Dense-Feeding of Pulverized Coal into the Entrained-Flow Gasifier

Reliable feeding of pulverized coal into the entrained-flow gasifier is of great importance for the gasification process because powder feeding properties can affect the gasification performance index and the final product quality directly. With the background of the industrial demonstration of SE gasification technology, this paper focuses on its dense-feeding system which consists of the hopper discharge unit and the pneumatic conveying unit. First, the flow properties of pulverized coal in terms of angle of repose, compressibility, and Carr’s flowability index were measured using a PT-X powder flow tester. Second, the operation characteristics of pulverized coal discharged from the hopper were studied, where effects of particle size and hopper pressure were obtained based on analyzing the weight-versus-time curve and the pressure-versus-time curve. Finally, the characteristics of dense-phase pneumatic conveying of pulverized coal were investigated by analyzing the system pressure distribution and the gas–solid flow stability.