High-Temperature Corrosion in Coal Gasification Plants

Coal represents the greatest domestic reservoir of fossil energy available at the present time. Thus, it is likely in the near term that coal utilization will supply increasingly greater amounts of domestically consumed energy. While greater usage of coal for direct combustion is being projected, gasification of coal is an alternative to dwindling natural gas supplies. Gas produced by gasification can vary from low to high heating value depending on the gasification process employed. Low- and medium-Btu gas could be used for electric power generation, space heating, and industrial applications. High-Btu gas produced by gasification can be used as a replacement for natural gas. Gasification of coal producing low- to medium-Btu gas is not a new process. However, several new gasification processes designed for greater conversion efficiency are under development. The second and third generation processes generally operate at higher temperatures and pressures than current gasification plants. In addition, the