What is the role of air compressor in coal chemical process?

Air compressor plays an important role in coal chemical process key Roles its core role is compress gas volume, improve gas purity, optimize process quality, and directly improve coal chemical production efficiency. The following is a specific analysis:

1. gas compression and volume optimization

in the coal chemical process, gases (such as synthesis gas, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, etc.) need to be reacted or transported under high pressure conditions. The air compressor converts mechanical energy into gas pressure energy to compress the gas to the pressure level required by the process (such as 4.0-8.5MPa), significantly reducing the gas volume and facilitating storage, transportation and subsequent processing. For example:

• gasification process: Coal slurry reacts with oxygen in a high-pressure gasifier to generate synthesis gas. The oxygen pressure needs to be above 4.0MPa. The air compressor provides a stable high-pressure gas source to ensure the reaction efficiency;
• synthetic process in the production of synthetic ammonia and methanol, nitrogen and hydrogen need to be compressed to 15-30MPa for synthesis reaction, and air compressor (or nitrogen compressor) is the key equipment.

2. gas purity improvement

coal chemical industry requires high gas purity, impurities (such as oil, moisture, particulate matter) may poison the catalyst or affect product quality. Air compressor through multi-stage filtration and separation technology, remove impurities in the gas, improve purity:

• oil-free screw compressor: In the production of food-grade and pharmaceutical-grade coal chemical products (such as coal-to-ethanol and coal-to-natural gas), oil-free compressors can avoid oil pollution and ensure that the gas purity meets ISO 8573-1 Class 0 standard (oil content ≤ 0.003 mg/m & sup3;);
• centrifugal compressor: Through high-efficiency impeller and sealing design, reduce gas leakage and external pollution, and maintain high-purity gas source.

3. process quality optimization

air compressor through stable gas supply and precise pressure control, optimize the coal chemical process parameters, improve product quality:

• reaction stability: In coal-to-oil, coal-to-olefin and other processes, the compressor provides stable gas flow and pressure to avoid product distribution deviation caused by reaction fluctuations;
• separation efficiency: In the gas separation unit (such as PSA pressure swing adsorption), the compressor provides a high-pressure gas source to improve the adsorption capacity of the adsorbent to the target component and improve the separation efficiency.

4. productivity improvement

air compressors directly promote the production efficiency of coal chemical industry through automation, large-scale and intelligent design:

• automation Integration: Modern air compressors are equipped with PLC control system, which can be seamlessly connected with coal chemical DCS (distributed control system) to realize remote monitoring and automatic adjustment, and reduce manual intervention;
• large-scale design: The processing capacity of a single centrifugal compressor can reach 100000 m & sup3;/h or more, meeting the gas source demand of large-scale coal chemical plants (such as million-ton coal-to-liquid projects) and reducing the number of equipment and floor area;
• energy saving optimization: Through the impeller secondary flow control technology, impeller/reflux coupling design, etc., the compressor efficiency is improved by more than 4%, reducing energy consumption and saving production costs.

5. typical application scenarios

1. gasification process: Provide high-pressure oxygen for the gasifier to ensure that the coal slurry is fully burned to generate syngas;
2. synthetic process compress the synthesis gas to the reaction pressure, drive the reaction of synthetic ammonia, methanol, etc;
3. utilities provide instrument air (0.4-0.7MPa) to drive pneumatic valves, pumps and other equipment to ensure production safety;
4. environmental treatment: Compress exhaust gas (such as VOCs) to the treatment device to meet environmental emission requirements.

6. technology development trend

with the development of coal chemical process to automation, large-scale, intelligent direction, air compressor technology is also constantly upgrading:

• centrifugal Compressor Dominant because of its high rotor stability, low vibration and stable operation, it has become the main gas compression equipment of modern coal chemical industry;
• high temperature resistant and corrosion resistant material in view of the high temperature and corrosive gas environment of coal chemical industry, special alloy materials are developed to extend the life of equipment;
• intelligent operation and maintenance system: Through the Internet of Things and big data analysis, compressor failure prediction, health management, and reduce unplanned downtime.