Data-Based Prediction and Stochastic Analysis of Entrained Flow Coal Gasification under Uncertainty

Entrained flow gasification is a commonly used method for conversion of coal into syngas. A stable and efficient operation of entrained flow coal gasification is always desired to reduce consumption of raw materials and utilities, and achieve higher productivity. However, uncertainty in the process hinders the stability and efficiency. In this work, a quantitative analysis of the effect of uncertainty on the conversion efficiency of the entrained flow gasification is performed. A data-driven, i.e., ensemble, model of the process was developed to predict conversion efficiency of the process. Then sensitivity analysis methods, i.e., Sobol and Fourier amplitude sensitivity test, were used to analyze the effect of each individual process variables on conversion efficiency. For analyzing the collective impact of uncertainty in process variables on conversion efficiency, a non-intrusive polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) method was used. The PCE predicts probability distribution of the conversion efficiency. Reliability of the process was determined on the basis of percentage of the probability distribution falling within control limits. Measured data is used to derive the control limits for off-line reliability analysis. For on-line reliability analysis of the process, measured data is not available so a just-in-time method, i.e., k–d tree, was used. The k–d tree searches the nearest neighbor sample from a database of historical data to determine the control limits.