Coal demonstration plants. Quarterly report, April--June 1976. [Change to Texaco gasification process from Koppers-Totzek]

Overall progress on the Clean Boiler Fuel Demonstration Plant was maintained on schedule. A major new development involved the decision to change to the Texaco gasifier from Koppers-Totzek, which required new engineering effort in many sections and a rework of the overall plant heat and mass balances. Coalcon completed a total of nine calibration runs on the coal feed apparatus at the Tonawanda minitest facility. Technical support involved a successful coal grinding/drying test which confirmed that the mill performance would meet the demonstration plant requirements. Development of Coal Feeders continued with the successful testing of the zero pressure differential centrifugal feeder. Positive displacement feeder model testing was initiated and several modifications were made to the device to improve overall performance and allow better operation. Ingersoll-Rand Research concluded the Phase I effort on the Development of a Continuous Dry Coal Screw Feeder program with the issuance of the Phase I report. Initial testing of the Negri-Bossi V-12 machine was conducted using high volatile bituminous coal from West Virginia. Laboratory testing for the Coal Feeder Development Program centered around ejector and ball conveyor operation. Ejector experiments involved dense phase transport of dry pulverized coal. Fifty transfer tests were made with two types of coal and nitrogen gas. Engineering and Technical Support to ERDA for the Clean Boiler Fuel Demonstration Plant centered on review of completed program work: Process flow sheets, product assurance plans, a configuration management plan, and an integrated logistics support plan. Technical Assistance Services by the Ralph M. Parsons Co. consisted of further effort on conceptual designs of commercial plants. Process design work was done on the oil/gas plant and the Fischer-Tropsch plant, including utility balances, equipment specifications and process flow diagrams.