Gasifiers

Prepared by
Ranjith.R
 Gasifiers

• A biomass gasifier converts solid fuel such as

Wood Waste, Saw Dust briquettes and agro-
residues converted into briquettes into a
gaseous fuel through a thermo-chemical process
and the resultant gas can be used for heat and
power generation applications.
• When dry biomass fuel such as wood is burned in
any fire, the solid fuel must first be converted
into its component combustible gases.

• When the making of those gases is separate from

where the gases are combusted, the device is
called a “gasifier” and the process is
“gasification.
• The overall thermal efficiency of this process is more
than 75%.

• The combustible gas mixture, known as ‘producer gas’.

• Typically contains carbon monoxide (20% - 22%),

hydrogen (12% - 15%), nitrogen (50% - 54%), carbon
dioxide (9% - 11%) and methane (2% - 3%).

• The producer gas has relatively low

calorific value, ranging from 1000 to 1100
kCal / Nm3 (5500 MJ/Nm3).
 Potential applications
• Institutional cooking
• Restaurants/Hotels
• Food processing
• Bakeries
• Tea/Coffee processing
• Hot water generation
• Rural Electrification
• Captive power generation
• Gasifier can be used in any application
where LPG, Diesel or any other Petro-fuel is
used.
 Gas Producers
• Design of gasifier depends upon type of fuel used
and whether gasifier is portable or stationary .
• The most commonly built gasifiers are classified as :
• Updraft gas producer
• Downdraft gas producer
• Twin-fire gas producer
• Cross draft gas producer
Updraft gas producer
Downdraft gas producer
Twin-fire gas producer
Cross draft gas producer
 Based on biomass and other
renewable energy source

• Type of energy Capital investment (million rupees per

megawatt)
• Solar photovoltaic 300-400
• Micro-hydel 40-60
• Wind 40-50
• Biomass 20-40