Patent ID: 8298306

Claim:
A fuel gasification process, comprising: a) providing nuggets of a composition selected from the group consisting of coal, biomass, and synthetic polymer, wherein the nuggets are approximately ⅛ inch to ½ inch in diameter; b) optionally providing hard abrasive grit; c) optionally providing a first gasification catalyst for entrainment in a first steam flow; d) providing a first steam flow at a temperature of at least 350° F. at a velocity of at least 1340 ft/s; wherein the quantity of steam provided yields a steam:carbon molar ratio in the range of 2:1 to 1:1 relative to the carbon atom content of the nuggets; e) directing the steam from a plurality of nozzles within an interior chamber defined by a housing to form a shear field and vortexes; f) entraining the nuggets, and the grit if provided and the first catalyst if provided, within the first steam flow; g) circulating the entraining first steam flow in the shear field and vortexes until the nuggets are comminuted to particles having a maximum diameter of 40 microns or less and then venting the steam-entrained particles through an output feature in the housing; and h) semi-dehydrating the fuel by removing all but 5-10 weight % water by weight relative to the fuel by i) removing steam and condensed water by direct evaporation from the comminuted particles, or ii) adding water at an outlet of the output feature of the housing by means of cooler liquid water or cooler humid gaseous medium until the temperature of the steam is below the level that would cause complete evaporation of the steam upon venting, or iii) adding more steam or another heat source until the temperature of the steam is at a level that would cause dehydration of the comminuted particles to a desired extent upon completion of evaporation when the steam is vented, or iv) removing essentially all of the water from the comminuted particles and then rehydrating them by means of liquid water or a humid gaseous medium; i) providing a second steam flow at a temperature of at least 800° F.; j) optionally providing a second gasification catalyst for presentation with the second steam flow, wherein if both a first gasification catalysts is provided in step c) and a second gasification catalyst is provided for presentation with the second steam flow, the first and second catalysts may be the same or different, and wherein provision of the second gasification catalyst is independent of whether a first gasification catalyst was provided; k) treating the semi-dehydrated fuel particles in the second steam flow in the presence of the second catalyst if present, while providing a combination of temperature and pressure, for an amount of residence time sufficient to effect gasification, until the fuel becomes substantially gasified.