion time, syngas yield, solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency, and solar-to-chemical enthalpy conversion percentage.