• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.64-72
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• 2007

During the 2nd World War, several Coal-to-Liquid (CTL) plants were operated in Germany and England to convert coal to large volumes of liquid fuel. Big oil fields discovered in the Middle East after the war supplied crude oil at the low price and all CTL plants were forced to shut down. However, South Africa (Sasol) built a CTL plant in 1955 and 2 more plants afterward and the current production of coal-derived synfuel reached 150,000 bbl/day. Recently, the sustained high crude oil price and the fear of the "peak oil" rejuvenated the interest of CTL and several CTL projects are in progress. China established a plan to build CTL plants with the total capacity of 30 million tons of synfuel per year by 2030. China is building a direct coal liquefaction plant which is scheduled to produce 20,000bbl/day of synfuel in 2008. There are 8 CTL projects in USA either in the planning stage or in the ground-breaking stage. CTL projects are also carried out in Australia, Philippines, New Zealand, Indonesia and India. Korea needs to approach the CTL project in the perspective of the national energy security. In this paper, the history, the status, current activities and the prospect of CTL are described.

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.371-372
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• 2009

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.587-592
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• 2009

Heat transfer model and energy dissipation rate were investigated to examine the heat transfer mechanism in bubble columns with continuous operation. The energy dissipation rate($E_D$) obtained from the unsteady state heat transfer model based on the surface renewal theory was significantly small, comparing with the hydrodynamic energy dissipation rate($P_v$) calculated from the overall hydrodynamic energy balance based on the behaviors and holdups of gas and liquid phases in the column. It was found from these results that the energy dissipation rate based on the surface renewal theory is independent of the hydrodynamic energy dissipation rate obtained from the overall hydrodynamic energy balance in the bubble column, in considering their mechanism. The different two energy dissipation rates were correlated in terms of operating variables within this experimental conditions, respectively.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.720-726
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• 2009

Hydrodynamic similarity was investigated in pressurized three-phase slurry bubble columns by selecting the bubble holdup and pressure drop as objective functions, for the effective design and scale-up of it. In addition, effects of operating variables on the bubble holdup with variation of column diameter were also analyzed. Gas velocity($U_G$), viscosity(${\mu}_{SL,eff}$) and surface tension(${\rho}_{SL}$) of slurry phase, density difference between the slurry and gas phases(${\rho}_{SL}-{\rho}_G$) depending on the operating pressure, pressure drop per unit length(${\Delta}P/L$), column diameter(D) and gravitational acceleration(g) were chosen as governing parameters in determining the bubble holdup and pressure drop in the column. From the dimensional analysis, four kinds of dimensionless groups were derived from the 7 parameters and 4 fundamental dimensions. Effects of dimensionless groups such as Reynolds, Froude and Weber numbers on the bubble holdup in the column were discussed. The pressure drop and bubble holdup could be predicted from the correlation of dimensionless groups effectively, which could be used as useful information for the design and scale-up of pressurized slurry bubble columns.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.781-787
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• 2009

This report investigates the economic proprieties of commercial 50,000 barrel per day direct/indirect coal liquefaction(DCL/ICL) plants to produce commercial-grade diesel and naphtha liquids. The scope of the study includes capital and operating cost estimates, sensitivity analyses and a comparative financial analyses. Based on plant capacity of 50,000BPD, employing Illinois #6 bituminous coal as feed coal, the total capital cost appeared $3,994,858,000(DCL) and $4,962,263,000(ICL). Also, the internal rate of return of DCL/ICL appeared 13.27% and 12.68% on the base condition respectively. In this case, coal price and sale price of products were the most influence factors. And ICL's payback period(6.8 years) was longer than DCL's(6.6 years). According to sensitivity analyses, the important factors on both DCL/ICL processes were product sale price, feed coal price and the capital cost in order.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.83-88
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• 2011

Holdup characteristics of small bubbles were investigated in a viscous slurry bubble column. The phase holdup of small bubbles was obtained from the knowledge of total bubble(gas) holdup and large bubble holdup, which were measured by mean of static pressure drop method and dual resistivity probe method, respectively. Effects of gas velocity, viscosity of continuous liquid phase and solid fraction in the slurry phase on the small bubble holdup as well as holdups of total bubble(gas) and large bubble in a viscous slurry bubble column. The small bubble holdup increased with increasing gas velocity but decreased with increasing liquid viscosity or solid fraction in the slurry phase. In addition the fraction of small bubble in the total bubble(gas) holdup increased with increasing gas velocity but decreased with increasing liquid viscosity or solid fraction in the slurry phase. It was revealed that the rising velocity of large bubble did not related to the holdup of small bubble in a viscous slurry bubble column.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.726-739
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• 2013

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) converts synthesis gas (CO and $H_2$) into longer chain hydrocarbons by a surface polymerization reaction. Cobalt- or iron-based catalysts normally show excellent activity for syngas conversion to petroleum products leading to super clean diesel fuels. The catalytic activities of the catalysts in FTS depend on the number of active sites on the surface. The number of active site was determined by the active metal particle size, loading amount, reduction degree and support-active metal interaction. The investigation adopts new methodology in preparing FT catalyst, which contains the controlled synthesis of active metal. The main focus of this paper is to give an overview of the types of catalysts, also including their preparation and reduction; the types of FT reactors; and also including the reaction conditions.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.461-461
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• 2007

석탄을 합성석유로 전환시키는 석탄액화(CTL) 공장은 2차 세계대전시 독일 및 영국에서 가동되어 대량의 연료를 공급한 바 있다. 전후 대형 유전이 발견되어 값싼 석유가 공급되면서 CTL 공장의 운전은 중단되었다. 남아프리카공화국의 Sasol사만이 유일하게 1955년에 CTL공장의 조업을 시작하여 현재 하루 15만배럴의 석탄합성석유를 생산하고 있다. 최근 고유가가 지속되고 석유공급에 대한 불안감 때문에 여러 개의 석탄액화 프로젝트가 진행되고 있다. 중국은 2030년까지 석탄합성석유를 연간 3천만톤(60만배렬/일) 생산할 계획을 수립하였고, 2만배럴/일 규모의 석탄직접액화공장이 2008년 완공될 예정이다. 미국에서도 8개의 CTL 프로젝트가 진행되고 있다. 호주, 필리핀, 인도네시아, 인도 등에서도 석탄액화 프로젝트를 추진하고 있다. 석유를 전량 수입하는 우리나라도 에너지안보 차원에서 CTL에 대한 접근이 필요하다. 본고에서는 한국에너지기술연구원에서 추진되고 있는 석탄 기준 10톤/일급 석탄 합성석유 생산 공정 설계, 설비 시공 현황 및 향후 계획에 대하여 기술하였다.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.129-139
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• 2010

Coal gasification process, which had developed originally to convert coal from hydrogen and carbon monoxide, has used and developed in many countries because of environmental advantages such as carbon dioxide storage, decrease of pollutants and so on. Generally entrained-flow gasification process using pulverized coal under $75{\mu}m$ is used in Integrated Gas Combined Cycle(IGCC) because of easy scale up and high efficiency of energy conversion. Especially entrained-flow gasifers with coal water slurry have been used in many applications due to its fully developed technologies. In this paper, several technologies for coal-water slurry gasification that involves slurry preparation, burner, gasifier, slag melting and numerical simulation for plant design and operation were investigated. Entrained-flow gasification with coal water slurry can be used for synfuel production, SNG, chemicals as well as IGCC. To develop hybrid gasification process and use different types of coal, it is necessary to develop new technologies that will increase efficiency of the process.