Producer gas

Producer Gas

• Producer gas, mixture of flammable gases (principally carbon monoxide and hydrogen) and non-flammable gases (mainly
nitrogen and carbon dioxide).

• Made by the partial combustion of carbonaceous substances, usually coal, in an atmosphere of air and steam.

• Producer gas has lower heating value than other gaseous fuels, but it can be manufactured with relatively simple
equipment.

• It is used mainly as a fuel in large industrial furnaces in steel and iron manufacturing plants.

• The nitrogen in the air remains unchanged and dilutes the gas, so it has a low calorific value. The gas may be used to
power gas turbines which are suited to fuels of low calorific value.
 Composition

Mixture of combustible and non-combustible gases:

• Combustible

1. 18 – 22% CO

2. 8 – 12% H2

3. 2 – 4% CH4

• Non – combustible

1. 8 – 12% CO2

2. 45 – 50% N2
 Production

• Producer gas is produced from coke and other carbonaceous materials such as coal. CO is produced as the air flows
over red hot carbonaceous fuels.

• The reaction involved is:

𝐶 + 𝑂2 + 𝑁2 → 𝐶𝑂2 + 𝑁2

𝐶𝑂2 + 𝐶 ⇌ 2𝐶𝑂

• The second reaction is called Boudouard reaction.

• The net reaction is exothermic in nature.

Courtesy: Wikipedia
Gasification Process

Courtesy: https://www.slideshare.net/DivyeshVaghela3/producer-gas-ppt/4 and ankurscientific.com

 Production
1. Drying

Biomass fuels containing moisture are heated and moisture is removed by converting it to steam.

2. Pyrolysis

It involves burning of the fuel in the absence of oxygen. Fuel gets decomposed and charcoal (solid), tar (liquid) and flue
gases (gaseous products) are produced.

3. Oxidation

Charcoal reacts with air to form carbon dioxide and heat.

4. Reduction

Lastly carbon reacts with carbon – dioxide (not enough oxygen is available) or steam to form carbon monoxide and
hydrogen.

Courtesy: https://www.slideshare.net/DivyeshVaghela3/producer-gas-ppt/4
 Syngas
• A gas mixture that contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2) generated by the
gasification of a carbon-containing material to a gaseous product with a high heating value (but less than half the
energy density of natural gas).

• The reaction involved is:

𝐶 + 𝑂2 + 𝑁2 → 𝐶𝑂2 + 𝑁2

𝐶𝑂2 + 𝐶 ⇌ 2𝐶𝑂

𝐶 + 𝐻2 𝑂 → 𝐶𝑂 + 𝐻2

• The name comes from the gas's use as an intermediate in creating synthetic natural gas (SNG) and in producing
ammonia or methanol.

Courtesy: Wikipedia
 Syngas
• In 1780, Felice Fontana discovered that combustible gas develops if water vapor is passed over carbon at
temperatures over 500 °C.

• This CO and H2 containing gas was called water gas and mainly used for lighting purposes in the19th century.

• As of the beginning of the 20th century, H2/CO-mixtures were used for syntheses of hydrocarbons and then, as a
consequence, also called synthesis gas.

• Haber and Bosch discovered the synthesis of ammonia from H2 and N2 in 1910 and the first industrial ammonia
synthesis plant was commissioned in 1913.

• The production of liquid hydrocarbons and oxygenates from syngas conversion over iron catalysts was discovered
in 1923 by Fischer and Tropsch. The process is now called Fischer – Tropsch process.
 Syngas
• Much of the syngas conversion processes were being developed in Germany during the first and second world wars at
a time when natural resources were becoming scare and alternative routes for hydrogen production, ammonia
synthesis, and transportation fuels were a necessity.

• In 1943/44, this was applied for large-scale production of artificial fuels from synthesis gas in Germany.

• To this day, however, methanol and ammonia are still produced from syngas using essentially the same processes
originally developed and, apart from hydrogen production, constitute the major uses of syngas.