Model-Free Control of UCG Based on Continual Optimization of Operating Variables: An Experimental Study

Ján Kačur, Marek Laciak, Milan Durdán and Patrik Flegner
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Ján Kačur: Institute of Control and Informatization of Production Processes, Faculty BERG, Technical University of Košice, Němcovej 3, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia
Marek Laciak: Institute of Control and Informatization of Production Processes, Faculty BERG, Technical University of Košice, Němcovej 3, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia
Milan Durdán: Institute of Control and Informatization of Production Processes, Faculty BERG, Technical University of Košice, Němcovej 3, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia
Patrik Flegner: Institute of Control and Informatization of Production Processes, Faculty BERG, Technical University of Košice, Němcovej 3, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-26

Abstract: The underground coal gasification (UCG) represents an effective coal mining technology, where coal is transformed into syngas underground. Extracted syngas is cleaned and processed for energy production. Various gasification agents can be injected into an underground georeactor, e.g., air, technical oxygen, or water steam, to ensure necessary temperature and produce syngas with the highest possible calorific value. This paper presents an experimental study where dynamic optimization of operating variables maximizes syngas calorific value during gasification. Several experiments performed on an ex situ reactor show that the optimization algorithm increased syngas calorific value. Three operation variables, i.e., airflow, oxygen flow, and syngas exhaust, were continually optimized by an algorithm of gradient method. By optimizing the manipulation variables, the calorific value of the syngas was increased by 5 MJ/m 3 , both in gasification with air and additional oxygen. Furthermore, a higher average calorific value of 4.8–5.1 MJ/m 3 was achieved using supplementary oxygen. The paper describes the proposed ex situ reactor, the mathematical background of the optimization task, and results obtained during optimal control of coal gasification.

Keywords: underground coal gasification (UCG); optimization; syngas; calorific value; optimal control; operating variables; control algorithm (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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