Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Gasification characteristics of biomass for tar removal by secondary oxidant injection

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Gasification experiments for sawdust were conducted using a fixed bed reactor at 900 °C by varying the secondary oxidant injection ratio to determine the optimal conditions for tar removal along with the enhancement of gasification efficiency. Secondary oxidant was injected as an oxidant at the top zone of the gasifier in varying ratios of 10–30% of the total amount of oxidant. This method was based on the primary method of tar removal and gasification efficiency improvement by thermal cracking of tar. Various gasification performance parameters were evaluated and tar content was estimated by measuring the fluctuation of weight of the activated carbon filter. The results showed that the concentration of tar in the producer gas decreased by injecting the secondary oxidant, even though syngas yield decreased. The recycling potential of the char produced in the gasification experiments was also assessed with the purpose of utilizing char as an adsorbent by determining its surface area and pore volume. The results demonstrated that the char produced from the gasification experiment had similar quality to that of the activated carbon used in this experiment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Dong JI (2008) Waste eco-energy and GHGs reduction technologies in the era of climate change. J Korea Soc Environ Eng 30(12):1203–1206

    Google Scholar 

  2. Butterman HC, Castaldi MJ (2009) CO2 as a carbon neutral fuel source via enhanced biomass gasification. Environ Sci Technol 43(23):9030–9037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Demirbaş A (2001) Biomass resource facilities and biomass conversion processing for fuels and chemicals. Energy Convers Manag 42(11):1357–1378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gil J, Corella J, Aznar MP, Caballero MA (1999) Biomass gasification in atmospheric and bubbling fluidized bed: effect of the type of gasifying agent on the product distribution. Biomass Bioenergy 17(5):389–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Breault RW (2010) Gasification processes old and new: a basic review of the major technologies. Energies 3(2):216–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Li C, Suzuki K (2009) Tar property, analysis, reforming mechanism, and model for biomass gasification—an overview. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 13(3):594–604

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kim SW, Koo BS, Ryu JW, Lee JS, Kim CJ, Lee DH, Choi S (2013) Bio-oil from the pyrolysis of palm and Jatropha wastes in a fluidized bed. Fuel Process Technol 108:118–124. doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2012.05.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Anis S, Zainal ZA (2011) Tar reduction in biomass producer gas via mechanical, catalytic and thermal methods: a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 15(5):2355–2377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Machin EB, Pedroso DT, Proenza N, Silveira JL, Conti L, Braga LB, Machin AB (2015) Tar reduction in downdraft biomass gasifier using a primary method. Renew Energy 78:478–483. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2014.12.069

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Chen C, Horio M, Kojima T (2001) Use of numerical modeling in the design and scale-up of entrained flow coal gasifiers. Fuel 80(10):1513–1523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kumar M, Ghoniem AF (2011) Multiphysics simulations of entrained flow gasification. Part II: constructing and validating the overall model. Energy Fuels 26(1):464–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Fletcher DF, Haynes BS, Chen J, Joseph SD (1998) Computational fluid dynamics modelling of an entrained flow biomass gasifier. Appl Math Model 22(10):747–757

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Fagbemi L, Khezami L, Capart R (2001) Pyrolysis products from different biomasses: application to the thermal cracking of tar. Appl Energy 69(4):293–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Yang WS, Seo YC, Lee JS, Yoo HM, Park JK, Park SW, Cha R, Cho SJ (2013) A study on characteristics of sawdust in a fixed bed reactor. J Korea Soc Waste Manag 30(2):124–129. doi:10.9786/kswm.2013.30.2.124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kim BH, Kang M (2004) Characteristics of chlorobenzene adsorption on oxidative treated activated carbon. J Korea Soc Waste Manag 21(43):319–327

    Google Scholar 

  16. Gong Z, Alef K, Wilke BM, Li P (2007) Activated carbon adsorption of PAHs from vegetable oil used in soil remediation. J Hazard Mater 143(1):372–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Park SW, Seo YC, Lee JS, Yoo HM, Yang WS, Kang JJ (2016) Characteristics of tar generated from palm empty fruit bunch gasification. J Korea Soc Waste Manag 33(4):410–417. doi:10.9786/kswm.2016.33.4.410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Yang WS, Lee JS, Park SW, Kang JJ, Alam T, Seo YC (2016) Gasification applicability study of polyurethane solid refuse fuel fabricated from electric waste by measuring syngas and nitrogenous pollutant gases. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 18:509–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Sheth PN, Babu BV (2009) Experimental studies on product gas generation from wood waste in a downdraft biomass gasifier. Bioresour Technol 100(12):3127–3133. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2009.01.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Dogru M, Howarth CR, Akay G, Keskinler B, Malik AA (2002) Gasification of hazelnut shells in a downdraft gasifier. Energy 27(5):415–427. doi:10.1016/S0360-5442(01)00094-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Zainal ZA, Rifau A, Quadir GA, Seetharamu KN (2002) Experimental investigation of a downdraft biomass gasifier. Biomass Bioenergy 23(4):283–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Paethanom A, Nakahara S, Kobayashi M, Prawisudha P, Yoshikawa K (2012) Performance of tar removal by absorption and adsorption for biomass gasification. Fuel Process Technol 104:144–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Han J, Wang X, Yue J, Gao S, Xu G (2014) Catalytic upgrading of coal pyrolysis tar over char-based catalysts. Fuel Process Technol 122:98–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Tsuboi Y, Ito S, Takafuji M, Ohara H, Fujimori T (2017) Development of a regenerative reformer for tar-free syngas production in a steam gasification process. Appl Energy 185:1217–1224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Tao J, Dong C, Lu Q, Liao H, Du X, Yang Y, Dahlquist E (2015) Catalytic cracking of biomass high-temperature pyrolysis tar using NiO/AC catalysts. Int J Green Energy 12(8):773–779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Gómez-Barea A, Ollero P, Leckner B (2013) Optimization of char and tar conversion in fluidized bed biomass gasifiers. Fuel 103:42–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Raveendran K, Ganesh A (1998) Adsorption characteristics and pore-development of biomass-pyrolysis char. Fuel 77(7):769–781

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This subject is supported by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) as a “Waste-to-Energy Technology Development Project” and a grant from the Human Resources Development program (No. 20164030201250) of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) funded by the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, 220-710, South Korea

    Se-Won Park, Jang-Soo Lee, Won-Seok Yang, Md Tanvir Alam, Yong-Chil Seo & Sang-Yeop Lee

Authors
  1. Se-Won Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jang-Soo Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Won-Seok Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Md Tanvir Alam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yong-Chil Seo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Sang-Yeop Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yong-Chil Seo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Park, SW., Lee, JS., Yang, WS. et al. Gasification characteristics of biomass for tar removal by secondary oxidant injection. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 20, 823–831 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-017-0642-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-017-0642-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation