Liquefaction Technology Assessment - Phase II: Indirect Liquefaction of Coal to Gasoline Using Texaco and Koppers-Totzek Gasifiers

摘要

This report provides a comparison of two entrained-flow gasifiers - the Koppers-Totzek and the Texaco - for use in a plant to convert coal to gasoline by an indirect method. The results of the current study are also compared with those from a previous study that employed a Lurgi gasifier for the same purpose. Koppers-Totzek- and Texaco gasifiers-equipped plants were estimated to be economically competitive for the operational parameters used in this study when a high-water-content western coal was used as feed, but the Texaco gasifier-based plant was indicated to be more economical than the Koppers-Totzek-based plant when eastern bituminous coal was used as feed. A Lurgi gasifier- and methane reformer-equipped plant was calculated to be significantly more economical than either of the plants equipped with entrained-flow gasifiers when processing western coal; however, the combination of uncertainties and potential for process improvement associated with these gasifiers makes this conclusion tenuous. To date, the Texaco gasifier has only been used to gasify coal at the demonstration plant scale, whereas the Koppers-Totzek gasifier is in commercial use. (ERA citation 09:019626)