High temperature air-blown gasification of Korean anthracite and plastic waste mixture

Korean anthracite is too high in ash contents and low in calorific value to be used as an industrial energy source, the demand for anthracite has rapidly decreased and its competitiveness weakened. To overcome the problem, a mixture of Korean anthracite and plastic wastes low in ash and high in calorific value was manufactured. A 1.0T/D fixed bed gasification process was developed to understand the gasification characteristics of the mixtures and secure operation technology using Korean and Chinese anthracite. For the Korean anthracite, the syngas composition and heating value are varied from 10 to 20% and from 300 to 800 kcal/Nm³ as a function of steam/air/fuel ratio. Therefore, it is concluded that Korean anthracite is hard to gasify because of low reactivity. For the Chinese anthracite low ash content and higher heating value than domestic anthracite, the syngas composition was maintained at about 20–40% and the calorific value was 800–1,300 kcal/Nm³. A reformer using high-temperature air/steam was installed just after the gasifier to combust and convert tar and soot into syngas. We confirmed that the amount of generated tar and soot showed a salient difference after running the reformer. In the future, gasification experiments of manufactured mixtures of anthracite and plastic waste using 1.0T/D fixed bed gasifier will be performed. This work was presented at the 6 ^th Korea-China Workshop on Clean Energy Technology held at Busan, Korea, July 4–7, 2006.     

昭通褐煤气化扩大试验研究

针对昭通褐煤的特点 ,在气化煤量为 0 .3t/h的焦载热流化床气化扩大试验装置上进行了试验研究 .研究结果表明 ,煤气中焦油量很小 ,有利于煤气生产的后期处理 ;与移动床气化和普通流化床气化相比 ,煤气热值和气化产率都有较大增加 ,煤气热值已接近城市煤气的要求 ;加大气化煤量可增加提升段燃烧的易燃成分 ,从而提高了燃烧温度和气化温度 ;气化煤量的变化对褐煤气化产率和产量的影响较大 .对于开发昭通褐煤资源来说 ,采用本工艺技术生产城市煤气是一个较佳的方案 .     

Experimental studies of 1 ton/day coal slurry feed type oxygen blown, entrained flow gasifier

Experimental Studies of a 1 Ton/Day coal slurry feed type oxygen blown, entrained flow gasifier have been performed with the slurry concentration and gasifier temperature at 65% and above 1,300 ‡C, respectively. The characteristics of ash fusion temperature with addition of CaO as a flux were investigated to maintain the proper slag tapping condition in the range of reaction temperature. As the flux addition increased, ash fusion temperature showed a eutectic effect with the eutectic at around 20–30% CaO. In order to analyze the gasification characteristics, the effects of O₂/coal feed ratio on the product gas composition, heating value, gasifier temperature and cold gas efficiency were evaluated. From the results, it was shown in the case of Kideco coal that the cold gas efficiency was 44–60% and the heating value was 1,700-2,200 kcal/Nm³, while Drayton coal showed a cold gas efficiency of 55–62% and a heating value of 1,800-2,200 kcal/Nm³. In the case of Datong coal, the cold gas efficiency was 38–65%, and the heating value was 2,000-2,300 kcal/Nm³. Also, the results showed that the optimal operating condition of O₂/coal ratio for the three different coals was 0.9. Presented at the Int’/Symp. on Chem. Eng. (Cheju, Feb. 8–10, 2001), dedicated to Prof. H. S. Chun on the occasion of his retirement from Korea University.     

A novel biomass air gasification process for producing tar-free higher heating value fuel gas

Biomass is a promising sustainable energy source. A tar-free fuel gas can be obtained in a properly designed biomass gasification process. In the current study, a tar-free biomass gasification process by air was proposed. This concept was demonstrated on a lab-scale fluidized bed using sawdust under autothermic conditions. This lab-scale model gasifier combined two individual regions of pyrolysis, gasification, and combustion of biomass in one reactor, in which the primary air stream and the biomass feedstock were introduced into the gasifier from the bottom and the top of the gasifier respectively to prevent the biomass pyrolysis product from burning out. The biomass was initially pyrolyzed and the produced char was partially gasified in the upper reduction region of the reactor, and further, char residue was combusted at the bottom region of the reactor in an oxidization atmosphere. An assisting fuel gas and second air were injected into the upper region of the reactor to maintain elevated temperature. The tar in the flue gas entered the upper region of the reactor and was decomposed under the elevated temperature and certain residence time. This study indicated that under the optimum operating conditions, a fuel gas could be produced with a production rate of about 3.0 Nm³/kg biomass and heating value of about 5000 kJ/Nm³. The concentration of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane in the fuel gas produced were 9.27%, 9.25% and 4.21%, respectively. The tar formation could be efficiently controlled below 10 mg/Nm³. The system carbon conversion and cold gasification efficiency reached above 87.1% and 56.9%, respectively. In addition, the investigation of energy balance for the scale-up of the proposed biomass gasification process showed that the heat loss could be recovered by approximately 23% of total energy input. Thus, partial fuel gas that was produced could be re-circulated and used to meet need of energy input to maintain the elevated temperature at the upper region of reactor for tar decomposition. It was predicted the heating value of product fuel gas would be 8000 kJ/Nm³ if the system was scaled up.     

Characteristics of air-blown gasification in a pebble bed gasifier

High temperature air-blown gasification is a new concept to utilize the waste heat from gasifier that is called multi-staged enthalpy extraction technology. This process was developed to solve the economic problems due to air separation costs for the oxygen-blown as a gasifying agent. In this study, we have constructed a pebble bed gasifier and operated it by controlling the pebble size and bed height with three different types of coal (Kideco, Datong and Drayton coal). As a result, we can produce syngas with a calorific value of 700 kcal/Nm³ at an air temperature of 650 °C; the performance of high temperature air gasification was strong in the order of Kideco coal, Datong coal and Drayton coal. Also, from the data of the exterior analysis of slag that is attached to the surface of pebbles, we can know that the iron component is considerably high. This means the increase in restored metallic iron component seems to contribute to the solidification of slag.     

Effect of biomass particle size and air superficial velocity on the gasification process in a downdraft fixed bed gasifier. An experimental and modelling study

A one-dimensional stationary model of biomass gasification in a fixed bed downdraft gasifier is presented in this paper. The model is based on the mass and energy conservation equations and includes the energy exchange between solid and gaseous phases, and the heat transfer by radiation from the solid particles. Different gasification sub-processes are incorporated: biomass drying, pyrolysis, oxidation of char and volatile matter, chemical reduction of H₂, CO₂ and H₂O by char, and hydrocarbon reforming. The model was validated experimentally in a small-scale gasifier by comparing the experimental temperature fields, biomass burning rates and fuel/air equivalence ratios with predicted results. A good agreement between experimental and estimated results was achieved. The model can be used as a tool to study the influence of process parameters, such as biomass particle mean diameter, air flow velocity, gasifier geometry, composition and inlet temperature of the gasifying agent and biomass type, on the process propagation velocity (flame front velocity) and its efficiency. The maximum efficiency was obtained with the smaller particle size and lower air velocity. It was a consequence of the higher fuel/air ratio in the gasifier and so the production of a gas with a higher calorific value.     

Experimental research on air staged cyclone gasification of rice husk

A novel air cyclone gasifier of rice husk has been used to obtain experimental data for air staged gasification. Three positions and five ratios of secondary air were selected to study effect of the secondary air on the temperature profile in the gasifier and quality of syngas. Temperature profile and the syngas component are found to be strongly influenced by the injection position and ratio of the secondary air. Generally, gas temperature in all conditions increased at the early stage of reaction, and then decreased in the reduction zone where reactions were endothermic. The peak temperature in the gasifier changed with the injection positions and ratios of the secondary air, which could be as high as 1056 °C. The concentration of CO₂, CO, H₂ and CH₄ increased with the secondary air while the O₂ concentration remained constant. The syngas component exhibited different laws when the secondary air ratio was changed. It was also shown that the optimum condition was that the secondary air was injected in the oxidization zone at a secondary air ratio of about 31%. Under that condition, the fuel gas production was 1.30 Nm³/kg, the low heating value of the syngas was 6.7 MJ/Nm³, the carbon conversion rate was 92.2% and the cold gas efficiency of the gasifier was 63.2%. The tar content of the syngas was also studied in this paper. It decreased from 4.4 g/m³ for gasification without the secondary air to 1.6 g/m³ for gasification with the secondary air injected in the oxidization zone.     

An integrated biomass-derived syngas/dimethyl ether process

A Cu-Zn-Al methanol catalyst combined with HZSM-5 was used for dimethyl ether (DME) synthesis from a biomass-derived syngas containing nitrogen. The syngas was produced by air-steam gasification of pine sawdust in a bubbling fluidized bed biomass gasifier with a dry reforming reaction over ultra-stable NiO-MgO catalyst packed in a downstream reactor for stoichiometric factor (H₂, CO, CO₂) adjustment. It constantly gave syngas with H2/CO ratio of 1.5 and containing trace CH₄ and CO₂ during a period of 150 h. The obtained N₂-containing biomass-derived syngas was used directly for DME synthesis. About 75% CO per-pass conversion and 66.7% DME selectivity could be achieved under the condition of 533 K, 4MPa and 1,000-4,000 h^-1. The maximized DME yield, 244 g DME/Kgbiomass (dry basis), was achieved under a gasification temperature of 1,073 K, ER (Equivalence Ratio) of 0.24, S/B (Steam to Biomass Ratio) of 0.72 and reforming temperature of 1,023 K with the addition of 0.54 Nm³ biogas/Kg_biomass (dry basis).     

Co‐gasification of woody biomass and sewage sludge in a fixed‐bed downdraft gasifier

Experimental and numerical studies of cogasification of woody biomass and sewage sludge have been carried out. The gasification experiments were performed in a fixed‐bed downdraft gasifier and the experimental results show that 20 wt % dried sewage sludge in the feedstock was effectively gasified to generate producer gas comprising over 30 vol % of syngas with an average lower heating value of 4.5 MJ/Nm³. Further increasing sewage sludge content to 33 wt % leads to the blockage of gasifier, which is resulted from the formation of agglomerated ash. The numerical models were then developed to simulate the reactions taking place in four different zones of the gasifier (i.e., drying, pyrolysis, combustion, and reduction zones) and to predict the producer gas composition and cold gas efficiency. The deviation between the numerical and experimental results obtained was lower than 10%. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 2508–2521, 2015     

玉米秸秆循环流化床气化中试试验

玉米秸秆是农业生产过程中产生的剩余物,其热解气化是秸秆类生物质处理应用的重要选择方向。为此,采用循环流化床气化中试装置对玉米秸秆进行了气化试验,研究空气当量比ER、原料含水率对反应温度、气化燃气组分与热值、气化效率及燃气中的焦油含量等气化特性影响规律,并通过改变进料量试验得到了在不同负荷运行条件下的优化工作参数。结果表明：①随着ER的增大,循环流化床气化炉内的反应温度升高,气化燃气中的CO₂含量增加,焦油与CO含量及燃气热值降低,气化效率随ER的增大呈现先增大后减小趋势,较理想的ER为0.26,此时的气化效率达到70.2%、燃气热值为5.1MJ/m³;②原料含水率的增大降低了气化炉内的反应温度,当原料含水率在5%～15%之间逐渐增大时,燃气中的H₂含量、燃气热值及气化效率均有提升,当含水率由15%继续增大到25%过程中,燃气热值与气化效率均出现了快速下降;③根据气化炉额定进料量设计值,改变进料负荷在66%～120%范围内,调节ER在0.26～0.3时均可得到较好的运行工况,对应得到的燃气热值为4.8～5.1MJ/m³、气化效率为69%～72%。     

Experimental investigation of a 125 kW twin-fire fixed bed gasification pilot plant and comparison to the results of a 2 MW combined heat and power plant (CHP)

Fixed bed biomass gasification is a promising technology to produce heat and power from a renewable energy source. A twin-fire fixed bed gasifier based CHP plant was realized in the year 2003 in Wr. Neustadt, Austria. Wood chips are used as fuel, which are dried and sieved before being gasified to a low calorific gas of about 5.8 MJ/Nm³_dry. Before the clean gas is fed into a gas engine a cyclone and a RME (rapemethylester)/H₂O quench system followed by a wet electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is used for gas cleaning. The CHP plant has a fuel power of 2 MW_th and an electric output of 550 kW_el. As scale up and optimization tool a hot test rig with a capacity of 125 kW_th was built. Basic parameters like the type of wood chips, power and air distribution were varied to investigate the effect on gas composition, tar content in the producer gas and carbon content in the ash. Additionally a temperature profile over the height of the 125 kW hot test rig was measured. Furthermore, the results from the hot test rig are discussed and compared with the results from the 2 MW_th demonstration plant.     

串行流化床煤气化试验

针对串行流化床煤气化技术特点,以水蒸气为气化剂,在串行流化床试验装置上进行煤气化特性的试验研究,考察了气化反应器温度、蒸汽煤比对煤气组成、热值、冷煤气效率和碳转化率的影响。结果表明,燃烧反应器内燃烧烟气不会串混至气化反应器,该煤气化技术能够稳定连续地从气化反应器获得不含N₂的高品质合成气。随着气化反应器温度的升高、蒸汽煤比的增加,煤气热值和冷煤气效率均会提高,但对碳转化率影响有所不同。在试验阶段获得的最高煤气热值为6.9 MJ•m^-3,冷煤气效率为68％,碳转化率为92％。     

废食用菌棒循环流化床气化试验

废菌棒是食用菌生产过程中产生的残余废弃物,其再利用对于资源节约与环境保护具有重要意义。本文采用循环流化床气化炉对废菌棒进行了气化试验,分别研究空气当量比、水蒸气配比对气化炉运行温度、气化燃气组分与热值、焦油含量、气化效率及碳转化率等气化特性的影响规律。结果表明：空气当量比由0.20增大至0.35时,循环流化床运行温度与碳转化率升高,气化燃气中的CO₂体积分数增大,CO与焦油含量及气化燃气热值下降,气化效率呈现先增大后减小的趋势;空气当量比为0.26时气化效率达到最大74.86%,此时燃气热值为5.59MJ/m³。以空气为主气化介质,采用水蒸气作为辅助气化剂,可以改善气化燃气品质,提升气化效率。当空气当量比为0.26、水蒸气配比为0.2时,废菌棒具有较好的空气-水蒸气气化特性,燃气热值与气化效率分别达到最大值6.14MJ/m³与83.73%。     

Low-tar,highly burnable gas production from the gasification of pelletized palm empty fruit bunch

Gasification is an attractive method to convert lignocellulosic biomass into a combustible gas mixture for electricity and power generation. To control the tar concentration in the produced gas to be within the allowable limit of downstream applications, it is important for a gasification system to be integrated with a tar removal process. In this study, an integrated gasification system consisting of a downdraft gasifier and a secondary catalytic tar-cracking reactor was designed and tested for the gasification of pelletized oil palm empty fruit bunch. To further purify the producer gas, the system was also integrated with a cyclone, a water scrubber, and a carbon-bed filter. Biomass was fed at a rate of 5 kg/h, while the air equivalence ratio (ER) and the gasification temperature were set at 0.1 and 800°C, respectively. In total, 5 kg of the specially developed low-cost Fe/activated carbons (AC) catalyst was used in the hot gas catalytic tar-cracking reactor. Results indicate that our integrated gasification system was able to produce a clean burnable gas with a lower heating value (LHV) of 9.05 MJ/Nm³, carbon conversion efficiency (CCE) of 79.4%, cold gas efficiency (CGE) of 89.9%, and H₂ and CH₄ concentrations of 29.5% and 10.3%, respectively. The final outlet gas was found to only contain 32.5 mg/Nm³ of tar, thus making it suitable for internal combustion engine (ICE) application.     

Tar removal from the producer gas of a small scale downdraft gasifier using a fatty acid based,wet packed-bed scrubber

Small scale gasification combined heat and power (CHP) systems offer an alternative to diesel fuelled generators for power generation in remote communities and industrial sites. Tar and particulates in the producer-gas can damage the internal combustion engine generator and increase operation and maintenance costs. In this work, we present a novel trickle-bed scrubber using filtered waste cooking oil as a cost effective and easy-to-operate gas clean-up method for a small CHP system. The performance of the trickle-bed scrubber was compared against a packed-bed filter utilizing woodchips in a 20 kW_th downdraft gasifier. Used-cooking oil was selected as the solvent and woodchips as the bed-material as these are readily available, inexpensive, and can be recycled in the gasifier as fuel. A woodchip packed-bed filter reduced the tar and particulate matter (PM) in the producer gas from gasification of spruce chips (11% moisture) from 1.6 to 1.4 g/Nm³ and from 0.16 to 0.087 g/Nm³ respectively. The trickle-bed scrubber was able to reduce the tar and PM in the producer gas from gasification of pinewood (8% moisture) from 1.38 to 0.28 g/Nm³, and 0.209 to 0.082 g/Nm³, respectively. Tar and PM removal efficiency improved by 60% and 29% respectively. Components such as benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and biphenylene were the major tar components. After passing the trickle-bed, most tar was removed, with a preference for removal of multi-ringed aromatics and gravimetric tars. Parameters such as the tar and particulate concentration, feedstock moisture content, and feedstock source affect the performance of the gas clean-up system.     

Plastic waste elimination by co-gasification with coal and biomass in fluidized bed with air in pilot plant

Treatment of plastic waste by gasification in fluidized bed with air using dolomite as tar cracking catalyst has been studied. The gasifier has a 1 m high bed zone (diameter of 9.2 cm) followed by a 1 m high freeboard (diameter of 15.4 cm). The feedstock is composed of blends of plastic waste with pine wood sawdust and coal at flow rates of 1–4 kg/h. Operating variables studied were gasifier bed temperature (750–880 °C), equivalence ratio (0.30–0.46), feedstock composition and the influence of secondary air insertion in freeboard. Product distribution includes gas and char yields, gas composition (H₂, CO, CO₂, CH₄, light hydrocarbons), heating value and tar content in the flue gas. As a result, a gas with a medium hydrogen content (up to 15% dry basis) and low tar content (less than 0.5 g/m_n³) is obtained.     

Performance optimization of two-staged gasification system for woody biomass

The performance of a small-scale two-staged gasification system is reported. In this system wood chips are gasified with a fixed bed gasifier and then tar in the produced gas is reformed in a non-catalytic reformer, finally the production gas is used to generate electricity. In this system, the gasifying agents are high temperature air and steam supplied into the gasifier and the reformer. This paper reports on optimum gasification air ratio (defined as the ratio of the oxygen mole supplied into the gasifier to the oxygen mole required for complete combustion of biomass), reforming air ratio (defined as the ratio of the oxygen mole supplied in the reformer to the oxygen mole required for the complete combustion of biomass) and steam ratio (defined as the ratio of the steam mole supplied into the gasifier to the carbon mole in biomass supplied into the gasifier) for producing required gas supplied into a dual-fueled diesel engine. The results showed that, under optimum conditions, the higher heating value of the reformed gas was 3.9 MJ/m³_N; the cold gas efficiency (defined as the ratio of HHV reformed gas × reformed gas flow rate to HHV biomass × biomass feed rate) of the gasification system was 66%, and the gross thermal efficiency of the overall system was 27%.     

Fluidized bed gasification of coal

Gasification of high ash India coal has been studied in a laboratory-scale, atmospheric fluidized bed gasifier using steam and air as fluidizing media. A one-dimensional analysis of the gasification process has been presented incorporating a two-phase theory of fluidization, char gasification, volatile release and an overall system energy balance. Results are presented on the variation of product gas composiiton, bed temperature, calorific value and carbon conversion with oxygen and steam feed. Comparison between predicted and experimental data has been presented, and the predictions show similar trends as in the experiments.     

流化床作为生物质气化反应器试验研究

在流化床生物质气化炉内 ,用空气进行气化生物质 (花生壳 )的试验研究 ,分析的参数是当量比ER 0 .2— 0 .4 5 ,气化床的温度 75 0— 85 0℃和加入二次风。当ER在 0 .2 5— 0 .33,气化燃气热值为 6 .2— 6 .8MJ/m3 ,气体产量在 2 6 0— 390m3 /h ,生物质燃烧时比气化产量在 1.2 8— 2 .0 3m3 /kg之间 ,炭转化率在 5 3%— 80 %。并对 7种农、林废弃物进行了初步气化试验研究 ,生成的燃气体积分数 :CO为 14 %— 18% ,H2 一般低于 6 % ,甲烷 4 %— 12 %。燃气热值在 4 70 0— 710 0kJ/m3 。试验结果表明 ,在流化床生物质气化炉中 ,通过在悬浮空间加入二次风 ,可使燃气热值得到提高。     

Numerical modeling of a jetting fluidized bed gasifier and the comparison with the experimental data

A model for a jetting fluidized bed gasifier is developed, treating the grid, bubble and freeboard zones in series. Reactions including char combustion, steam gasification, CO₂ gasification and water–gas shift reaction are taken into account. The effects on model predictions of assumptions regarding the primary products of char combustion and char reactivity factor are analyzed by comparing the predictions with experimental data from a bench-scale jetting fluidized bed gasifier using different kinds of chars. Contributions of various reactions and different zones and phases to carbon conversion are analyzed.