Sulfur oxide reduction in a coal gasification process

In the coal gasification process comprising:

• (a) introducing a solid heat-transfer material into an upper portion of a vertically elongated reaction vessel, the vessel having a means for substantially impeding vertical backmixing of vertically moving solids in the vessel;
• (b) introducing a coal containing sulfur into a lower portion of said vessel, the physical characteristics of the heat-transfer material and the coal differing such that a superficial velocity of a fluid flowing upwardly through the vessel is greater than the minimum fluidizing velocity of the heat-transfer material and the terminal velocity of the coal, but is less than the terminal velocity of the heat-transfer material;
• (c) passing steam upwardly through said vessel at a rate sufficient to fluidize the heat-transfer material and entrain the coal to maintain substantially countercurrent vertical flow of the heat-transfer material and coal in the vessel without substantial top-to-bottom backmixing of the heat-transfer material and the coal in the vessel, whereby the heat-transfer material substantially flows downwardly in a fluidized state through the vessel and the coal substantially flows upwardly in an entrained state through the vessel, whereby the steam reacts with the coal to form a hot char and a gaseous product and whereby hydrogen sulfide is released from said coal;
• (d) removing the heat-transfer material from a lower end of said vessel at a temperature substantially lower than the temperature at which the heat-transfer material was introduced into the vessel;
• (e) introducing at least a portion of the heat-transfer material into an upper portion of a vertically elongated combustion zone having means for substantially impeding vertical backmixing of vertically moving solids substantially throughout the combustion zone;
• (f) removing the hot char, the gaseous product and the hydrogen sulfide from an upper end of said vessel, separating the hot char from the gaseous product and the hydrogen sulfide, and introducing at least a portion of the hot char into a lower portion of the combustion zone;
• (g) heating the heat-transfer material to an elevated temperature in said combustion zone by contacting the heat-transfer material with the hot char while maintaining substantially countercurrent plug flow of the heat-transfer material and the char by passing air upwardly through the combustion zone at a rate sufficient to fluidize the heat-transfer material and entrain the char, whereby the heat-transfer material substantially flows downwardly through the combustion zone in a fluidized state and is heated to an elevated temperature while the char substantially flows upwardly through the combustion zone in an entrained state and is combusted, thereby releasing sulfur oxides;
• and
• (h) recycling at least a portion of said heat-transfer material to said reaction vessel as a source of heat-transfer material;
• the improvement comprising a method of reducing said sulfur oxides comprising:
• (1) incorporating a regenerable sorbent into said heat-transfer material;
• (2) absorbing onto the regenerable sorbent the sulfur oxides released in the combustion zone;
• (3) transferring said regenerable sorbent with the heat-transfer material to the reaction vessel;
• (4) releasing the sulfur oxides from the regenerable sorbent in the reaction vessel in the form of hydrogen sulfides;
• and
• (5) recycling the regenerable sorbent to the combustion zone to absorb further sulfur oxides in Step (2).