Study on the model experiment and numerical simulation

for underground coal gasication

Lanhe Yang
*
College of Mineral Resources and Geosciences, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221008, China
Received 22 August 2002; accepted 4 August 2003; available online 21 September 2003
Abstract
The gas production process in underground coal gasication is closely linked to the temperature distribution and seepage conditions of the
gasier. In this paper, mathematical models on the underground coal gasication in steep coal seams are established according to their
storage conditions and features of gas production process. Additionally, the paper introduces ways to determine model parameters and the
control volume method to solve the model. On the basis of the model experiment, the calculation results are analyzed. From the distribution
of temperature eld, the calculation value is slightly higher than measurement one. The relative errors of all measuring points are virtually
within 10%. According to the simulated calculation results, with the increase of the length for the gasication channel, the heating value of
the gas improves. However, behind the reduction zone, it increases with a smaller margin. The inuence of the temperature eld on the
heating value for the gas is noticeable. Due to the effect of temperature, in high temperature zone, the change gradient of the measured value
of the concentration eld for the gas compositions is larger than that of calculated value. The simulated results of the pressure eld in the
gasication panel 22 and 75 h after the ignition indicate that the relative calculation errors are 5.0014.29 and 9.6817.24%, respectively,
with a corresponding pressure drop rate of 9.5 and 11.97%. On the whole, the simulation value conforms with the experiment value, which
supports the numerical simulation on the temperature eld, concentration eld and pressure eld of underground coal gasication in the steep
coal seams is correct. Thus, it lays a necessary and scientic theoretical foundation for further quantitatively studying the process of
underground coal gasication and forecasting the change patterns.
q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Underground coal gasication; Steep coal seam; Temperature eld; Concentration eld; Pressure eld; Mathematical model
1. Introduction
Thanks to the basic theoretical research on the technique
of underground coal gasication and its increasing appli-
cation and promotion as well as the joint efforts made by the
workmates home and abroad, great progress has been made
in the technique of this country and it is developing into a
new discipline. Because the gas production process
completely depends on the temperature conditions and
convection conditions of gasier, the research of tempera-
ture eld, concentration eld and pressure eld has always
been the focus of the researchers in the profession. As of the
beginning of 1980s, a large number of experimental and
theoretical studies on the technique of underground coal
gasication had been made in many countries such as the
Former Soviet Union, Belgium, France, Germany and
the United States, etc. [15], resulting in great progress in
this eld, which contributes a lot to the popularization and
application of the underground coal gasication. While, for
the last two decades, except China, all other countries in the
world has discontinued the research on this eld. Over the
past decades, research on the gasication of different coal
seams, ranging from model experiment, eld experiment to
numerical simulation [68], was made. Large number of
data and a lot of experiences are accumulated [912].
According to the data, the storage conditions of coal seams
in this country are diversied. Steep coal seams account for
8.3% [13]. In old and abandoned coalmines, high-angle coal
seams are becoming more and more [14,15]. In order to
further study the regularities of the gasication process in
the steep coal seams, the mathematical models on the
temperature eld, concentration eld and pressure eld of
the underground gasication, are established. The numerical
solution is found. Through the model experiment,
0016-2361/$ - see front matter q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2003.08.011
Fuel 83 (2004) 573584
www.fuelrst.com
* Tel.: 86-516-3885-762; fax: 86-516-3888-682.
E-mail address: lhyang2053@sina.com (L. Yang).
the reasonability of the mathematical models is veried,
which provides an important theoretical basis for the
quantitative analysis and scientic guidance of the process
of underground coal gasication.
2. The features of the underground gasication
in the steep coal seams
The underground gasication in the steep coal seams
eminently features the following three aspects:
(1) The thickness of steep coal seams is much smaller
than its slant height and strike length; therefore, the
temperature conduction and retort gas movement in
the coal seams can be regarded as a matter of 2D
plane. Meanwhile, the heat absorption of aqueous
phase change and coal pyrolysis, together with the
heat losses in peripheral rocks, can be held up as
different minus source items in heat transfer
equations. Likewise, the height and width of the
gasication channel are far smaller than its
length, its eld model can be thought of as 1D
matter, as shown in Fig. 1. The contribution of the
output of retort gas in the coal seams to the gas
compositions in the channel can be thought of as
source items.
(2) With the consumption of coal, due to the dead weight
and the effect of protruding pressure of retort gases,
the unburned coal falls onto the gasication panel,
which leads to a percolation-patterned channel with
comparatively big porosity [16]. Assuming the
porosity is the same everywhere.
(3) Because the coal seams are thin, the downside
and upside of the reaction zone can be thought of
as oor and roof. There is lime-ash layer under the
reaction zone. Therefore, there is material ow only
at the upper boundary.
According to the features mentioned above, the simpli-
cation of the control equation set of the gasication
process in percolation-patterned channel and the model
equation set of dry and pyrolytic model gives the
mathematical models on the gasication process of steep
coal layers, where, only seven kinds of compositions are
taken into account in gas phases, i.e. O
2
, CO, H
2
, CH
4
, CO
2
,
N
2
, H
2
O
(g)
. Six kinds of compositions are taken into
consideration in solid phases. They are C, H, O, N, ash
matter, and water in coal. The corresponding relationship
between the compositions of gas phase, compositions
of solid phase, temperature and the order number is shown
in Table 1.
3. Mathematical models
3.1. Model of seepage gasication eld
of gasication channel
Theequationof theconservationof gasphasecomposition:
f
C
gi

t


x
fC
gi
U
g
C
g
D
y
gi
x
_ _

g
ji
R
j
b
p
i
r
p
i
i 17; j 914 1
where f is the porosity; C
gi
; the mole concentration of
composition i (mol/m
3
); U
g
; the velocity of gas phase (m/s);
C
g
; the overall concentration of gas phase (mol/m
3
); D; the
effective diffusion coefcient (m
2
/s); t; time (s); y
gi
; the mole
percent of the composition i; b
p
i
; r
p
i
; the weighing and
measures coefcient of pyrolysis reaction and reaction rate of
the composition i (mol/m
3
s); g
ji
; the weighing and measures
coefcient of chemical reaction; and R
j
is the reaction rate of
chemical reaction j (mol/m
3
s).
The equation of the conservation of overall gas phases
f
C
g
t
2f
C
g
U
g

g
ji
R
j

7
i1
b
p
i
r
p
i
2
The equation of the conservation of the compositions for
solid phase
12f
C
si
t
12f
C
si
U
s

x
2

g
ji
R
j
AM
i
i 914; j 17 3
Fig. 1. Physical model of the underground gasication in the steep coal
seam.
Table 1
The corresponding relationship between the compositions of gas phase,
compositions of solid phase, temperature and the order number
No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The compositions of gas
phase and temperature
O
2
H
2
O
(g)
CO
2
CO H
2
CH
4
N
2
T
g
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
The compositions of solid
phase and temperature
C H O N Ash H
2
O T
s
L. Yang / Fuel 83 (2004) 573584 574
where C
si
is the concentration of the composition i for solid
phase (kg/m
3
) and AM
i
; the atomic (molecular) weight of
the composition i for solid phase (kg/mol).
The equation of the conservation of overall solid phases
1 2f
C
s
t
21 2f
C
s
x
2

g
ji
R
j
AM
i
4
where C
s
is the concentration of solid phase (kg/m
3
).
Assuming that the homogeneous reaction heat is exerted
on the gas phase, while nonhomogeneous reaction heat is
exerted upon the gas and solid phases, so the equation of
energy [17] is as follows.
Gas phase:
f

7
i1
C
gi
C
pgi
T
g
t
2f

7
i1
C
pgi
C
gi
U
g
T
g

x
_ _
C
g
DT
g

2
y
gi
x
2
f
g

4
i1
R
i
DH
i
_ _
R
5
DH
5
2a
1
A
1
T
g
2T
s
2Q
g
5
where T
g
is the temperature of gas phase (K); C
pgi
; the
specic heat of the composition i for gas phase
(kJ/mol K); f
g
; the distribution coefcient of nonhomo-
geneous reaction heat; DH
j
; the chemical reaction heat
(kJ/mol); R
5
; the rate of homogeneous reaction (5) (the
transformational reaction of CO) (mol/m
3
s); DH
5
;
the reaction heat of homogeneous phase reaction (5)
(the transformation reaction of CO) (kJ/mol); a
1
; the
overall heat exchange coefcient of solid and gas phases
(kJ/m
3
s K); A
1
; the contact area between solid phase and
gas phase (m
2
/m
3
); and Q
g
is the heat losses of gas
phase (kJ/m
3
s).
Solid phase:
12f

14
i9
C
si
C
ps
T
s
t
212f

14
i9
C
si
C
ps
U
s
T
s

x
K
s
T
s
x
_ _
12f
g

4
j1
R
j
DH
j

a
1
A
1
T
g
2T
s
2Q
s
6
where T
s
is the temperature of solid phase (K); C
ps
; the
specic heat of solid phase (kJ/kg K); and Q
s
is the heat
losses of solid phase (kJ/kg s).
The equation of gas phase ow
P
g
t
a
s

x
1
a
0
b
0
U
g
P
g
x
_ _
W
g
_ _
7
where P
g
is the gas pressure (Pa); a
s
; the coefcient of
conduction pressure (m
2
/s); a
0
; b
0
; the coefcients related to
the permeability and porosity of media; and W
g
is the
source-sink item.
The equation of gas state
P
g
C
g
RT
g
8
where R is the constant of gas (J/mol K).
The moving speed of ame working face is the amount of
coal consumed per unit area [18], i.e.
U
s

V
A
0
9
where V is the amount of coal consumed within a period of
time (m
3
/s) and A
0
is the cross section area of gasication
channel (m
2
).
Eqs. (1) (7) can be generalized into the following:
F
t

1
b
2

x
f
j
gj
s
2a
h
x
_ _
S
_ _
10
The initial condition
F
i
x; 0 F
i;0
11
The boundary condition
F
i
0; t F
i;0
12
F
i
L; t
x
0 13
3.2. The model on the temperature eld of coal seam
and the ow eld of the retort gas
The model on the temperature eld
rC
p
T
t


x
l
T
y
_ _

y
l
T
y
_ _
2ET 2

7
i1
b
p
i
r
p
i
C
pgi
T Tx; y; 0 T
0
14
2l
T0; y; t
x
a
1
T0; y; t 2T
in
15
2l
TL; y; t
x
a
1
TL; y; t 2T
out
16
2l
Tx; 0; t
y
a
2
Tx; 0; t 2T
g
17
2l
Tx; H; t
y
a
3
Tx; H; t 2T
0
18
where T is the temperature of coal seam (K); C
p
; the
specic heat of coal seam (kJ/kg K); r; the density of coal
seam (kg/m
3
); l; the coefcient of heat conductivity for
coal seam (kW/m K); E; heat losses coefcient
(kW/m
2
K); T
0
; the initial temperature of coal seam (K);
a
1
; the heat convection coefcient (kW/m
2
K); T
in
; the
temperature of the gasication agent at the inlet (K); T
out
;
the temperature of gas at the outlet (K); a
2
; the heat
convection coefcient, when the mass ow exists
L. Yang / Fuel 83 (2004) 573584 575
(kW/m
2
K); and a
3
is the heat losses coefcient
(kW/m
2
K).
The model on the ow eld (quasi-stable state)
0

x
KP
s
mRT
P
s
x
_ _

y
KP
s
mRT
P
s
y
_ _

7
i1
b
p
i
r
p
i
19
P
s
0; y P
in
20
P
s
L; y P
out
21
P
s
x; 0 P
N
22
P
s
x; H P
0
23
where P
s
is the pressure of coal seam (Pa); m; the dynamic
viscosity (Pa s); K; the permeability (D); P
in;
P
out;
P
N
; the
pressure at the inlet, outlet and gasication channel,
respectively (Pa); and P
0
is the pressure of natural coal
under the ground pressure (Pa).
4. The discretization and solution of the control equation
In view of the nonlinearity of the above control
equation set and the strong coupling between equations, it
is difcult to solve the model in analytical method. As a
result, numerical solution is adopted. In the paper, we use
control volume method [19], which belongs to nite
difference method in the form. In methodology, it is a
kind of discretization having no difference from nite
element method. This method is designed to keep the
balance of integral within control volume and uses nodes
to represent control volume. The discretization of the
domain to be solved normally consists of even network
and uneven network. According to the features of the
problem to be addressed in this paper, the spatial
distribution of each variant is the function of time.
Thus, when the solution is made, it will be divided in the
form of even network. Along the x-axis, the network
division of channel is identical with that of coal seam, as
shown in Fig. 2.
Eqs. (14) (19) have the same form. Selecting one of
them gives the general form. Take the discretization of the
equation of temperature eld as a proxy [20].
Taking the derivative of the internal control volume P
during the interval from t to t Dt in Eq. (14)
_n
s
_e
w
_tDt
t
rC
p
T
t
dt dx dy

_tDt
t
_n
s
_e
w

x
l
T
x
_ _
dx dy dt

_tDt
t
_e
w
_n
s

y
l
T
y
_ _
dy dx dt
2
_tDt
t
_n
s
_e
w
E

7
i1
b
p
i
g
p
i
C
pgi
_ _
T dx dy dt 24
Assuming the variants change in a stepped way
according to time and space in the unstable items; the
variants in the diffusion items change according to space in
a piecewise linear way, to time in a stepped way; in the
linear source items, the variants change according to time
and space in a stepped way, thus, the above integral of each
equation can be expressed as the following.
The left side is:
rC
p
T
P
2T
P
0 Dx Dy 25
The rst item on the right side is:
l
e
T
E
2T
P
d
x
2l
w
T
P
2T
W
d
x
_ _
Dy Dt 26
The second item on the right side is:
l
n
T
N
2T
P
d
y
2l
s
T
P
2T
S
d
y
_ _
Dx Dt 27
The third item on the right side is:
S
C
S
P
T
P
Dx Dy Dt 28
where
S
C
2 E

7
i1
b
p
i
r
p
i
C
pgi
_ _
T
P
0 29
S
P
2 E

7
i1
b
p
i
r
p
i
C
pgi
_ _
p
T
P
30
Substitute the above equations back into Eq. (24), and
simplify it into the commonly used form of discretization
equation:
a
P
T
P
a
E
T
E
a
W
T
W
a
N
T
N
a
S
T
S
b
T
31
where the specic expression of each coefcient is as
follows:
a
P
0
rC
P
0 Dx Dy
Dt
; b
T
S
C
Dx Dy a
P
0 T
P
0 32
a
E
l
e
Dy=d
x
; a
W
l
w
Dy=d
x
33
a
N
l
n
Dy=d
y
; a
S
l
s
Dy=d
y
34
Fig. 2. The network division of the domain to be solved.
L. Yang / Fuel 83 (2004) 573584 576
a
P
a
E
a
W
a
N
a
S
a
P
0 2S
P
Dx Dy 35
In the above equations, superscript 0 denoting the
feature of point P has the same feature with that of the
previous period; l
e
; l
w
; l
n
; and l
s
are heat conduction
coefcients in the interfaces of control volume, which are
the function of temperature. According to the temperature of
nodes, the heat conduction coefcients l
E
; l
W
; l
N
; and l
S
can be obtained. The heat conduction coefcients at the
boundary of control volume can be obtained through
compromise averaging method, thus
l
e

2l
E
l
P
l
E
l
P
; l
w

2l
W
l
P
l
W
l
P
;
l
n

2l
N
l
P
l
N
l
P
; l
s

2l
S
l
P
l
S
l
P
36
The establishment of the nodal equation at the boundary.
The four boundaries of the coal seams to be gasied are: the
left boundary x 0; the right boundary x L; the left and
right boundaries exchange heat through convection with
gasication agent and gas all the time. Thus, it belongs to
the third kind of boundary condition; the lower boundary
y 0; is mainly the heat convection between the air current
with high temperature in the gasication channel and wall
plane of the channel, belonging to the third kind of boundary
condition; the upper boundary y H; will be considered
under the following three circumstances: the rst, assuming
the temperature is xed. It is initial temperature and belongs
to the rst kind of boundary condition; the second, there is
heat radiation at a constant heat current, which belongs to
the second kind of boundary condition; the third, in the
model experiment, because the gasier is exposed to the air,
it is also regarded as the third kind of boundary condition.
As for the rst kind of boundary condition, because the
boundary node temperature T
B
is known, it is not necessary
to add the additional boundary nodal equation, but directly
substitute the boundary node temperature into the algebraic
equation of neighboring node.
As for the treatment of the second and the third kinds of
boundary conditions, the additional source item method is
adopted in this paper. Thus, we can substitute the boundary
conditions into the source items close to the boundary node
in the discretization equation. Remove the discretization
equation of the boundary node B; which can reduce the
dimension of the equation set and increase the solution
speed. According to the control body close to the boundary
(Fig. 3), the relational form between the close boundary
node P and the neighboring node can be obtained:
a
P
T
P
a
E
T
E
a
B
T
B
a
N
T
N
a
S
T
S
b 37
where B is boundary node, and
a
B

l
B
Dy
d
x
38
q
B
a
B
T
B
2T
f
39
Subtracting a
B
T
P
simultaneously from the two sides of
Eq. (37) gives
a
P
2a
B
T
P
a
E
T
E
a
N
T
N
a
S
T
S
a
B
T
B
2T
P
b
40
From the heat conduction formula, we know
a
B
T
B
2T
P
q
B
Dy 41
When the second kind of boundary condition is given, q
B
is a given value. Substituting Eq. (41) back into Eq. (37) and
simplifying it, we get
a
0
P
T
P
a
E
T
E
a
N
T
N
a
S
T
S
b
0
42
where
a
0
P
a
P
2a
B
a
E
a
N
a
S
a
P
0 2S
P
Dx Dy 43
b
0
q
B
Dy S
C
Dx Dy a
P
0 T
P
0 q
B
Dy b 44
When the third kind of boundary condition is given, i.e.
the heat convection coefcient a and the uid temperature
T
f
are given, from heat balance, we obtain
q
B
aT
f
2T
B

l
B
T
B
2T
P

d
x
45
Eliminating T
B
gives
q
B

T
f
2T
P
1
a

Dx
2l
B
46
Substitute Eqs. (46) and (47) back into Eq. (43), and
arrange it
a
0
P
a
P
2a
B

Dy
1
a

Dx
2l
B
b
0
b
T
f
Dy
1
a

Dx
2l
B
47
As for the turning node involving two boundaries, the
similar method mentioned above can be adopted to treat it.
Fig. 3. Boundary control volume.
L. Yang / Fuel 83 (2004) 573584 577
5. The determination of major model parameters
5.1. The heat exchange coefcient a
1
between gas
ow and solid particles
The reaction between gas and solid mainly occurs in the
gas holes of solid phase. The effect of nonhomogeneous
reaction heat is exerted on the solid phase. When the
oxidization reactions occur, the solid phase will transfer
heat to gas phase. While the reduction and drying occur, the
gas phase will transfer heat to solid phase.
The heat exchange between gas and solid consists of the
heat convection and radiation. Especially in the period of
high temperature, heat transfer in the form of radiation plays
a major role. Furthermore, when the diameter of the
particles is comparatively large, the heat conduction
among themselves should be taken into consideration.
According to Ref. [21], a
1
can be determined through the
following formula:
a
1

1
1
a
L
a
0
S

1
a
K
a
S
48
where, a
L
; and a
0
S
are the heat convection coefcient and
heat-exchange by radiation coefcient through the lime-ash
layer, respectively (kW/m
2
K), and a
K
; and a
S
are the heat
convection coefcient and heat-exchange coefcient by
radiation through the convert lm, respectively (kW/m
2
K).
5.2. The heat exchange coefcient a
2
of wall plane
The percolation-patterned gasication channel, the heat
exchange coefcient between gas ow and the wall plane of
channel can be obtained through the following formula [22]:
a
0
2
C
pg
u
g
Pr
2=3

0:6Re
1=2
Re , 40
0:2Re
20:2
Re . 40
_
49
where Pr is Prandtl number and Re is Reynolds number,
Re r
g
d
P
u
g
=m; r
g
is the density of gas phase (kg/m
3
).
Because Eq. (49) does not take into account the inuence
of mass ow opposite to the direction of heat transfer at the
wall plane on the heat exchange coefcient, the existence of
mass ow (the dry distillation gas) decreases the gradient of
temperature in the proximity of wall plane, which, as a
result, reduces the heat transfer coefcient. Therefore, on
the basis of the establishment of a simple membrane model,
Eq. (49) is revised in Ref. [23], which gives the following
expression:
a
0
2
a
2

ln1 V
V
50
where a
0
2
is the heat exchange coefcient without mass ow
(W/m
2
K); a
2
; the heat exchange coefcient with compara-
tively big mass ow (W/m
2
K); and Vis the ratio of the heat
in the channel brought by mass ow and the overall heat
transferred to wall plane through heat convection.
5.3. Heat conduction coefcient l
On the condition of the combustion and gasication of
coal seams, the overall heat conduction coefcient of media
consists of heat conduction and heat radiation, whose
expression is as follows:
l f
1
T f
2
T
where f
1
T is the function of heat conduction coefcient of
the coal body (kW/m K) and f
2
T is the function of
radiation and heat exchange coefcients between coal
chunks (kW/m K).
5.4. Permeability K
According to the seepage experiment, the permeability of
coal is the function of temperature [24] and increases with
the rise in temperature. The relationship between them can
be expressed as follows
K 0:2286 0:01041T 0:0001786T
2
51
5.5. The specic heat C
p
The specic heat of coal is related to its compositions and
temperature [25,26]. In this paper, the specic heat formula
of the gas-fat coal adopted can be expressed as follows
C
p

A
n
cosnpT=9 B
n
sinnpT=9 52
where the sampling of the coefcients A
n
and B
n
is as
follows:
A
0
1:69 A
1
20:60A
2
0:40 A
3
20:17 A
4
0:027
A
5
20:037A
6
0:046 A
7
20:05 A
8
0:04 A
9
20:012
B
0
0:00 B
1
0:333 B
2
0:017 B
3
20:131B
4
0:054
B
5
0:003 B
6
0:007 B
7
20:012B
8
0:026 B
9
0:00
The solution ow of numerical model on the computer is
shown in Fig. 4.
6. Model experiment
The model platform is 7.5 m long by 2 m high by 1 m
wide, consisting of base and lid, shown in Fig. 1. Under the
bottom of the gasier a line of hydraulic jacks was installed,
which makes the gasier rest in any angle. The hearth is so
spacious that it can be injected with other materials, which
are used to simulate coal seams with different thicknesses.
On the sides of the gasier there are a number of gas inlets,
outlets, and slip casting holes used to simulate various
L. Yang / Fuel 83 (2004) 573584 578
gasiers and study different modes of air pumping and
gasication channel with different lengths. A circular air
(steam) injection pipeline is equipped in the platform in
hope for supplying the air (steam) in a forward-inverse way
with moving pumping points. The gasier adopts hydraulic
insulation technology. Over the roof of the gasier is
installed a piece of pedal pushed by hydraulic push rod,
which imposes a certain pressure on the coal seam through
the pedal in the course of gasication, in order to simulate
the pressure on the coal seam.
The simulated coal seam in the gasier is 6.8 m long by
1.1 m high by 0.25 m wide, with the angle of 68 8C. The
properties of the coal sample used in the model experiment
are shown in Table 2.
Fig. 4. The box diagram of the numerical calculation program.
L. Yang / Fuel 83 (2004) 573584 579
The gasication panel is 6.0 m long by 1.0 m high by
0.25 m wide, and the initial equivalent diameter of
gasication channel is 70 mm.
The system of the model experiment is shown in Fig. 5.
The pipeline system is designed as armillary circuit.
Through the reversing valve, we can pump the air and
steam negatively and positively. Coal gas cleaner is mainly
to remove the tar from the gas and lower the temperature of
the resulting gas. In order to measure the temperature
distribution in the gasier accurately, we deploy the
temperature-measuring points in an intense way. In the
gasication panel, 22 rows of temperature-measuring points
are buried, with 7 each row. The number totals 154. The
temperature-measuring elements adopt the strictly standar-
dized NiCrNiSi thermal couples. The data are collected by
data acquisition system automatically and displayed on the
screen of the computer and recorded. The resulting gas will
be analyzed in gas phase chromatographer, which can tell
the contents of different compositions.
After the experimental system has been prepared, before
the formal ignition, the cold test should be carried out,
whose main purpose is to measure the leakage rate of the
gasier and check whether all the system is in a good
working state or not.
Suppose the owing capacity of the air supplied at the
inlet is Q
1
; the owing capacity of air discharged at the outlet
is Q
2
; the quantity of wind leaked in the gasier is
DQ Q
1
2Q
2
; thus the leakage rate of the gasier is
h DQ=Q
1
The experimental results of the cold test are shown
in Table 3.
From Table 3, we can see that the leakage rate generally
falls below 8.00%, with the maximum of only 10.16%. With
the increase in the air quantity blasted, leakage rate tends to
increase but still within the tolerance of losses, which is the
basic condition for the smooth run of the model experiment.
First of all, ignite the gasier by means of an electrically
red igniter, then, blast air with small quantity, sample the
gas from the outlet every 5 min, analyze its compositions
and heating value, half an hour later, the interval of
sampling is prolonged to 10 min, increase air blast quantity
gradually, the interval of sampling is so long as 1 h 15 min
later. When the heating value of the gas reaches 1300 kJ/m
3
,
the ignition process is considered successful. According to
the measurement results of the temperature, after the stable
temperature eld in the gasier is formed, the interval of
collecting temperature data at all the temperature-measuring
points is 1 min.
The model experiment lasts for 117 h, undergoing four
phases, namely, gasication preheating (24 h), stable gas
production (58 h), intermittent air pumping (18 h) and
inverse air pumping (17 h). The operating conditions are:
the gasication agent, air; the pressure at the inlet, 2400 Pa;
and the owing capacity at the inlet, 20 m
3
/h. The results of
the experiment are shown in Figs. 6(a) 9(a), 10 and 11.
7. The analysis of calculation results
The calculation results of numerical simulation are
shown in Figs. 6(b) 9(b), 10 and 11.
Comparing Figs. 6 and 8, we can nd that the calculation
results of temperature eld virtually conform with the
measurement results. Except the measuring points in the
combustion zone, where the relative errors between
calculated value and measured value of temperature are
comparatively high (certain points, over 20%), the relative
errors of other points are no more than 14%, majority of
which are within 10%, which completely meets the precision
Table 2
Properties of the coal sample studied
Proximate analysis (wt%) Ultimate analysis (daf, wt%) Heating value (MJ kg
21
)
Moisture Ash Volatile matter C H O N S
4.18 7.61 23.08 72.72 4.71 8.32 1.13 1.33 28.1429.31
Fig. 5. The system of the model experiment.
Table 3
The data of the cold test (m
3
h
21
)
Modes of air supply Forward air supply Inverse air supply
Q
1
36.4 32.1 27.3 21.5 40.0 33.8 24.7 19.5
Q
2
32.7 29.5 25.5 20.6 36.1 31.6 22.9 18.8
DQ 3.7 2.6 1.8 0.9 3.9 2.2 1.8 0.7
h (%) 10.2 8.1 6.6 4.2 9.7 6.5 7.3 3.6
Average (%) 7.3 6.8
L. Yang / Fuel 83 (2004) 573584 580
requirements [27] of numerical simulation on the tempera-
ture eld. From the distribution of temperature eld, the
calculation value is a bit bigger than measurement one. The
reasons are as follows: rst of all, heat losses coefcient E in
mathematical models is determined, on the basis of
composite structure calculation formula of heat transfer
coefcient for the xed conditions (temperature, wind
velocity). In the process of experiment, due to the natural
ventilation or forced ventilation, the heat losses coefcient
increases, which contributes to the slight drop of the
temperature. Then, during calculation, the heat conduction
coefcient of coal seams is not the one of body coal but
the equivalent heat conduction coefcient taking the
inuence of convection and heat radiation into consider-
ation. The coal seams in the model experiment are piled up
by various sizes of coal chunks. Though the interstices are
lled with coal powder, its holes are far bigger than the real
one. Therefore, heat exchange is not a single form of
heat conduction. With the effect of convection intensifying,
the surface heat conduction coefcient of the coal
seam improves, which inuences the precision of calcu-
lation results.
Because the reaction rate heightens rapidly with the
increase of temperature, as a result, due to the impact of
temperature, the change gradient of the compositions
concentration for measurement value in high temperature
zone is bigger than that of calculation value (Figs. 7 and 9).
According to Figs. 7 and 9, with the expansion of
gasication channel, the heating value of the gas increases
gradually. However, behind the reduction zone, the extent
of increase decreases. The inuence of the temperature eld
on the heating value of the gas is remarkable. In the rst
period, in spite of the comparatively long gasication
channel, due to the low temperature in the oven, the heating
value of the gas is relatively low; in the second period, the
temperature of the oven increases in the comparatively
shorter gasication channel, but the heating value of
resulting gas is higher than that in the rst period. Therefore,
maintaining a temperature eld with high temperature and
Fig. 6. The temperature eld in the gasication panel 22 h after the ignition.
Fig. 7. The concentration eld in the gasication channel 22 h after the ignition.
L. Yang / Fuel 83 (2004) 573584 581
comparatively longer gasication channel is conducive to
the stability and increase of the heating value for the gas.
Figs. 10 and 11 demonstrate that, the simulated
calculation value of the pressure for gas ow basically
conform with the measured value. The comparative error in
the rst period between calculation value and measurement
value is 5.0014.29%, with its average drop rate for the
pressure of uid 9.5% (15.2, 213.1%). From Fig. 11, we
know that, 75 h after the commencement of gasication, the
error of the simulated calculation for pressure is 9.68
17.24%, with its average drop rate of the pressure of gas
along gasication channel 11.97% (21.39, 217.33%). It
can be concluded that, with the prolonging of gasication
time, the extent of the pressure drop of uid increases and
the calculation error becomes bigger. The major reasons are
the following, at the very beginning of the experiment, the
gas moves along the free gasication channel with little
resistance on the uid and small uctuation of pressure.
Accordingly, the drop rate and calculation error are
comparatively low. With the development of gasication,
the top coal layer over the gasication channel, due to
the effect of high temperature, expands, inbreaks and
falls onto the gasication channel because of dead
weight, which lls the gasication channel with loose
coal chunks. Thus, the free gasication channel becomes
percolation-patterned. The resistance over the gas move-
ment increases dramatically, so does the extent of the drop
rate of pressure. The curve of the experiment takes on wild
uctuation. Considering the changes of movement con-
ditions and the determination of major model parameters,
such as conduction pressure coefcient, permeability as well
as the involvement of human factors and empirical factors in
the calculation results in a certain error in the parameters
calculation, which causes oscillation in the value of
numerical simulation.
In short, the simulated results support that the calculation
value conforms with the measurement value well, which
shows that the establishment of mathematical models on
Fig. 8. The temperature eld in the gasication panel 75 h after the ignition.
Fig. 9. The concentration eld in the gasication channel 75 h after the ignition.
L. Yang / Fuel 83 (2004) 573584 582
the temperature eld, concentration eld and pressure eld
in the gasier, the determination of parameters, the analysis
and treatment of boundary conditions and the solution
method are correct. This provides necessary theoretical
basis and scientic guidance for the comprehensive
quantitative study and production practice of underground
coal gasication.
8. Conclusions
(1) According to the storage conditions and the features of
gasication process for the steep coal seams, on the
basis of model experiment, the mathematical models
on the gasication process of steep coal seams are
established. The simulated results demonstrate that the
calculation value can virtually conform with the
measurement one, which supports that numerical
simulation on the temperature eld, concentration
eld and pressure eld is reasonable in the under-
ground gasication of steep coal seams on the
experimental condition.
(2) The numerical simulation shows that, in high tempera-
ture zone, the calculation value of the temperature eld
is a bit bigger than measurement value; the change
gradient of the measurement value of the concentration
of various compositions for the gas is bigger than that
of the calculation value; temperature eld has a great
inuence on the heating value of the gas. The
heating value of the gas increases with the rise in
the temperature of gasier. The ideal temperature
eld with high temperature is conducive to the
improvement of the gas and the stability of the
gasication process.
(3) According to the calculation results, the relative error
between the calculation value and measurement one of
the uid pressure and its drop rate increase gradually
with the gasication process. The change in the
seepage condition of gasication channel is mainly
responsible for the comparatively big calculation error.
(4) The numerical calculation results basically demon-
strate the real change patterns of the temperature eld,
concentration eld and pressure eld in the process of
underground gasication of steep coal layers. Though a
certain error exists between the calculation value and
experiment one, however, according to the specic
combustion and gasication conditions of coal seams,
choosing appropriate parameters or optimal parameters
with the help of inverse calculation, the above
mathematical models can be fully applied to pro-
duction practice and to predict the change patterns of
three elds of the process of underground coal
gasication.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (Ratication No. 59906014,
50276066). The technical contributions of professor Yu Li
and Dr Liang Jie are gratefully acknowledged by the author.
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