Kinetics of gasification of Douglas Fir and Cottonwood chars by carbon dioxide

Arrhenius kinetic parameters have been determined for the CO₂ gasification of chars (heat treatment at 1000 °C) prepared from well-characterized samples of a hardwood, a softwood and a Montana lignite. The effects of pre-pyrolysis addition of inorganic salts of the alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal groups to the wood samples have also been determined. The reactivities of the chars of the cottonwood and lignite samples exceeded that of Douglas fir char by a factor of four to seven between 700 and 900 °C. The reactivity of the wood char was related to the inorganic content of the sample. There was very little difference in the reactivity of chars prepared from the hardwood and the softwood after treatment with similar quantities of inorganic salts. The inorganic content of the lignite char was more than five times greater than that of cottonwood char, but its reactivity was similar. The carbonates of sodium and potassium were equally effective gasification catalysts. The transition metal salts were the most effective catalysts initially, but they lost their activity well before the gasification was complete. The data indicate that treatment of wood with aqueous salts results in replacement of some of the natural minerals by ion exchange, and that these exchangeable ions play a major role in controlling reactivity of the chars.