Energy Conversion and Management 117 (2016) 393399

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Experimental study on gasification performance of bamboo and PE

from municipal solid waste in a bench-scale fixed bed reactor
Xiaoyuan Zheng a,, Chong Chen b, Zhi Ying a, Bo Wang a
a
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow and Heat Transfer in Power Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and
Technology, 516 Jungong Road, Shanghai 200093, PR China
b
Shanghai Urban Construction Design and Research Institute, 3447 Dongfang Road, Shanghai 200125, PR China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 16 December 2015
Received in revised form 16 March 2016
Accepted 17 March 2016
Available online 22 March 2016
Keywords:
MSW
Gasification
Fixed bed reactor
Hydrogen
Calcium oxide

a b s t r a c t
Gasification performance of key components including polyethylene (PE) and bamboo of municipal solid
waste (MSW) was examined in a bench-scale fixed bed. Effects of equivalence ratio, gasification temperature, steam/feedstock ratio, and calcium oxide (CaO) presence on syngas composition and lower heating
value (LHV) were investigated. As equivalence ratio increased, both combustible gas components and
LHV of syngas from bamboo and PE gasification decreased while the yield of CO2 increased generally.
Higher gasification temperature favored improving H2 and CO production and lowering the yield of
CO2 from PE gasification while an optimal temperature of 700 C existed for the best syngas quality
and the highest LHV of syngas from bamboo gasification. Different variations of CO2 between bamboo
and PE were observed as steam/feedstock ratio increased. CaO was more effective to increase the yields
of H2, CO, and CH4 and lower the yield of CO2 from bamboo and PE gasification under both air and steam
atmosphere, excluding the syngas composition of PE steam gasification. The work described here favors
us understand the real MSW gasification process and thus facilitates the industrial application of gasification technology.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment, management and disposal have been common concerns in every country. The conventional landfilling method is encountering some problems
including land shortage, underground water pollution, air pollution, and leachate disposal [1]. In recent years, incineration technology has been widely used with the advantages of substantial
and immediate reduction of MSW volume. However, toxic dioxins
emissions derived from waste incineration have been observed [2].
Therefore, both pyrolysis and gasification are regarded as feasible
alternative ways to incineration for MSW disposal, due to the
improved energy extraction by co-firing of syngas in large power
plants or combustion of syngas in the combined cycle gas turbine,
as well as better pollution control including the reduction of some
pollutants as dioxins, furans and NOx [35].
Extensive investigations of MSW pyrolysis by thermogravimetry (TGA) under inert atmosphere were reported in literature. Fang
et al. studied the co-pyrolysis characteristics of MSW, paper sludge
and their blends at N2 atmosphere. Meanwhile their kinetics were
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: xyzheng@usst.edu.cn (X. Zheng).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2016.03.044
0196-8904/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

studied as well [6]. TGA study was performed under inert nitrogen
atmosphere by Velghe et al. to get information on the potential of
MSW pyrolysis [7]. Chen et al. investigated the pyrolysis and gasification characteristics of the most common components of MSW
using TGA and analyzed their decomposed characteristics in N2
and CO2 atmosphere [8]. However, gasification studies under other
atmosphere were rare. Gasification performance of MSW depends
on many factors, like feedstock properties, reactor configurations,
and reaction conditions. Investigations focused on the reaction
conditions such as temperature, pressure, heating rate, and catalysts have been performed. The effect of catalyst and reactor temperature on the yield and product composition of MSW steam
catalytic gasification was investigated by He et al. [9]. Hu et al.
studied the effects of moisture content, [Ca]/[C], and reactor temperature on H2 yield and gas composition, when an in-situ MSW
steam gasification method was proposed using CaO as catalyst
and CO2 sorbent [10]. In order to produce tar-free fuel gas from
MSW steam catalytic gasification, Guan et al. investigated the
effect of catalyst, temperature, steam on the tar content, dry gas
yield and composition, and carbon conversion efficiency using
the gasifier composed of gasification reactor and catalytic reactor
[11]. Feedstock properties have great influences on gasification
performance as well. Researches have been conducted to

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X. Zheng et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 117 (2016) 393399

investigate the effect of physical properties, such as particle size

and shape on gasification characteristics. Luo et al. investigated
the influence of particle size on the pyrolysis and gasification
performance of single component including woods, plastics, and
kitchen wastes in a tubular and lab-scale fixed bed. They found that
particle size had an effect on pyrolysis product yields and composition [12,13]. However, effects of chemical properties such as MSW
individual component on gasification performance are limited.
In above studies, effective measures should be taken to reduce
the emissions of tar and undesirable green house gas CO2. Owing
to the low cost and abundance, CaO has been widely used in coal
and biomass gasification to produce hydrogen-enriched gas
[14,15]. It plays a vital role as tar reforming catalysts and excellent
CO2 sorbent in the gasification process. Recently, Zhou et al. studied
the influence of CaO addition on high-temperature steam gasification of MSW. CaO showed a good capacity toward CO2 adsorption,
leading to hydrogen-rich syngas production [16]. Hu et al. found
CaO as CO2 sorbent and catalyst in the gasification process of wet
MSW could improve the hydrogen-rich fuel gas production [10].
Their gasification experiments were conducted in batch-type tubular fixed bed reactor. The results from this apparatus are far from the
reality. Results from a bench-scale reactor present far more importance for further commercial plant. This knowledge is still lacking.
Because more tar and char can be converted into gaseous
products with a high yield of H2, steam gasification of MSW also
has been thought of as a more promising technology. Zhang et al.
investigated the thermal decomposition of six representative
components of MSW by thermogravimetricmass spectroscopy
(TGMS) under steam atmosphere [17].
However, due to the technical obstacle and lack of practical
experience, MSW gasification still stay in the preliminary stage.
Deep understanding on gasification performance of raw materials
favors the proper design and operation of gasifiers. Particularly,
experience from the gasification of key MSW components in a
bench-scale reactor is rarely lacking. It is helpful to understand
the gasification performance of real MSW.
The composition of MSW is very complex including plastics and
lignocellulosic biomass, etc. According to the ultimate analysis of
MSW components, the main constituents of MSW components
are C, H, and O elements. Therefore, CxHyOz can be represented as
MSW components. Their conversion to syngas progressed under
the main steps that were indicated by the reactions below [10,18]:

Secondary tar cracking reaction:

Tar ! Light and Heavy hydrocarbons H2 CO CO2 DH0298 > 0

8
Methanation:

CO 3H2 ! CH4 H2 O DH0298 206:3 kJ=mol

Carbonization:

CaOs CO2 $ CaCO3s DH0298 178:2 kJ=mol

10

In the presence of CaO, it adsorbs CO2 to form CaCO3 (Eq. (10)),

which contributes to the CO2 partial pressure reduction in the reactor. The continuous removal of CO2 in the gasification process
enhances the reactions (1), (2), (4), (6), (8) toward the desired
products. The CO2 adsorption via CaO strongly depends on the partial pressure of CO2 in the product and temperature. When gasification is performed below 850 C, CO2 is absorbed by CaO to
form CaCO3. Above this temperature, CaCO3 decomposes into
CaO and CO2 [19].
In this study, comprehensive investigations on gasification performance of key MSW components were performed in a benchscale fixed bed reactor. The polyethylene and bamboo were
selected, which were regarded as plastics and lignocellulosic biomass in real MSW. Effects of equivalence ratio, steam/feedstock
ratio, gasification temperature and CaO presence on syngas composition and LHV were examined. This knowledge would assist in
gasifier design and operation, and provide basic data to facilitate
the industrial application of gasification technology.
2. Experimental section
2.1. Materials
In this study, bamboo was selected as biomass for the wide use
of chopsticks. PE was chosen as plastics, which was the main component in MSW in China. Both of them were purchased from local
factories. They were dried and cut with a diameter of 5 mm before
the experiments. Bamboo and PE were used separately in this
study. Their properties were summarized in Table 1. The analytical
reagent, calcium oxide (CaO), was adopted in this study with the
particle size ranging from 1 to 200 lm. The deionized water was
used to generate steam in this study.

MSW devolatilization:

Cx Hy Oz heat ! steam biochar tar volatile DH0298 > 0

Biochar pyrolysis reaction:

char heat ! H2 CO CH4 CO2

Cn Hm DH0298

>0

2.2. Facilities and procedures

Experiments were performed in a self-designed fixed bed reactor with air or steam as gasification agent, respectively. A flow diagram of gasification process was shown in Fig. 1.

Boudouard reaction:

C CO2 ! 2CO DH0298 162:4 kJ=mol

Table 1
Properties of bamboo and PE.

Hydrocarbons reforming reaction:

m
H2 nCO2 DH0298 > 0
Cn Hm 2nH2 O ! 2n
2

Water gas reaction:

C H2 O ! CO H2 DH0298 131:3 kJ=mol

Watergas shift reaction:

CO H2 O ! CO2 H2 DH0298 41 kJ=mol

Methane steam reforming reaction:

CH4 H2 O ! CO 3H2 DH0298 206:3 kJ=mol

a
b

Proximate analysis

Bambooa

PEa

Moisture
Volatile matter
Fixed carbonb
Ash

7.14
74.35
17.02
1.49

0.65
98.87
0.17
0.31

Ultimate analysis
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygenb
Nitrogen
Sulfur
LHV (MJ/kg)

44.83
5.96
40.08
0.35
0.15
18.32

83.62
13.56
1.31
0.55
0
43.83

Air dried basis, wt.%.

By difference.

X. Zheng et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 117 (2016) 393399

The fixed bed reactor was built with 0Cr25Ni20 stainless steel
and surrounded by electric heater, by which the reactor temperature could be adjusted from room temperature to 1000 C. The
electric heater was covered with an insulation layer outside. The
reactor possessed an inner diameter of 100 mm and a height of
1400 mm. A screw feeder was used to continuously feed powder
MSW components into the reactor from the top. The steam or air
was introduced from the bottom of the reactor.
Before the experiments, the electric heater was turned on.
After the desired value of reactor temperature was achieved, the
steam generator or blower began to work and the steam or air
could be introduced into the reactor. The steam flow rate was
kept constant at 3 kg/h. Its temperature was kept at 160 C. The
flow rate of air at room temperature was adjusted according to
the equivalence ratio. They passed from the bottom to the top
for 10 min. Then the screw feeder was turned on. The blended
CaO and powder MSW components with mass ratio of 1:1 were
injected into the reactor from the top to the bottom with a setting
rate. The produced gas in the hot reactor flown out from the reactor, passed through the condenser and air pump, and combusted
by exhaust burner. When the sampling of produced gas was
required, the gas passed through the following condenser and filter units. A condenser in series was used to cool the syngas and
capture tar. A cold-gas filter in series was used to clean the syngas. The collected gas was analyzed by a gas analyzer (GS-101M
Gas Chromatography). All the experiments were run at atmospheric pressure.
In general, the stable state could be achieved after 20 min to
ensure the reliability of test data. Then the gas was sampled every
10 min in triplicate. The averaged values were reported in this
study. And the data variability was within 5%. Reproducibility
was tested in this study as well.

395

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Effect of equivalence ratio
At gasification temperature of 800 C, air gasification of PE and
bamboo was conducted at equivalence ratio ranging from 0.2 to
0.5. In this study, the equivalence ratio represented the ratio of
the amount of introducing air to the amount of air required for
complete combustion.
The effect of equivalence ratio on syngas composition was
shown in Fig. 2. Nitrogen has been removed with these reported
syngas compositions. In general, bamboo and PE behaved similarly.
As shown in Fig. 2(A), higher equivalence ratio assisted oxidation
reactions and deteriorated the syngas quality. Increasing the
equivalence ratio reduced the yields of H2 and CO from 16.9%
and 24.2% to 3.2% and 6.5% respectively, while CO2 yield increased
from 55.9% to 89%. It could be attributed to the strengthened
oxidation reactions. The yield of CH4 stayed at low values and
declined slightly under the experimental conditions. Therefore, it
could be expected that the LHV of syngas would declined owing
to the reduction of combustible gas components such as H2, CO,
and CH4. A significant decrease of LHV from 5.97 MJ/Nm3 to
1.30 MJ/Nm3 was observed in Fig. 3.
However, the yields of CO and CH4 of PE increased slightly and
then decreased dramatically. But the yield of CH4 was much lower
than that of CO. The yields of CO and CH4 declined with further
increase in equivalence ratio while the yield of H2 reduced all the
time. The increase in equivalence ratio resulted in partial combustion of different gas components to a greater extent. Accordingly, a
significant increase of CO2 yield from 30.9% to 71.0% was observed
in Fig. 2(B). The LHV of syngas increased firstly up to 9.15 MJ/Nm3
and then decreased to 3.70 MJ/Nm3 due to the consumption of

Fig. 1. Flowchart of experimental apparatus.

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X. Zheng et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 117 (2016) 393399

(A) 100

Many researches has reported that whatever the nature of

gasified feedstocks was, the rise in equivalence ratio assisted
partial combustion of combustible gas components, giving rise to
a decrease in the energy content of syngas [18,21].
3.2. Effect of gasification temperature

Bamboo, T=800 oC

60

H2
CO
CH 4

40

CO 2

20

0
0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Equivalence ratio

(B)

80
o
PE, T=800 C

H2

70

Syngas composition/mol%

CO

60

CH 4
CO 2

50
40
30

(A) 100

20

90

H2

80

CO

10
0
0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Equivalence ratio
Fig. 2. Effect of equivalence ratio on syngas composition (T = 800 C).

10

Bamboo, equivalence ratio=0.4

CH 4

70

CO 2

60
50
40
30
20

T=800 oC

Bamboo

10

PE

0
600

700

800

Gasification temperature/ o C

(B)

80
70

4
3
2
1
0
0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Equivalence ratio

Syngas composition/mol%

LHV (MJ/Nm3)

Temperature is crucial for thermochemical conversion of MSW

because the main gasification reactions are endothermic [10]. Fig. 4
presented the syngas composition from bamboo and PE gasification at equivalence ratio of 0.4 as a function of gasification temperature. It was found in Fig. 4 that the main gas composition showed
evident differences for different MSW components.
From Fig. 4(A), it could be found that the yield of H2 rose from
12.5% to 17.7% with the increase of temperature from 600 C to
700 C and then it showed a decrease from 17.7% to 7.0% with further increase of temperature from 700 C to 800 C. The same tendency of CO yield was presented, while the yield of CO2 followed
the opposite trend within the temperature range. Higher temperature is favorable to the Boudouard reaction (Eq. (3)) on the direction
of product and thus more CO was produced. However, higher reactor temperature might reduce the reactivity of watergas shift reaction (Eq. (6)), which was one of the main reactions to determine the
composition of H2, CO and CO2. The extent of the shift reaction at
the temperatures of 600800 C was lower than that in the equilibrium state, which was reached at temperature near 1100 C [22].

Syngas composition/mol%

Syngas composition/mol%

80

60
PE, equivalence ratio=0.4

50

H2
CO

40
30

CH 4
CO 2

20

Fig. 3. Effect of equivalence ratio on LHV of syngas (T = 800 C).

10

combustible gas components by combustion. In terms of LHV,

there existed an optimal equivalence ratio of 0.3 for PE at 800 C.
According to Table 1, because of higher volatile matter content
and lower fixed carbon content, the heat and its transfer in gasification of PE were better and more light gases such as CO, and H2
were produced [20].

0
600

700

800

Gasification temperature/ oC
Fig. 4. Effect of gasification temperature on syngas composition (Equivalence
ratio = 0.4).

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X. Zheng et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 117 (2016) 393399

(A) 60

7
6

Syngas composition/mol%

50

LHV (MJ/Nm3)

5
4
3
2
1

Equivalence ratio=0.4
Bamboo

o
Bamboo, T=800 C

H2
CO

40

CH4
CO2

30

20

10

PE

0
600

700

0.4

800

0.5

Therefore, the shift reaction still progressed. The variation of CH4

with temperature was not significant.
Fig. 4(B) presented the effect of gasification temperature on gas
composition from PE gasification. Comparing with bamboo gasification, it was totally different. The yield of H2 increased monotonically from 13.3% to 21.9% with temperature. The yield of CO2
decreased sharply from 70.9% to 57.5% while that of CO increased
slightly from 14.7% to 19.0%. On one side, higher temperature sped
up the devolatilization and tar cracking reaction (Eqs. (1) and (8)),
leading to more H2 and CO production [9]. On the other side, higher
temperature favored moving the equilibrium of Boudouard and
watergas reactions (Eqs. (3) and (5)) to the right hand side, caused
a marked decrease in CO2 yield [23]. Furthermore, water gas shift
reaction (Eq. (6)) and methanation reaction (Eq. (9)) are exothermic. According to Le Chateliers principle, higher temperature
favors reactants in an exothermic reaction. At higher temperature,
it is unfavorable to the occurrence of them on the direction of
product. And thus it caused the increase in the production of CO
to a certain level. The variation of CH4 in the experimental range
was not significant (0.81.5%).
The effect of gasification temperature and MSW component on
LHV was shown in Fig. 5. Higher gasification temperature resulted
in higher LHV and improved the syngas quality effectively for bamboo as the temperature rose from 600 C to 700 C and for PE in the
whole temperature range. However, due to the decrease of the
yields of H2, CO, and CH4 from bamboo gasification above 700 C,
there existed a sharp decline in LHV from 6.22 MJ/Nm3 to
2.50 MJ/Nm3. Therefore, an optimal temperature of 700 C existed
for bamboo.
3.3. Effect of steam/feedstock ratio
Comparing with air gasification, steam gasification is conducive
to produce more H2 [16,24]. As an influential parameter on the
gasification progress, excess steam does not always favor the syngas production and is not cost effective. In the present work, the
steam/feedstock ratio was varied from 0.4 to 1.0. The effect of
steam/feedstock ratio on syngas composition at 800 C was presented in Fig. 6.
From Fig. 6(A), it could be observed that with the increase of
steam/feedstock ratio, the yield of H2 increased from 25.52% to
37.59% for bamboo. The variations of CO2 and CH4 were not significant. This could be attributed to that the steam was helpful to several important reactions including Eqs. (4)(8) which occurred
simultaneously in the reactor. Besides, with the increase of

(B) 50

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

PE, T=800 oC
CH4

CO

H2

Syngas composition/mol%

Fig. 5. Effect of gasification temperature on LHV of syngas (Equivalence ratio = 0.4).

0.6

Steam/feedstock ratio

Gasification temperature/ oC

CO2

C2 H 4

40

30

20

10

0
0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Steam/feedstock ratio
Fig. 6. Effect of steam/feedstock ratio on syngas composition (T = 800 C).

steam/feedstock ratio, the steam partial pressure rose and thus

promoted H2 production [25].
It also could be found from Fig. 6(A) that the yields of CO and
CH4 dropt from 17.58% to 8.41% and from 2.34% to 0.86%, respectively. The yield of CH4 kept in low level. There was little change
of CO2 (from 54.55% to 53.14%). These changes of syngas composition might be explained by the fact that increasing steam/feedstock
ratio could promote the watergas shift reaction (Eq. (6)), methane
steam reforming reaction (Eq. (7)) and secondary tar cracking reaction (Eq. (8)) to generate more CO2 and H2.
However, different gasification performance of PE was observed
in Fig. 6(B). The yield of CO2 increased about 14.91% with steam/
feedstock ratio while the yield of CO decreased about 7.41%. The
hydrocarbon of C2H4 was formed in appreciable level, but its yield
was lower than that of CH4. Their yields declined as steam/feedstock ratio rose. The yield of H2 increased firstly from 34.65% to
39.05% with the increase of steam/feedstock ratio from 0.2 to 0.4,
and then varied slightly from 39.05% to 39.15%. The same results
of waste plastic gasification by steam reforming in a fluid bed were
reported by Tsuji and Hatayama [26]. The possible reasons might
be as follows: (a) increasing steam/feedstock ratio could enhance
the steam reforming reactions (Eqs. (4) and (7)) and the water
gas shift reaction (Eq. (6)) toward the direction of producing more
H2; (b) Excess steam would consume more energy, giving rise to
the reduction of temperature in the reactor, and thus reduce the
combustible gas production [27]. As presented in Fig. 7, the LHV
of syngas for PE decreased from 16.11 MJ/Nm3 to 10.52 MJ/Nm3.

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X. Zheng et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 117 (2016) 393399

(A) 60

18
T=800 oC
Bamboo

16

Bamboo

T=800 oC, steam/feedstock ratio=0.4

50

Without CaO

PE

With CaO

Yield of syngas/mol%

LHV (MJ/Nm 3)

14
12
10
8

40

30

20

10

6
4
0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

H2

Steam/feedstock ratio

50

(B) 40

CO2

C2H4

PE
T=800 oC, steam/feedstock ratio=0.4

Bamboo

Without CaO

T=800 oC, equivalence ratio=0.3

With CaO

30

Without CaO

Yield of syngas/mol%

Yield of syngas/mol%

60

CH4

Syngas composition

Fig. 7. Effect of steam/feedstock ratio on LHV of syngas (T = 800 C).

(A) 70

CO

With CaO

40
30

20

10

20
10

0
H2

H2

CO

CH4

CO2

Syngas composition

(B) 50

CO

CH4

CO2

C2 H4

Syngas composition
Fig. 9. Effect of CaO on syngas composition of steam gasification (T = 800 C,
Equivalence ratio = 0.3).

PE
T=800 oC, equivalence ratio=0.3
Without CaO
With CaO

Yield of syngas/mol%

40

30

20

10

0
H2

CO

CH4

CO2

Syngas composition
Fig. 8. Effect of CaO on syngas composition of air gasification (T = 800 C,
Equivalence ratio = 0.3).

And there was little change between 5.43 MJ/Nm3 and 5.84 MJ/
Nm3 in LHV of syngas for bamboo.
3.4. Effect of CaO presence
In the present work, both air and steam gasification in the presence of CaO were conducted at 800 C. Fig. 8(A) and (B) showed the

effect of CaO on syngas composition under the atmosphere of air.

Nitrogen has been removed with these reported syngas compositions.
In the presence of CaO, the yields of H2 and CO from bamboo
gasification increased from 11.7% and 18.4% to 34.1% and 26.9%
respectively while the yield of CO2 decreased sharply from 68.2%
to 28.6% (Fig. 8(A)). The yields of H2 and CO from PE gasification
rose slightly from 33.7% and 31.0% to 37.7% and 34.1% respectively
while CO2 yield declined from 30.9% to 24.4% (Fig. 8(B)). According
to Le Chateliers equilibrium principle, when the concentration of a
chemical was changed, the equilibrium would move to the side
that would reduce that change in concentration. CO2 was adsorbed
via CaO carbonation and its yield decreased, which could promote
watergas shift reaction (Eq. (6)), secondary tar cracking reaction
(Eq. (8)) and reforming reactions ((Eqs. (4) and (7)) in the direction
of producing more H2 and CO.
Besides, it was evident that the presence of CaO had a stronger
effect on syngas composition from bamboo gasification than that
from PE gasification, owing to the higher moisture content of
7.14% in bamboo. The yield of CH4 from bamboo gasification
increased from 1.7% to 9.3% while that from PE gasification
decreased slightly from 4.5% to 3.8%. Accordingly, LHV of syngas
for bamboo and PE rose from 4.18 MJ/Nm3 and 9.15 MJ/Nm3 to
11.07 MJ/Nm3 and 9.74 MJ/Nm3, respectively.
Under the atmosphere of steam, the effect of CaO on syngas
composition from bamboo gasification was presented in Fig. 9(A).

X. Zheng et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 117 (2016) 393399

The yields of H2, CO and CH4 increased while the yield of CO2
decreased significantly. Different gasification performance of PE
was observed in Fig. 9(B), compared with that of bamboo. The
yields of H2, CO and CO2 declined slightly while those of CH4 and
C2H4 rose. Comparing with Fig. 8, the effect of CaO on the syngas
composition was weak. Negative effect was even observed for PE.
The effect of CaO on the syngas composition under the steam
atmosphere could be summarized as follows: (a) CaO played an
adsorbing role in the gasification process and thus reduced the
yield of CO2. It also drove the watergas shift reaction (Eq. (6))
and steam reforming reactions (Eqs. (4) and (7)) in the direction
to enhance combustible gas formation from bamboo gasification
[16]. (b) Excess steam would consume more energy, leading to
the decrease of reactor temperature, and thus lower the syngas
yield [27]. (c) Due to the differing nature of gasified materials,
the effect of excess steam on syngas composition from PE gasification was stronger than that of CaO.
In the presence of CaO, LHV of syngas for bamboo and PE
increased from 5.81 MJ/Nm3 and 10.52 MJ/Nm3 to 17.33 MJ/Nm3
and 12.18 MJ/Nm3, respectively.

4. Conclusions
In this study, comprehensive studies on the effect of equivalence ratio, gasification temperature, steam/feedstock ratio and
CaO presence on syngas composition and LHV of key MSW components including bamboo and PE were performed using a benchscale fixed bed reactor.
As the equivalence ratio increased, combustible gas components and LHV of syngas decreased, while the yield of CO2
increased for both bamboo and PE.
The effect of gasification temperature on syngas composition
and LHV of syngas from bamboo and PE gasification was different.
For bamboo, there existed an optimal temperature of 700 C for the
best syngas quality and the highest LHV value of 6.22 MJ/Nm3.
However, higher temperature was more conducive to increase
the yields of H2 and CO and decrease the yield of CO2 of PE. And
thus the LHV of syngas rose from 3.67 MJ/Nm3 to 5.31 MJ/Nm3.
Different gasification performance between bamboo and PE was
observed as steam/feedstock ratio increased. The yield of CO2 from
bamboo gasification decreased slightly about 1.41% while that
from PE gasification increased sharply about 14.91%.
Due to the adsorption of CO2 via CaO carbonation, combustible
gas components from bamboo and PE gasification under the atmosphere of both air and steam increased while the yield of CO2
declined. However, the yields of H2 and CH4 from PE gasification
decreased while that of CO2 rose slightly under the steam
atmosphere.
The basic data described here favors us understand the real
MSW gasification process and thus facilitates the industrial application of gasification technology.

Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the financial supports from Science and
Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (NO.
13DZ2260900) and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission
(NO. ZZslg15012).

399

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