Volume 46: Energy Transitions toward Carbon Neutrality: Part IX

Experimental Investigation of a bottom fed updraught Gasifier Operation for CHP and syngas Production Applications Karim Rabea, Andy Heeley, Abdulaziz Gheit, Kris Milkowski, Kevin Hughes, Derek Ingham, Mohamed Pourkashanian

Abstract

The conversion of waste through gasification into valuable forms of energy and fuels has gained much interest as part of the transition towards carbon neutrality. Unlike the conventional designs of the gasifier, the rising co-current gasifier combines the advantages of the fixed bed and the fluidized bed reactors in terms of the efficiency and the quality of syngas produced. However, limited research has been conducted on such design. The current study investigates the performance of wood pellets gasification under different operating conditions for combined heat and power (CHP) and biofuels production applications. The system is operated under 50 kW and 40 kW of electrical power generation demands. Further, the gasifier performance is investigated over a wider range of air flow rates (i.e., 50-75 kg/h) and with the change of the reactor bed height. Under these diverse operating conditions, the gasifier exhibited reliable gasification performance, and the resulting syngas compositions estimated in the ranges of (20.26-21.87 vol.% for CO, 18.3-17.5 vol.% for H2, 11.07-9.67 vol.% for CO2, and 2.7-1.8 vol.% for CH4). Correspondingly, the LHV, CGE, CCE varied within the ranges of 5.51-5.3 MJ/Nm3, 84.8-78.95%, and 94.8- 89.9%, respectively.

Keywords Waste to energy, rising co-current gasifier, Stationary fluidized bed, syngas, CHP