Liquefaction of coal by SRC‐II process: Part II: Simulation of an SRC‐II recycle system

Abstract

The kinetic model, described in the preceeding paper, is used in this work to obtain a general simulation of an SRC‐II recycle system. The present simulation considers the reactor to be isothermal and fully backmixed, reactions in the preheater to have insignificant influence on yields, and separation of the products into various fractions to be ideal. The concept of degrees of freedom is used to evaluate the number of independent variables for the complete (recycle) system. The model is validated against data from three different pilot plants on Powhatan, Kentucky, and Ireland Mine coals. The effects of various variables on yield behavior and distribution of solids throughout the system are illustrated. Operational difficulties encountered in increasing the recycle ratio of bottoms, containing solids, above 0.75 is explained.