**1. Introduction**

As a large corporate group, Jincheng Anthracite Coal Mining Group Corporation Limited (JAMG) mainly deals with the exploitation and sale of anthracite. In the past, when new coal gasification technology had not been industrialized, United Gas Improvement Company gasification (UGI) technology was the major gasification technology in coal chemical industry. Since the beginning of twenty-first century, many types of gasification technology designed for other types of coal has gradually industrialized and matured, such as HT-L gasification technology [1], SE pulverized coal gasification technology [2], GSP gasification technology [3], shell gasification technology [4], opposed multi-burner coal water slurry gasification technology [5], and Texaco coal-water slurry gasification technology [6]. The monopolistic status of anthracite as raw material in chemical industry has been broken. Expanding the application of anthracite has become the key issue for the sustainable development of JAMG.

In China, industrial fuel gas, which was produced by two-stage coal gasification technology and fluidized-bed coal gasification technology, is mainly applied in glass industry, ceramics industry, nonferrous metal industry, etc. However, with the development of society, the mode of production is no longer suitable eager for

transformation and sustainable development. Production mode with characteristics of environment-friendly, supply-stable, and low cost is the development trend of industrial fuel gas [7, 8].

Natural gas, which is recognized as the cleanest fossil energy resource, has been vigorously promoted by the government in industrial fuel gas field. But as the characteristics of resource endowment in China are "rich coal, lack of oil, and less gas," the supply of natural gas in industrial fuel gas field is far from enough. How to acquire other types of industrial fuel gas which can meet with the development trend has become the key issue for the sustainable development of glass industry, ceramics industry, nonferrous metal industry, etc. [7–9].

In China, the resource endowment is rich in coal and lack of oil and gas. It is a good way to make full use of abundant coal resources to produce industrial fuel gas. According to the movement state of coal and gasifier in the gasifier, coal gasification technology has three kinds: fixed bed gasification technology, fluidized bed gasification technology, and entrained bed gasification technology [10, 11].

Fixed bed gasification technology mainly includes intermittent atmospheric fixed bed (UGI), Lurgi, BGL, etc. Intermittent atmospheric fixed bed is being phased out worldwide because of its high pollution and energy consumption. Lurgi furnace is made of crushed (lump) coal as raw material. The content of effective gas (CO + H2) and methane is about 65 and 8–10%, respectively. It is suitable for producing industrial fuel gas. Compared with other kinds of coal, the tar, phenol, and ammonia produced from anthracite are less difficult to treat, and the amount of waste water is also less [10–12].

The representative types of fluidized bed are high temperature Winkler gasification technology and ash fusion gasification technology of Shanxi Coal Chemical Institute. Because the technology has many problems, such as low effective component, high impurity (high carbon content, difficult separation), high activity of coal, and high ash melting point, it is seldom used in China [10, 11].

At present, the entrained flow bed is the main choice for large-scale production. The representative furnace type is shell, space furnace (HT-L), Texaco, etc. Its characteristics are high reaction temperature (1500–2000°C) and high conversion efficiency. Its effective gas composition (CO + H2) is as high as 85–92%, while CH4 composition is very low or almost no, and its calorific value is relatively low, so it is not suitable for the production of industrial fuel gas [10, 11, 13].

So, the application as an industrial fuel gas by taking Lurgi gasification, which used anthracite as raw material can expand consumption field of anthracite, simultaneously, offers a sustainable alternative choice for industrial fuel gas industry [7, 8, 13].

## **2. Feasibility of producing industrial fuel gas from anthracite**

#### **2.1 Status of industrial fuel gas in China**

Fuel gas mainly includes natural gas, biogas, liquid gas, coke-oven gas, blast furnace gas, producer gas, and so on, which is widely applied in glass processing industry, ceramics production, non-ferrous metal smelting and melting, steel rolling, refractory production, etc. The source of fuel gas is multifarious and specification is complicated, but the market capacity is broad.

From the development of industrial fuel gas, many types of fuel were applied in industrial fuel gas, such as coal, electricity, heavy oil, coke oven gas, blast furnace tail gas, syngas, and natural gas. At present, the proportion of syngas (producer gas) is the largest. However, with the increasing pressure of environmental protection and publication of coal to natural gas policy, the proportion of producer gas

**63**

*Discussion on the Feasibility of Industrial Fuel Gas Prepared by Lurgi Gasification Which Used…*

is gradually decreasing and the proportion of natural gas is gradually increasing. **Table 1** shows specifications of fuel gases that are produced by different production

1.For its high price and unstable supply, the quantity of natural gas cannot

2.For its high calorific value, high local temperature during combustion results in high content of nitrogen oxides, and the cost of denitrification

Considering all aspects, stable supply, friendly environment, and low price are

**2.2 Choice of technical route by taking Lurgi gasification which used anthracite** 

In JAMG, the product of anthracite is primarily divided into two varieties, lump coal having particle size over 13 mm and slack coal having particle size below 13 mm [16]. Lump coal is widely used in ammonia synthesis and slightly used in civil combustion. In 2016, the sales of lump coal in coal chemistry were 1058 × 104 MT, which accounted for 80% of anthracite lump coal sales in JAMG. When new coal gasification technology has not been industrialized, anthracite lump coal was the high-quality raw material for chemical plant. For its scarcity and monopoly, anthracite lump coal had much higher price over other kinds of coal, which formed

Since the beginning of twenty-first century, many types of gasification technology designed for other types of coal has gradually industrialized and matured, such as HT-L gasification technology, SE pulverized coal gasification technology, GSP gasification technology, shell gasification technology, opposed multi-burner coal water slurry gasification technology, and Texaco coal water slurry gasification technology. The monopolistic status of anthracite as raw material of chemical industry has been broken. Simultaneously, the gradual withdrawal of UGI furnace from chemical industry market has become a general trend and is difficult to reverse for its own technical defects. If we cannot expand new application fields, anthracite

The development of fuel gas derived from coal is shown as follows: first of all, UGI gasification technology, which was introduced in China in the 1930s, became the earliest technology for fuel gas derived from coal and the most widely applied technology for industrial fuel gas; because of its best adaptable to UGI gasifier, anthracite became the favorite raw material. Then, with the rise in price of anthracite, many enterprises transformed one-stage gasifier to two-stage gasifier and used low-rank lump bituminous coal as raw material to reduce production cost; simultaneously, fluidized-bed gasification technology sprung up and gradually promoted in industrial fuel gas, which led to occupy a certain proportion of the market. Now, with the development of society and improvement of environmental consciousness, Chinese government vigorously advocates the application of natural gas in fuel gas field, for its properties of being green, having low carbon, and being recognized as the cleanest fossil energy resource. At present, problems such as low efficiency and high pollution generally exist in coal gasification technology in operation and the projects face with elimination. Many local governments require fuel gas industry to switch to natural gas, but downstream industries prefer to fuel gas derived from coal through our research.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85876*

The reasons are shown as follows:

**as raw material**

core competence for JAMG.

be guaranteed at the peak of consumption.

is 1–3 times higher than that of coal gas.

the future development directions of industrial fuel gas.

lump coal will face the market risk of falling volume and price.

technologies and with different raw materials.

## *Discussion on the Feasibility of Industrial Fuel Gas Prepared by Lurgi Gasification Which Used… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85876*

is gradually decreasing and the proportion of natural gas is gradually increasing. **Table 1** shows specifications of fuel gases that are produced by different production technologies and with different raw materials.

The development of fuel gas derived from coal is shown as follows: first of all, UGI gasification technology, which was introduced in China in the 1930s, became the earliest technology for fuel gas derived from coal and the most widely applied technology for industrial fuel gas; because of its best adaptable to UGI gasifier, anthracite became the favorite raw material. Then, with the rise in price of anthracite, many enterprises transformed one-stage gasifier to two-stage gasifier and used low-rank lump bituminous coal as raw material to reduce production cost; simultaneously, fluidized-bed gasification technology sprung up and gradually promoted in industrial fuel gas, which led to occupy a certain proportion of the market. Now, with the development of society and improvement of environmental consciousness, Chinese government vigorously advocates the application of natural gas in fuel gas field, for its properties of being green, having low carbon, and being recognized as the cleanest fossil energy resource.

At present, problems such as low efficiency and high pollution generally exist in coal gasification technology in operation and the projects face with elimination. Many local governments require fuel gas industry to switch to natural gas, but downstream industries prefer to fuel gas derived from coal through our research. The reasons are shown as follows:


Considering all aspects, stable supply, friendly environment, and low price are the future development directions of industrial fuel gas.
