Simulation of Underground Coal-Gasification Process Using Aspen Plus

Shuxia Yuan (), Wanwan Jiao, Chuangye Wang, Song Wu and Qibin Jiang
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Shuxia Yuan: School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Shiyou University, Xi’an 710065, China
Wanwan Jiao: School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Shiyou University, Xi’an 710065, China
Chuangye Wang: PetroChina Coalbed Methane Company Limited, Beijing 100028, China
Song Wu: School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Shiyou University, Xi’an 710065, China
Qibin Jiang: School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Shiyou University, Xi’an 710065, China

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: In order to study the underground coal-gasification process, Aspen Plus software was used to simulate the lignite underground gasification process, and a variety of unit operation modules were selected and combined with the kinetic equations of coal underground gasification. The model can reflect the complete gasification process of the coal underground gasifier well, and the simulation results are more in line with the experimental results of the lignite underground gasification model test. The changes in the temperature and pressure of oxygen, gasification water, spray water, and syngas in pipelines were studied, and the effects of pipe diameters on pipeline conveying performance were investigated as well. The effects of the oxygen/water ratio, processing capacity, and spray-water volume on the components of syngas and components in different reaction zones were studied. In addition, the change tendency of gasification products under different conditions was researched. The results indicate that: (1) The depth of injection and the formation pressure at that depth need to be taken into account to determine a reasonable injection pressure. (2) The liquid-water injection process should select a lower injection pressure. (3) Increasing the oxygen/water ratio favors H 2 production and decreasing the oxygen/water ratio favors CH 4 production. (4) The content of CO 2 is the highest in the oxidation zone, the lowest in the reduction zone, and then increases a little in the methanation reaction zone for the transform reaction. The content of CO is the lowest in the oxidation zone and the highest in the reduction zone. In the methanation reaction zone, CO partially converts into H 2 and CO 2 , and the content of CO is reduced. (5) The injection of spray water does not affect the components of the gas but will increase the water vapor content in the gas; thus, this changes the molar fraction of the wet gas.

Keywords: underground coal gasification; process simulation; chemical reaction; thermodynamics; syngas; Aspen Plus; pipeline transportation performance; components (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: 2024
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