Patent ID: 6656387
Filing Date: 2003-12-02
Classification: C01B,C10J,C10K

Abstract:
In a process in which carbonaceous fuel is partially oxidized in a gasification reactor by reacting the carbonaceous fuel with a reactive free oxygen containing gas to obtain synthesis gas, wherein the synthesis gas is cleaned in a quench chamber using quench water, the quench water being removed from the quench chamber as solids-containing soot water, and the soot water being subjected to a soot recovery unit so as to separate solids in the soot water from the soot water, the improvement comprising mixing a stream of basic material with the soot water prior to subjecting the soot water to the soot recovery unit to facilitate removal of heavy metals from the soot water, wherein the basic material is added in a sufficient amount to raise the pH of the soot water to between a pH of about 8 and a PH of about 12.