Chemical Engineering 733

Coal Combustion

Professor:

T. H. Fletcher, 350K CB
Credit: 3 hours

Catalog Description:

Fundamentals of coal combustion and gasification processes, including particle mechanics, devolatilization, heterogeneous oxidation, radiative heat transfer, and combustion of coal in practical flames.

Course Objective:

The objective of this course is to help students develop a background in important aspects of coal combustion. Many ACERC graduate students specialize in a narrow area of coal combustion (or a related field), but never gain much knowledge of other areas of coal combustion. This broader knowledge is often useful in writing proposals, theses, and research papers, and often helps put a better perspective on your chosen research emphasis.

Required Text:

Smith, K. L., L. D. Smoot, T. H. Fletcher, and R. J. Pugmire, The Structure and Reaction Processes of Coal, Plenum, 1994.

Secondary Sources:

1. L. Douglas Smoot and Philip J. Smith, Coal Combustion and Gasification, Plenum, 1985.
2. L. Douglas Smoot and David T. Pratt, editors, Pulverized-coal Combustion and Gasification, Plenum, 1979.
3. Coal Science and Technology Series. -by Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Volumes 1 through 10.
4. H.H. Lowry (editor), Chemistry of Coal Utilization, Vol. 1 and Supplementary Volume, Wiley, New York (1945 & 1963).
5. L. D. Smoot (editor), Fundamentals of Coal Combustion for Clean and Efficient Use, (Coal Science and Technology 20), Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1993.
6. Van Krevelyn, D. W., Coal, Elsevier, 1993.

Topics:

1. Processes and Properties of Coal

2. Devolatilization

3. Heterogeneous Oxidation

4. Mineral Matter & Deposition

5. Practical Flames

6. Particle Mechanics

7. Chemistry-Turbulence Interactions

8. Radiation

9. NOx/SOx Formation

Prerequisites:

The course involves the development of qualitative and quantitative descriptions of the physical processes involved in coal combustion and gasification. The fundamental tools used to describe these processes include turbulent fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mass transfer, thermodynamics, and reaction kinetics. It is expected that each student is well founded in these subjects before beginning this course. Additionally, the description of these processes most usually involves differential equations that often require numerical methods to solve. It is expected that students be comfortable in the use of the computer to solve these problems.
Chem. E. 533, Transport Phenomena, Math 323, Partial Differential Equations and Chem. E. 633, Combustion Processes or equivalents would be helpful, but are not required.

Homework:

Completed homework is due at the beginning of the class on the due date. Homework up to one week late will receive 50% credit. After one week, late homework will receive no credit. After each homework set is turned in, an answer-key for the set will appear in the answer-key book kept with the secretaries in 350 CB. This answer-key book is not to leave the Chemical Engineering office area. The key can be consulted for late homework.
Students at the University of Utah will turn their homework in to Professor Joanne Lighty on the assigned days. Courier service between BYU and the U of U will pick up and return graded assignments to her office.

Exams:

Two exams will be given during the semester, one midterm and one final. Exams will be normalized so that the high score is 100%.

Research Paper:

One research paper will be prepared by each student. This paper will follow the format of articles submitted to Combustion and Flame and will be on a subtopic of coal combustion. This topic must be approved in advance and must be on a topic different from the graduate student's own research specialty. Students are encouraged to identify a topic early and work on this paper throughout the semester. The research should not only cover known information, but should seek to contribute new knowledge to the field. The expected length of this paper is 10 to 15 pages, including references and figures. Papers longer than 15 pages will receive less points.

Class Discussion:

This is an advanced graduate level course. It is expected that students will come to class having prepared themselves thoroughly on the topic to be discussed that day. In the past, this class has been heavily lecture-oriented, with the students feeling like a firehose has been attached to their head. This semester, student learning will be emphasized, rather than mere presentation by the instructor. This will be accomplished in the following manner:

1. Students will be divided into three or four groups

2. Lecture questions will be handed out each day for the following class period.

3. Students are expected to read the assigned material, and then meet as a group to discuss the reading material.

4. Students groups will each prepare one set of hand-written overheads in eraseable marker to be able to answer the lecture questions.

5. One student will be randomly selected and asked to present their group answers in overhead form (be as brief as possible).

6. The student presentation will not be graded right or wrong, but only prepared or unprepared. The entire group will receive a demerit if one of their group is unprepared.

7. All group overheads will be turned in each day and graded for preparedness. Comments and corrections by the professor will be added in eraseable marker, so that students can photocopy the overheads for their notes. This will result in a continual revolving set of 15 or so clear overheads.

This is a little different format than the usual 100% lecture format, and is written up in the engineering education literature. This method is intended to promote student learning, and has been successfully used by several faculty in our college. 20% of the grade will be given for classroom participation.

Since most of the graduate students in this class have specialized in an area of combustion research, each student will be asked to contribute to the discussion in class in that area. For those students that are not directly in the coal combustion area, appropriate discussions and questions are expected.

Grading:

Since the focus of this class is not problem solving, a large portion of the grade will be assigned to the research paper and the classroom participation. The final grade will be based on the following:

Homework 20%

Midterm Exam 20%

Research Paper 20%

Classroom Participation 20%

Final Exam 20%

Dr. Fletcher home page
ACERC home page
BYU ChE Dept home page
BYU home page