Dynamic Reduced Order Modeling

In order for entrained flow gasification to become a mainstream and cost-effective energy conversion technology, a number of technical design issues must be addressed. These include: lack of dynamic feedstock flexibility, injector failure, refractory failure, slag blockages and corrosion, poor space efficiency, downstream fouling and poisoning, and poor plant integration. Detailed modeling is one method whereby improved gasifier designs can be analyzed. These models would ideally employ Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and extremely detailed submodels to predict temperature, composition and char conversion distributions. Such detail makes integration of these models with process flowsheet models of the overall plant difficult and impractical. For this reason, we propose to develop Dynamic Reduced Order Models (DROMs) for gasifiers, which capture the most important physical processes of gasification, but without the computational intensity of more detailed simulation. The primary functions of the DROMs will be to investigate and optimize the dynamic interaction of the gasifier with the rest of the plant.