The biomass gasification pathway

There are many different types of gasifiers available to choose from, each have their strengths and
weaknesses in terms of feedstock and its moisture content and size. Some gasifiers work best with
coal; however, these gasifiers end up releasing high amounts of carbon dioxide. Our focus is to
produce hydrogen in the most renewable way possible and with the lowest carbon foot possible.
Gasification of biomass offers a great potential of producing product gas through the
thermochemical conversion of carbonaceous solid fuel (e.g., wooden feedstock).

1.0 The Gasification process

A typical gasifier generally consists of the following zone (steps):

1. Pre-heating and drying of the feedstock

2. Pyrolysis
3. Combustion
4. Char gasification.

This is also illustrated schematically in Figure 1 and 1.1:

Figure 1: potential paths for gasification

figure 1.1: zones in a typical gasifier

There is no sharp boundary between these steps, and they often overlap, however different gasifiers
may lean more towards different reactions depending on their design and reaction conditions.

1.1 Drying
Its is very important to dry the feedstock as some may have high moisture content. Every kilogram of
extra moisture means a minimum of 2242kj of extra heat energy is taken from the gasifier. This loss
is a concern for the overall efficiency of the process. Therefor feedstock with moisture content
higher than the selected gasifier specification must undergo pre- drying before it is fed into the
reactor. Once the pre-treated biomass enters the reactor, it receives heat that is initially produced
by the combustion reaction further downstream, this will ensure that any loosely bound water is
irreversible evaporated.

1.2 Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of biomass material into condensable gas which may break
down further into non condensable gases like carbon monoxide etc. this is achieved by rapid heating
of the biomass with the absence of air for a specified time. This process can be represented by the
following general equation:
 Fig 2: general equation of pyrolysis

The thermal decomposition partly through gas-phase homogeneous reactions and partly through
gas-solid phase heterogeneous thermal reactions.

1.3 reduction and combustion:

The products of partial combustion (combustion zone) rise and pass through the hot charcoal bed on
the reduction zone where a series of reduction reactions take place producing mainly carbon
monoxide and hydrogen. Due to these reactions being endothermic, the temperature decreases
from about 1200 degrees Celsius to 800 – 900 degrees.

2.0 Gasifier Types

There are many different gasifiers available. They are mainly classified based on the contact mode of
the biomass and gasifying medium like air. The main types are:

1. Fixed/moving bed.
2. Fluidized bed.
3. Entrained flow bed.

2.1 fixed/moving bed

In this type of gasifier, the fuel Is supported on a grate which moved down the gasifier as a plug. One
of the major attractions to these gasifiers is the ability to build them in small sizes inexpensively,
however one of its major flaws is the inability to achieve a uniform fuel distribution on the moving
bed as well as the temperature. This means that the biomass is prone to agglomerates during the
process. There are three main types of fixed bed gasifiers:

1. Updraft
2. Downdraft
3. Cross draft

The following table show their characteristics:

Table 1: characteristics of fix bed gasifiers.

2.1.1 Updraft gasifier

In an updraft gasifier the gasification medium (oxygen, or steam, air or a combination)
enters near the bottom of the reactor and rises while the fuel is moving downwards, this
means that it is a counter current mode of contact, therefore the combustion reaction is
utilized effectively and efficiently. The product gas exits near the top of the gasifier as shown
by figure 2:

Fig 2: updraft gasifier diagram

In an updraft gasifier biomass with ash content of up to 25% and moisture content of up to
60% can be used and therefore have a high tar production (30 - 150g/nm3). However, this
gasifier is widely used for direct firing, where the product gas is burnt right after gasification
where no cleaning or cooling is required.

2.1.2 downdraft gasifier

The gas-solid contact mode in this gasifier is co-current as the gasification medium enters
the reactor at a specific height below the top of the gasifier and flows downward. The
product gas leaves near the bottom of the unit where it flows over the hot bed of ash. The
hot ash provides conditions favorable by the tar present in the product gas which leads to
tar cracking, this is the main reason product gas in downdraft gasifier tends to have low tar
levels.

Fig 3: downdraft gasifier

The gasifying medium enters the unit via nozzles that are situated around the gasifier’s
periphery, it flows downwards where it meets with the char produced during pyrolysis,
developing a combustion zone with temperatures of about 1200-1400 degrees Celsius. Then
the gas descends further and enters the char gasification zone, the product gas descends
along with the ash. The ash sets at the bottom of the gasifier while the producer gas leaves.
 2.1.3 cross draft gasifier
Similarly, to a downdraft gasifier, cross draft gasifier is also a co-current moving bed
reaction, where fuel is fed from the top of the reactor and the gasification medium through
a nozzle from the side. It is mainly used for the gasification of charcoal with very low ash
content.

2.2 fluidized bed gasifiers

The fluidized bed in these gasifiers is made of solid material which is usually referred to as bed
materials. It is kept in a fluidized state via the passage of the gasifying medium through them at a
specific velocity. This means that the mixing and temperature uniformity if excellent. They tend to
have a tar production rate of about 10g/nm3.

There are three principle fluidized bed types:

1. Bubbling
2. Circulating
3. Dual-fluidized bed

2.2.1bubbling fluidized bed gasifier

Biomass is crushed to less than 10mm which is then fed into the hot fluid bed. The gasifying
medium enters the unit from the bottom at a specific velocity to keep the bed materials in a
fluidized state. The ash produced during the process sink to the bottom and are drained
easily. To avoid ash fusion and agglomeration the temperature of the bed is kept at 900
degrees Celsius.

Fig 4: bubbling fluidized bed gasifier

The gasifying medium can be supplied at two stages, the first is from the bottom of the
gasifier which is to gasify the fuel, maintain temperature and the fluidization state of the bed
and the second stage is above the bed where the injected air will convert any unreacted char
in much more useful product gas.

2.2.2 circulating fluidized bed gasifier

A CFB comprises of a riser, cyclone and a solid recycling device. Unlike the bubbling fluidized
bed gasifier, CFB has a long residence time of biomass and a higher fluidization velocity (3.5-
5.5m/s).

Fig 5: circulating fluidized bed gasifier

in the riser, the gasifying agent enters from the bottom and feedstock enters from the side.
feedstocks undergo moisture evaporation, pyrolysis and char gasification. In the cyclone, the
much Corser and denser particles are separated from the product gas that exits the system
and are recycled back to the riser through the return leg and loop seal. And ash produced
during gasification is collected and drained at the bottom of the riser.

2.2.3 dual-fluidized bed gasifier

One of the major downsides of gasification is the presence of nitrogen gas in the product gas
which dilutes it. Although this only applies when using air as a gasifying agent and can be
avoided by using alternative agent like oxygen. However pure oxygen is very expensive. DFB
provides a solution to this challenge while using air as a gasifying agent. This is done by
separating the combustion reactor from the gasification reactor such that nitrogen released
in the air combustion does not dilute the producer gas.

Tar and gas produced during pyrolysis are combusted in the riser. Heat generated from
combustion increases the temperature if the inert bed materials to around 900 degrees
Celsius. This material rises and leaves the riser but is collected in the cyclone and are
recycled to the gasifier supplying heat for the endothermic reactions of the BFB gasifier. The
char in the BFB is gasified to produce product gas. This system also overcomes of tar as it is
burned in the gasifier, meaning that the producer gas is relatively free of tar.

3.0 Gasifier Choice

We concluded that dual-fluidized bed gasifier is the best choice, because as mentioned
above, its design means the producer gas will be rich in hydrogen and carbon monoxide
as flue gas is released from the combustion riser preventing the dilution of the producer
gas. Even more hydrogen can be obtained by water-gas shift reaction of the carbon
monoxide in the producer gas.