Technical, Economical and Environmental Evaluation of Large Scale Commercial Coal Gasifiers

Abstract

Coal is the most interesting gasification resource in commercial application due to its wide reserves and low prices, therefore numerous commercial coal gasification technologies have been developed. The features of the most important have been studied in this paper. The gasifiers considered are the British Gas Lurgi, Siemens, General Electric, Conoco Phillips and Shell; principal parameters have been taken into account such as the cold gas efficiency, the production capacity, oxygen, electricity and steam consumption, effect of coal type, syngas produced for the desired final product, capital, operation costs, and environmental performance. From assessment of the latter features for each gasifier, one can conclude that although the BGL has the lowest production capacity with 1000 tons/day, it represents the best technology option due to its highest cold gas efficiency of 89%, the lowest oxygen and electricity consumption and the lowest capital costs with 50 million dollars per unit.