CFD of Underground Coal Gasification

Presented By Himanshu Arora

What is UCG ?
Coal is converted insitu into a combustible gas. Out coming gases used as fuel

Source : www.coal-ucg.com

Why UCG ?
Mining and conversion accomplished in a single step. Eliminates the cost of mining, transportation etc. Exploit resources, uneconomic to work by conventional underground coal extraction.

Overview of the process

Chemical reactions occurs in 3 steps
1. 2. 3. Oxidation Reduction Pyrolysis

Source:www.coal-ucg.com

Overview of the process (contd.)

Cavity Growth
1. 2. Growth occurs between injection well and production well. Cavity consists of four zones.

Source :Britten et al, 1989

Modeling of UCG
One dimensional cavity growth model. (Edgar et al) Two dimensional cavity growth model. (Harloff et al) Integrated 3D model for UCG. (Biezen et al)

Objective of the project

Study the flow pattern and RTD of UCG. Reactions not included. Compare RTD with network of reactors. Predict conversion of UCG on the basis of network model. Get conversion from experiments. Compare experimental and modeling results.

CFD modeling of UCG

Geometric details.
Depth = 2.5m Width = 2m Diameter of inlet = 0.2m

CFD modeling of UCG(contd.)

Meshing details
Mixture of tetragonal and hexagonal cells. 1,00,000 volume cells in the whole volume. Volume of UCG = 90 m3

CFD modeling of UCG(contd.)

Boundary conditions.
Mass flow rate = 18 kg/hr. Outlet Pressure = 1 atm Fluid Porosity
Ash = 0.2 Char = 0.4 Coal = 0.6 Void = 1

Flow Patterns
At first steady state is solved.

Velocity vectors at plane z=1

Flow Patterns (contd.)

Tracer is injected
Air1, with mass fraction of 0.05 at inlet. RTD is studied.

C/Co

t/

E(t) vs t/

E(t)

t/

CFD study of a model UCG reactor

Geometric details.
Length = 1m Width = 0.226m Depth = 0.226m Diameter of inlet = 0.02m

CFD modeling (contd.)

Meshing Details
Mixture of tetragonal and hexagonal cells. 2,50,000 volume cells in the whole volume. Volume of reactor = 0.0365m3

CFD modeling (contd.)

Boundary conditions.
Mass flow rate = 0.012kg/hr Outlet Pressure = 1 atm. Fluid Porosities
Ash = 0.2 Char = 0.4 Coal = 0.6 Void = 1

Flow Pattern
Steady state velocity profile.

Velocity vectors at plane y=0

Flow Pattern(contd.)
Tracer named Air1 with mole fraction = 0.05 introduced at the inlet. F curve and E curve are studied.

Comparison of RTD with network of reactors.

Different networks were tried.
PFR and CSTR in series. PFR and CSTR in parallel. Tank in series.

Tanks in series fitted the best with n=3 and = 5.50e+4 sec of UCG = 109062.66sec

Comparison of E(t) curve simulated vs. fitted

5 x1 0
6

Et)v .t ( s
s u tio imla n f it

4 .5

3 .5

3 E(t)

2 .5

1 .5

0 .5

0 0

0 .2

0 .4

0 .6

0 .8

1 tim( e ) es c

1 .2

1 .4

1 .6

1 .8 x1 0

2
6

CFD study of more complicated geometry

Geometry details.
Length = 9m Depth = 5.5m Diameter of inlet = 0.2m

CFD modeling(contd.)
Meshing Details
Mixture of tetrahedral and hexagonal cells. Total of 2,26,330 volume cells. Volume of UCG = 36.3m3

Flow pattern
Due to complexity of the geometry steady state was not achieved.

Conclusion
Studied the velocity profiles in UCG. RTD of the UCG. Compared it with network of reactors.

Future Work
A comprehensive model that includes a network of CSTRs and PFRs which has same RTD as the UCG has to be developed. RTD results should be compared with the experiments.

Thank You!

Equations solved

For n tanks in series, E(t) is