Underground Coal Gasification (UCG), although not a new concept, is now attracting considerable global attention as a viable process to provide a "clean" and economic fuel from coal. Climate change legislation and the declining position of coal reserves (i.e., deeper and thinner seams) in many parts of the world are promoting and fueling the UCG renaissance. This research presents an analysis of operational parameters of UCG technology to determine their significance and to evaluate the effective range of values for proper control of the process. The study indicates that cavity pressures, gas and water flow rates, development of linkage between wells, and continuous monitoring are the most important operating parameters. A protocol for the selection of suitable sites for UCG projects is presented in this study. The site selection criteria are developed based on successes and failures of previous experiments and pilot studies. The criteria take into account the site characteristics, coal quality parameters, hydrology of the area, availability of infrastructure and regulatory and environmental restrictions on sites. These criteria highlight the merits and demerits of the selected parameters, their importance in site selection and their economic and environmental potentials. Based on the site selection criteria, a GIS model is developed to assist in selecting suitable sites for gasification in any given area of interest. This GIS model can be used as a decision support tool as well since it helps in establishing the tradeoff levels between factors, ranking and scaling of factors, and, most importantly, evaluating inherent risks associated with each decision set. The potential of UCG to conform to different frameworks defined to assess the capability and potential of any project that merits the label, "sustainable," has been evaluated. It has been established that UCG can integrate economic activity with ecosystem integrity, respect for the rights of future generations to the use of resources and the attainment of sustainable and equitable social and economic benefits. The important aspects of UCG that need to be considered for its sustainable development are highlighted. In addition, the environmental benefits of UCG have been evaluated in terms of its potential for reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The findings indicate that UCG significantly reduces GHG emissions compared to other competitive coal exploiting technologies. A model to compute the life cycle greenhouse emissions of UCG has been developed, and it reveals that UCG has distinctive advantages in terms of GHG emissions over other technologies and competes favorably with the latest power generation technologies. In addition to GHG emissions, the environmental impacts of these technologies based on various impact assessment indicators are assessed to determine the position of UCG in the technology mix. It is clear from the analysis that UCG has prominent environmental advantages and has the potential to develop and utilize coal resources in an environmentally friendly and economically sound manner. / Ph. D.

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A mild gasification method has been developed to provide an innovative clean coal technology. The objective of this study is to developed a numerical model to investigate the thermal-flow and gasification process inside a specially designed fluidized-bed mild gasifier using the commercial CFD solver ANSYS/FLUENT. Eulerain-Eulerian method is employed to calculate both the primary phase (air) and secondary phase (coal particles). The Navier-Stokes equations and seven species transport equations are solved with three heterogeneous (gas-solid), two homogeneous (gas-gas) global gasification reactions. Development of the model starts from simulating single-phase turbulent flow and heat transfer to understand the thermal-flow behavior followed by five global gasification reactions, progressively with adding one equation at a time. Finally, the particles are introduced with heterogeneous reactions. The simulation model has been successfully developed. The results are reasonable but require future experimental data for verification.

Com o aumento crescente das restrições ambientais acompanhado do aumento crescente da demanda energética e matéria-prima pela população que cresce em proporções assustadores com poucos indícios de sua descida fizeram com que buscassem alternativas com viabilidade econômica e reduzisse os impactos ambientais. Para o carvão mineral, a alternativa encontrada é a Gaseificação do Carvão em Subsolo. Das vantagens encontradas com o processo, as mais interessantes são: a segurança operacional e pouca infraestrutura necessária, competitividade no preço do produto gerado (gás sintético) e pouco gerenciamento do rejeito produzido já que as cinzas são deixadas nas cavidades em subsolo. Uma das dificuldades encontradas é mostrar a mudança do comportamento mecânico e acústicos das rochas e maciço rochoso quando submetido a alta temperatura ou pós-operacional com o resfriamento das cavidades geradas durante o processo. O maciço rochoso, o sistema de fraturas e as suas propriedades mecânicas (resistência à compressão e resistência à tração) e as propriedades física (permeabilidade e anisotropia) influênciam o design operacional do processo. Com os resultados obtidos foi possível uma interdependência linear entre as velocidades das ondas P e S, essa mesma interrelação foram observadas antes e depois do ciclo de aquecimento e resfriamento com coeficiente de determinação (R²) de 0,9177 e 0,9472, respectivamente. As velocidades das ondas P e S são reduzidas com a temperatura. A redução é mais evidente na onda P com redução máxima de 39% do valor inicial. A velocidade da onda S é reduzida continuamente a partir dos 800°C, passando de 7 % para 3% da velocidade inicial. A regressão feita com a resistência à compressão dos ensaios triaxiais diverge dos resultados obtidos nos ensaios uniaxiais. Os resultados da resistência à tração e os de resistência à compressão apresentaram aumento e redução da resistência em diferentes temperaturas. A resistência à compressão não apresentou qualquer regressão com as velocidades ultrassônicas, enquanto que o módulo de Elasticidade estático apresentou uma regressão linear crescente com a velocidade da onda P com coeficiente de determinação (R²) de 0,7922. / With the increasing increase of environmental restrictions, accompanied by an increasing increase in energy and raw material demand by the population that grows to frightening proportions with little evidence of their descent, they have sought to find alternatives with economic viability and reduce environmental impacts. For coal, the alternative found is Coal Gasification in Subsoil. Of the advantages found in the process, the most interesting are: operational safety and little infrastructure required, competitiveness in the price of the product generated (synthetic gas) and little management of the waste produced since the ashes are left in the underground cavities. One of the difficulties is to show the change in the mechanical and acoustic behavior of rocks and rock mass when submitted to high temperature or postoperational with the cooling of the cavities generated during the process. The rock mass, the fracture system and its mechanical properties (compressive strength and tensile strength) and physical properties (permeability and anisotropy) influence the operational design of the process. With the results obtained, a linear interdependence between the P and S velocities was possible. This same interaction was observed before and after the heating and cooling cycle with coefficient of determination (R²) of 0,9177 and 0,9472, respectively. P and S wave velocities are reduced with temperature. The reduction is more evident in the P wave with a maximum reduction of 39% of the initial value. The S wave velocity is continuously reduced from 800 ° C, from 7% to 3% of the initial velocity. The compressive strength with the triaxial tests differs from the results obtained in the uniaxial tests. The results of the tensile strength and the compressive strength showed increase and reduction of the resistance with different temperatures. The compressive strength did not show any regression with the ultrasonic velocities, while the static elasticity modulus presented an increasing linear regression with the P-wave velocity with determination coefficient (R²) of 0,7922.

The significance of hydrogen production is increasing as fossil fuels are being depleted and energy security is of increasing importance to the United States. Furthermore, its production offers the potential to alleviate concerns regarding global warming and air pollution. In this thesis we focused on examining the efficiency of hydrogen production from current biomass compared to that from fossil fuel coal. We explored the efficiencies of maximum hydrogen production from biomass and from coal under current technology, namely coal gasification and biomass pyrolysis, together with following-up technologies such as steam reforming (SR). Bio-oil, product from pyrolysis and precursor for steam reforming, is hard to define. We proposed a simulation tool to estimate the pyrolytic bio-oil composition from various biomasses. The results helped us understand the accuracy that is needed for bio-oil composition prediction in the case it is converted to hydrogen. Hydrogen production is energy intensive. Therefore, heat integration is necessary to raise the overall thermodynamic efficiencies for both coal gasification and biomass pyrolysis. The results showed that considering the ultimate energy source, sunlight, about 6-fold more sunlight would be required for the coal to hydrogen than that for biomass to hydrogen. The main difference is in the efficiency of conversion of the ancient biomass to coal and therefore, for modern mankind, this loss has already been incurred.

A systematic in-depth study has been undertaken to establish the corrosion mechanism of a Model 25Cr-35Ni-Fe alloy and four commercial alloys HP40Nb, AISI314, HP40Al and Alloy 800H in low oxygen, high sulphur and carbon containing environments typically found in coal gasification and fluidised bed combustion processes. A review of present knowledge of corrosion processes in purely oxidizing, sulphidizing and carburizing environments and multiple reactant carburizing/ oxidizing, carburizing/sulphizing and oxidizing/sulphidizing environments is given. The experimental programme was designed to establish the role of sulphur on the corrosion process by studying corrosion mechanisms in a sulphurfree H2-7%C0-1.5%H2o gas, a low sulphur H2-7%C0-1.5%H20-0.2%H 2 S gas (pS2_8= 10 bar), and a high sulphur H 2 -7%C0-1.5%H 2 0-0.6%H 2 S gas (pS = lO bar) at 800'C. All_21j_hree environments had a constant partiaf pressure of oxygen (po2 = 10 bar) and carbon activity (ac = 0.3). In the sulphur-free gas the Model alloy formed a thin uniform cr 2 o 3 layer which grew at a constant parabolic rate throughout the exposure period of 0 - 5000 hours. Surface working increased the growth rate and thickness of the Cr 2 o 3 layer but created a large number of cracks and pores which allowed carbon containing gaseous species to diffuse through the oxide to form carbide precipitates in the alloy substrata. Alloying additions of Si promoted the formation of an inner SiO layer which reduced the corrosion rate by cutting off the outward diffusion of Cr, Mn and Fe. Alloying additions of Mn promoted the formation of an additional outer (Mn, Fe )Cr 2o 4 layer. The 3. 5% Al content of the HP40Al was insufficient to form a complete Al 2 o3 layer. Alloy 800H was susceptible to localised internal oxidation. Adding a low level of sulphur (0.2% H 2 S) to the gas increased the corrosion rate of the Model alloy in the 1nitial stages. This rate gradually slowed down before becoming parabolic after 1000 - 2000 hours. This was due to the nucleation of sulphides in addition to oxides. The oxides and sulphides grew side by side until the oxides overgrew the sulphides to form a complete Cr 2o3 layer which cut off further ingress of sulphur from the gas. The entrapped sulphides promoted localized thickening of the oxide layer. Eventually the sulphur redistributed from the sulphides in the scale to internal sulphide precipitates in the alloy with the corrosion rate returning to that of the sulphur-fre,e gas for the rest of the exposure period (5000 hours total). In the commercial alloys the internal sulphide precipitates prevented the inner Si02 layer becoming complete. Sulphur doped the (Mn, Fe) Cr 2 0 4 outer layer ana the intermediate Cr 2o3 layer formed from the spinal layer, increasing the number of cation . vacancies and the growth rate of the scale. These factors caused a massive Cr depletion of the alloy substrata after several thousand hours. The internal carbides became unstable which led to a massive amount of internal attack and a dramatic increase (breakaway) in the corrosion rate. Due to its thickness and the presence of Si02 inner layer the external scale became susceptible to spallation. If this occurred the oxides and sulphides nucleated on the alloy surface again but sulphides. protective alloy. insufficient Cr was available for the oxides to overgrow the The sulphides therefore grew to form a fast growing nonsulphide scale which soon led to catastrophic failure of the Increasing the level of sulphur in the gas to 0.6% H2S caused oxides and sulphides to nucleate on the surface, but in this case the sulphides overgrew the oxides to form thick fast growing non-protective sulphide scales on all the alloys.

Syngas, a gaseous mixture of H2, CO and diluents such as N2, CO2, is a clean fuel generated via gasification of coal or biomass. Syngas produced via gasification typically has low calorific values due to very high dilution levels (~60% by volume). It has been recognized as an attractive energy source for stationary power generation applications. The present work focuses on experimental and numerical investigation of syngas-air counterflow diffusion flames with varying composition of syngas. Laser-based diagnostic techniques such as Particle Imaging Velocimetry, Rayleigh thermometry and Laser-induced fluorescence have been used to obtain non-intrusive measurements of local extinction strain rates, temperature, quantitative OH and NO concentrations, respectively, for three different compositions of syngas. Complementing the experiments, numerical simulations of the counterflow diffusion flame have been performed to assess the performance of five H2/CO chemical kinetic mechanisms from the literature. The first part of the work involved determination of local extinction strain rates for six H2 /CO mixtures, with H2:CO ratio varying from 1:4 to 1:1. The extinction strain rates were observed to increase from 600 sec-1 to 2400 sec-1 with increasing H2:CO ratio owing to higher diffusivity and reactivity of the H2 molecule. Numerical simulations showed few mechanisms predicting extinction conditions within 5% of the measurements for low H2:CO ratios, however, deviations of 25% were observed for higher H2 :CO ratios. Sensitivity analyses revealed that the chain branching reactions, H+O2 <=>O+OH, O+H2 <=>H+OH and the third body reaction H+O2 +M<=>HO2 +M are the key reactions affecting extinction limits for higher H2:CO mixtures. The second phase of work involved quantitative measurement of OH species concentration in the syngas-air diffusion flames at strain rates varying from 35 sec-1 to 1180 sec-1. Non-intrusive temperature measurements using Rayleigh thermometry were made in order to provide the temperature profile necessary for full quantification of the species concentrations. The [OH] is observed to show a non-monotonous trend with increasing strain rates which is attributed to the competition between the effect of increased concentrations of H2 and O2 in the reaction zone and declining flame temperatures on the overall reaction rate. Although the kinetic mechanisms successfully captured this trend, significant deviations were observed in predictions and measurements in flames with H2:CO ratios of 1:1 and 4:1, at strain rates greater than 800 sec-1 . The key reactions affecting [OH] under these conditions were found to be the same reactions identified earlier during extinction studies, thus implying a need for the refinement of their reaction-rate parameters. Significant disagreements were observed in the predictions made using the chemical kinetic mechanisms from the literature in flames with high H2 content and high strain rate. The final phase of work focused on measurement of nitric oxide (NO) species concentrations followed by a comparison with predictions using various mechanisms. NO levels as high as ~ 48 ppm were observed for flames with moderate to high H2 content and low strain rate. Quantitative reaction pathway diagrams (QRPDs) showed thermal-NO, NNH and prompt-NO pathways to be the major contributors to NO formation at low strain rates, while the NNH pathway was the dominant route for NO formation at high strain rates. The absence of an elaborate CH chemistry in some of the mechanisms has been identified as the reason for underprediction of [NO] in the low strain rate flames. Overall, the quantitative measurements reported in this work serve as a valuable reference for validation of H2/CO chemical kinetic mechanisms, and the detailed numerical studies while providing an insight to the H2:CO kinetics and reaction pathways, have identified key reactions that need further refinement.