A recent international joint venture, driven by a major global group of energy and petrochemicals companies, gave Parker Hannifin the ideal opportunity to demonstrate its expertise within the field of systems engineering. Located in China, the project called for control of high impact pneumatic cylinders within one of the most advanced coal gasification plants in the world. This gave the company a tough challenge, as it not only had to meet a demanding specification, but also the many quality standards laid down by contractors, the customer and the authorities within the country.
Project specifications came through Germany, subcontractors for the project were located in Spain, India and China and the End Customers were located in several regions of China. Parker Hannifin gave full support to all these players through local Parker offices.
Coal gasification is an environmentally friendly technology, in this instance converting coal into synthetic gas. This process involves gasification chambers converting hydrocarbon feedstock into gaseous components by applying heat under pressure, in the presence of steam.
During the process most of the carbon-containing feedstock is broken down by heat and pressure, setting into motion various chemical reactions. Minerals in the fuel, which don’t gasify, then separate and should leave the bottom of the gasifier, either as an inert glass-like slag or other marketable solid products.
The chambers need to be ‘purged’ to avoid the build-up of particulate on the heating surfaces, and this is carried out by way of a rapping device (a high impact cylinder driven against a massive pin) striking with enough force to generate vibrational frequencies to dislodge any accumulated matter. The project called for seven control systems placed at different levels within the plant, each working at varying frequencies.
Special cylinders, operating with a force of 60kN, manufactured by Parker at its facility in the Netherlands, had to be constructed to take into account the abrasive, heavy dust, high temperature environment. The cylinders designed by Parker were able to meet these criteria and also offered low maintenance operation and a predicted service life of 20 years.
Parker supplied the complete pneumatic systems, with the air supply to the pneumatic cylinders and electrical pilot valves being controlled by Parker Moduflex regulators and valves, housed within control cabinets located close to the rapping devices on each level of the plant. The cabinets also incorporate other equipment including manual slide valves for main air shut off, high flow air filters to ensure a clean, moisture free supply, and cabinet heaters. All of the components with each cabinet are rated to EEx explosion proof standards.
With increased environmental legislation, there is a growing demand for gasification processes, as they are a versatile and clean method of converting coal into electricity, gas, and other energy forms, and similar projects are underway. The system supplied by Parker has been so successful that the company is now looking at several license agreements, enabled by the proven ability to deliver cost-effective design, manufacture, commissioning and service at the point of installation, virtually anywhere in the world.