Novel Design of Pressure Vessels and Thermal Shields in Coal Gasifiers

摘要

This report describes a proposed solution to two outstanding problems in commercial-sized coal gasifiers, namely, detecting and locating any deterioration in the refractory thermal barrier and the construction of a safe pressure vessel utilizing advanced carbon fiber composite technology. Design considerations are given for a typical gasifier some 30 feet in diameter by 150 feet tall with a maximum internal temperature and pressure of 2500 exp 0 F and 1500 psi respectively. A system of computer controlled cooling circuits is deployed between the refractory barrier and the external lightweight pressure vessel. Multiple levels of redundancy are built in to guard against any component failure. Through the sensing of coolant temperature and the modulation of coolant flow, a map of heat flux distribution over the gasifier wall may be generated with a spatial resolution of about 5 feet. It seems possible to maintain the coolant temperature rise by no more than 90 exp 0 F with only a modest amount of coolant flow. (ERA citation 06:028057)