Fluidized bed gasification of waste-derived fuels

Five alternative waste-derived fuels obtained from municipal solid waste and different post-consumer packaging were fed in a pilot-scale bubbling fluidized bed gasifier, having a maximum feeding capacity of 100 kg/h. The experimental runs utilized beds of natural olivine, quartz sand or dolomite, fluidized by air, and were carried out under various values of equivalence ratio. The process resulted technically feasible with all the materials tested. The olivine, a neo-silicate of Fe and Mg with an olive-green colour, has proven to be a good candidate to act as a bed catalyst for tar removal during gasification of polyolefin plastic wastes. Thanks to its catalytic activity it is possible to obtain very high fractions of hydrogen in the syngas (between 20% and 30%), even using air as the gasifying agent, i.e. in the most favourable economical conditions and with the simplest plant and reactor configuration. The catalytic activity of olivine was instead reduced or completely inhibited when waste-derived fuels from municipal solid wastes and aggregates of different post-consumer plastic packagings were fed. Anyhow, these materials have given acceptable performance, yielding a syngas of sufficient quality for energy applications after an adequate downstream cleaning.     

Gasification characteristics of biomass for tar removal by secondary oxidant injection

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.     

A techno-economic comparison of fluidized bed gasification of two mixed plastic wastes

A comparison between the most promising design configurations for the industrial application of gasification based, plastics-to-energy cogenerators in the 2-6 MWe range is presented. A pilot scale bubbling fluidized bed air gasifier, having a feeding capacity of 100 kg/h, provided experimental data: the syngas complete composition, the characterization of the bed material, the entrained fines collected at the cyclone and the purge material from the scrubber. Mass and energy balances and material and substance flow analyses have been therefore drawn to assess and compare design solutions utilizing two mixed plastic wastes (MPW) obtained from separate collection of plastic packaging, after different levels of pre-treatments. The related techno-economic performances have been finally estimated on the basis of the manufacturer’s specifications. The study concludes that the MPW obtained after a very simple pre-treatment and fed to a gasifier coupled with a steam turbine is the solution that currently offers the higher reliability and provides the higher internal rate of return for the investigated range of electrical energy production.     

H₂-rich syngas production by fluidized bed gasification of biomass and plastic fuel

This paper reports the results of gasification tests using a catalytic fluidized bed gasifier to obtain a H₂-rich stream by feeding different pellets made of wood, biomass/plastic and olive husks to the gasifier. The effects of both the steam supply and an in-bed catalyst on gasifier performance have been investigated. In general, pelletization was an effective pre-treatment for improving the homogeneity of the fuel and the reliability of the feeding devices. The use of biomass/plastic pellets in a catalyst bed yielded good results in terms of the hydrogen concentration (up to 32% vol.), even if an increase in tar production and in the fine/carbon elutriation rate was observed in comparison with wood pellets.     

Modelling of a downdraft gasifier fed by agricultural residues

A non-stoichiometric model for a downdraft gasifier was developed in order to simulate the overall gasification process. Mass and energy balances of the gasifier were calculated and the composition of produced syngas was predicted. The capacity of the modeled gasifier was assumed to be 0.5 MW, with an Equivalence Ratio (EQ) of 0.45. The model incorporates the chemical reactions and species involved, while it starts by selecting all species containing C, H, and O, or any other dominant elements. Olive wood, miscanthus and cardoon were tested in the formulated model for a temperature range of 800-1200 °C, in order to examine the syngas composition and the moisture impact on the supplied fuel. Model results were then used in order to design an olive wood gasification reactor.     

The O₂-enriched air gasification of coal, plastics and wood in a fluidized bed reactor

The effect of oxygen-enriched air during fluidized bed co-gasification of a mixture of coal, plastics and wood has been investigated. The main components of the obtained syngas were measured by means of on-line analyzers and a gas chromatograph while those of the condensate phase were off-line analysed by means of a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The characterization of condensate phase as well as that of the water used as scrubbing medium completed the performed diagnostics. The experimental results were further elaborated in order to provide material and substances flow analyses inside the plant boundaries. These analyses allowed to obtain the main substance distribution between solid, gaseous and condensate phases and to estimate the conversion efficiency of carbon and hydrogen but also to easily visualise the waste streams produced by the process. The process performance was then evaluated on the basis of parameters related to the conversion efficiency of fuels into valuable products (i.e. by considering tar and particulate as process losses) as well as those related to the energy recovery.     

An innovative example of herb residues recycling by gasification in a fluidized bed

A utilization way of herb residues is designed to convert herb residues to gas fuel in industrial-scale by a circulating fluidized bed gasifier in this paper. The product gas is used in the production of Chinese medicine, and the heat of the flue gas from the boiler can be used in herb residues drying to realize the energy recycling and no herb residues discharge. The gasification characteristics of herb residues in the circulating fluidized bed of 300 kg/h were investigated for about 200 h. The results indicated that the gas composition and tar yield were affected by biomass flow rate, equivalence ratio (ER), moisture content and char circulating. The lower heating value of product gas was 4–5 MJ/m³ using herb residues as feedstock. When mean biomass flow rate was at 5.5 kg m^?2 s^?1 and ER at 0.35, the product gas reached a good condition with lower heating value of 4.89 MJ/m³ and cold gas efficiency of 62.36%. When the moisture content changed from 12.5% to 18.7%, the concentrations of H₂, CO and CO₂ changed from 4.66% to 6.92%, 11.23% to 10.15%, and 16.55% to 17.82% respectively, and the tar content in gas decreased from 15.1 g/m³ to 14.4 g/m³ when the moisture content increased from 12.5% to 15.4%. There are metal oxides in the ash of herb residues, especially CaO, MgO, K₂O, Al₂O₃, and Fe₂O₃ which have obvious function on tar catalytic decomposition. The ash that attaches to the char particles can decrease the tar yield and improve the quality of gas after returning to the gasifier.     

Biomass waste gasification - can be the two stage process suitable for tar reduction and power generation?

A pilot scale gasification unit with novel co-current, updraft arrangement in the first stage and counter-current downdraft in the second stage was developed and exploited for studying effects of two stage gasification in comparison with one stage gasification of biomass (wood pellets) on fuel gas composition and attainable gas purity. Significant producer gas parameters (gas composition, heating value, content of tar compounds, content of inorganic gas impurities) were compared for the two stage and the one stage method of the gasification arrangement with only the upward moving bed (co-current updraft). The main novel features of the gasifier conception include grate-less reactor, upward moving bed of biomass particles (e.g. pellets) by means of a screw elevator with changeable rotational speed and gradual expanding diameter of the cylindrical reactor in the part above the upper end of the screw. The gasifier concept and arrangement are considered convenient for thermal power range 100-350 kW_th. The second stage of the gasifier served mainly for tar compounds destruction/reforming by increased temperature (around 950 °C) and for gasification reaction of the fuel gas with char. The second stage used additional combustion of the fuel gas by preheated secondary air for attaining higher temperature and faster gasification of the remaining char from the first stage. The measurements of gas composition and tar compound contents confirmed superiority of the two stage gasification system, drastic decrease of aromatic compounds with two and higher number of benzene rings by 1-2 orders. On the other hand the two stage gasification (with overall ER = 0.71) led to substantial reduction of gas heating value (LHV = 3.15 MJ/Nm³), elevation of gas volume and increase of nitrogen content in fuel gas. The increased temperature (>950 °C) at the entrance to the char bed caused also substantial decrease of ammonia content in fuel gas. The char with higher content of ash leaving the second stage presented only few mass% of the inlet biomass stream.     

From feathers to syngas - technologies and devices

The poultry waste produced by industrial slaughterhouses typically contains not only feathers, but also a mixture of animal entrails, nails, blood, beaks and whole carcasses. Economical utilisation of this mixture, varying strongly in composition and moisture content, is, in general, difficult. We demonstrate that this awkward material can be successfully used for gasification in a simple, fixed-bed gasifier. The method of gasification, which we developed, enables control of the gasification process and ensures its stability in the operational regime of a working poultry processing plant. The installation, which has been working in Poland for 2 years, utilises 2 tons of feathers per hour and produces syngas of stable composition and fairly high quality. The syngas is burnt in the combustion chamber adjacent to the gasifier. Heat is recuperated in a boiler producing 3.5 tons per hour of technological steam continuously used for the operation of the slaughterhouse. The whole process complies with the stringent emission standards. In the paper we present the end-use device for feather utilisation and describe the underlying gasification and syngas combustion processes. Key elements of the whole installation are briefly discussed. The environmental impacts of the installation are summarized.     

Ignition and burning rates of segregated waste combustion in packed beds

Recent developments in national recycling and re-use programmes for municipal waste have led to segregation of an increasing proportion of waste to enhance material recovery. Several of the segregated streams contain materials that can not viably be re-used or recycled but can be used for energy recovery. In this study, the combustion of cardboard and waste wood was investigated in a small-scale packed bed reactor in order to provide fundamental data for the design/operation of moving bed furnaces. Key parameters of combustion including the ignition and burning rates were evaluated for various air flowrates and compared to the modelling results. Two successive stages of combustion were identified for both samples: the propagation of ignition front into the bed and combustion of the fuel above the ignition front. The burning rate of cardboard reached a peak of about 300 kg/m(2)h at the air flowrate of 936 kg/m(2)h and decreased at higher air flowrates. For waste wood, both the ignition and burning rates increased in the tested range of the air flowrate up to 702 kg/m(2)h, of which the values were very close to those for the cardboard. The model prediction was in good agreement with the test results for waste wood. However, the burning rate for cardboard was under-predicted due to strongly irregular shapes of the fuel.     

Design and first experimental results of a bubbling fluidized bed for air gasification of plastic waste

Plastic wastes have an especially high potential for use as alternative fuels, considering their high heating value and their large and stable availability. They could be used in electricity production based on gasification technologies, wherein electricity is produced in engines by means of the conversion of plastic wastes into a valuable gas. However, there are still some technical barriers to overcome before this technology can access the commercial stage, and further scientific research is needed to gain deeper understanding of the process and to be able to control and optimize it. This research presents the design and first experimental results of a bubbling fluidized bed gasifier conceived for the gasification of actual plastic residues. The experimental tests revealed that the selection and design of the reactor were adequate and proved some of the advantages of using plastic as a fuel, related in part to the absence of ashes and char. A valuable syngas over 5 MJ/m³ was generated, which contained a considerable fraction of methane as well as hydrogen and carbon monoxide as main combustible gases. The highest efficiency was achieved when the equivalence ratio was increased to 0.35, reaching 61 % in terms of cold gas efficiency and 66 % carbon conversion.     

Application of a gas-solid fluidized bed separator for shredded municipal bulky solid waste separation

A laboratory-scale gas-solid fluidized bed separator able to separate fractions of 5.6-50mm was used for separation of shredded municipal bulky waste (SBW) into combustibles and incombustibles. In batch-scale tests, it was found that accumulation of SBW in the bottom of the bed significantly reduced the separation efficiency. In this study, stirring was shown to be effective in preventing this accumulation. Flexible sheet materials such as paper and film plastics also significantly decreased the separation efficiency. In batch-scale tests, an overall efficiency of 90% was obtained when flexible materials such as film plastics and paper were excluded from the feed SBW. In continuous feeding tests, purities of the float and sink fractions attained 95% and 86% efficiencies, respectively, with an overall efficiency of 79%. The effect of feedstock shape on separation efficiency was also investigated. This study revealed that large particles can be properly separated on the basis of density, while the shape of the material significantly influenced behavior in the fluidizing bed.     

Study of hydrodynamic characteristics in a circulating fluidized bed gasifier for plastic waste by computational fluid dynamics modeling and simulation

For designing an efficient circulating fluidized bed reactor, understanding the complex hydrodynamic characteristics in the reactor is required. Hence, in the present study, the modeling and simulation of the circulating fluidized bed gasifier using plastic waste were carried out with Eulerian-Granular approach. Several cases were investigated as changing superficial gas velocities or sizes of plastic waste particle. Firstly, cases were examined with four different velocities when the particle diameter is 1 mm. At the gas velocity of 6 or 8 m/s, gas volume fraction is more than 95 % throughout the reactor and particle velocity has positive value overall. Therefore, a circulating fluidized bed seems to be formed in both cases. Comparing those two cases, better solid mixing can be expected considering the mass fraction and solid velocity at the superficial gas velocity of 6 m/s. Thus this case was further studied for the effect of particle size. As the diameters of plastic waste particle are 1 or 3 mm, it is considered that a circulating fluidized bed is formed. And plastic waste and sand particles are well mixed throughout the reactor. However, the particle diameter increases over 3 mm then, it is very hard to maintain circulating fluidization condition.     

Removal of H2S using molten carbonate at high temperature

Gasification is considered to be an effective process for energy conversion from various sources such as coal, biomass, and waste. Cleanup of the hot syngas produced by such a process may improve the thermal efficiency of the overall gasification system. Therefore, the cleanup of hot syngas from biomass gasification using molten carbonate is investigated in bench-scale tests. Molten carbonate acts as an absorbent during desulfurization and dechlorination and as a thermal catalyst for tar cracking. In this study, the performance of molten carbonate for removing H₂S was evaluated. The temperature of the molten carbonate was set within the range from 800 to 1000 °C. It is found that the removal of H₂S is significantly affected by the concentration of CO₂ in the syngas. When only a small percentage of CO₂ is present, desulfurization using molten carbonate is inadequate. However, when carbon elements, such as char and tar, are continuously supplied, H₂S removal can be maintained at a high level.To confirm the performance of the molten carbonate gas-cleaning system, purified biogas was used as a fuel in power generation tests with a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). The fuel cell is a high-performance sensor for detecting gaseous impurities. When purified gas from a gas-cleaning reactor was continuously supplied to the fuel cell, the cell voltage remained stable. Thus, the molten carbonate gas-cleaning reactor was found to afford good gas-cleaning performance.     

Evaluation of waste pyrolysis characteristics in a pressurized fluidized bed reactor

To obtain the distribution of fuel components to gas, tar and char in a pressurized fluidized bed waste pyrolyzer, experiments were conducted with a laboratory scale fluidized bed reactor. Waste samples were fed batchwise from the top of the reactor into the fluidized bed of silica sand and pyrolyzed by nitrogen/nitrogen-O2 gas and the effects of pressure, particle size, heating rate and oxygen addition were investigated. In the case of rubber, the char yield tended to increase a little and the tar yield decrease over the pressure of 304-709 kPa. In comparison with the thermogravimetry data it was clearly demonstrated that the char yield from fluidized bed pyrolysis is much lower. A small amount of oxygen addition decreased both tar and char yields but its further increase did not affect them very much.     

Waste catalysts for waste polymer

Catalytic cracking of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) over fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts (1:6 ratio) was carried out using a laboratory fluidized bed reactor operating at 450 degrees C. Two fresh and two steam deactivated commercial FCC catalysts with different levels of rare earth oxide (REO) were compared as well as two used FCC catalysts (E-Cats) with different levels of metal poisoning. Also, inert microspheres (MS3) were used as a fluidizing agent to compare with thermal cracking process at BP pilot plant at Grangemouth, Scotland, which used sand as its fluidizing agent. The results of HDPE degradation in terms of yield of volatile hydrocarbon product are fresh FCC catalysts>steamed FCC catalysts approximately used FCC catalysts. The thermal cracking process using MS3 showed that at 450 degrees C, the product distribution gave 46 wt% wax, 14% hydrocarbon gases, 8% gasoline, 0.1% coke and 32% nonvolatile product. In general, the product yields from HDPE cracking showed that the level of metal contamination (nickel and vanadium) did not affect the product stream generated from polymer cracking. This study gives promising results as an alternative technique for the cracking and recycling of polymer waste.     

MBM fuel feeding system design and evaluation for FBG pilot plant

A biomass fuel feeding system has been designed, constructed and evaluated for a fluidized bed gasifier (FBG) pilot plant at the University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, SK, Canada). The system was designed for meat and bone meal (MBM) to be injected into the gasifier at a mass flow-rate range of 1-5 g/s. The designed system consists of two stages of screw conveyors, including a metering stage which controlled the flow-rate of fuel, a rotary airlock and an injection conveyor stage, which delivered that fuel at a consistent rate to the FBG. The rotary airlock which was placed between these conveyors, proved unable to maintain a pressure seal, thus the entire conveying system was sealed and pressurized. A pneumatic injection nozzle was also fabricated, tested and fitted to the end of the injection conveyor for direct injection and dispersal into the fluidized bed. The 150 mm metering screw conveyor was shown to effectively control the mass output rate of the system, across a fuel output range of 1-25 g/s, while the addition of the 50mm injection screw conveyor reduced the irregularity (error) of the system output rate from 47% to 15%. Although material plugging was found to be an issue in the inlet hopper to the injection conveyor, the addition of air sparging ports and a system to pulse air into those ports was found to successfully eliminate this issue. The addition of the pneumatic injection nozzle reduced the output irregularity further to 13%, with an air supply of 50 slpm as the minimum air supply to drive this injector. After commissioning of this final system to the FBG reactor, the injection nozzle was found to plug with char however, and was subsequently removed from the system. Final operation of the reactor continues satisfactorily with the two screw conveyors operating at matching pressure with the fluidized bed, with the output rate of the system estimated based on system characteristic equations, and confirmed by static weight measurements made before and after testing. The error rate by this method is reported to be approximately 10%, which is slightly better than the estimated error rate of 15% for the conveyor system. The reliability of this measurement prediction method relies upon the relative consistency of the physical properties of MBM with respect to its bulk density and feeding characteristics.     

Analysis of gas flow behavior in an annular fluidized-bed reactor for polystyrene waste treatment

The characteristics of bubble properties and the chaotic flow behavior of gas were investigated in an annular fluidized bed (0.102 m in inner diameter and 2 m in height) because the behavior of gas flow in such a reactor is one of the important factors governing reactor operation, reactor performance, and the reaction itself. Pressure fluctuations as a state variable for the analysis of gas flow behavior were measured and analyzed. Bubble properties were determined by adopting the cross-correlation function of pressure fluctuations. The resultant chaotic flow behavior of gas was interpreted by means of chaotic parameters such as the Kolmogorov entropy. It was found that the Kolmogorov entropy could be utilized effectively to explain the nonlinear dynamic behavior of gas-solid flow in the annular fluidized bed. The pierced length and rising velocity of bubbles increased with increasing gas velocity, bed temperature, and particle size of the bed material. The bubble frequency increased with increasing gas velocity and bed temperature, while it decreased with increasing particle size of the bed material. Correlations to predict the bubble properties in annular fluidized-bed reactors were suggested.     

Process and technological aspects of municipal solid waste gasification. A review

The paper proposes a critical assessment of municipal solid waste gasification today, starting from basic aspects of the process (process types and steps, operating and performance parameters) and arriving to a comparative analysis of the reactors (fixed bed, fluidized bed, entrained bed, vertical shaft, moving grate furnace, rotary kiln, plasma reactor) as well as of the possible plant configurations (heat gasifier and power gasifier) and the environmental performances of the main commercially available gasifiers for municipal solid wastes. The analysis indicates that gasification is a technically viable option for the solid waste conversion, including residual waste from separate collection of municipal solid waste. It is able to meet existing emission limits and can have a remarkable effect on reduction of landfill disposal option.     

Batch separation of shredded bulky waste by gas-solid fluidized bed at laboratory scale

A gas-solid fluidized bed separator using various bed materials was used to separate shredded municipal bulky waste (SBW). Using 290 microm glass beads as the bed material, the apparent density of the fluidized bed was 1.5 g/cm(3) and the SBW could be separated into combustibles such as wood, paper and plastics and incombustibles such as metals and glass. The overall efficiency (Newton's efficiency) of the separation was calculated to be 0.93. In order to obtain high efficiency, the superficial velocity must be adjusted so that the fluidized bed is agitated moderately and at the same time there is no weak fluidized region. Using a mixture of particles of nylon shot and 68 microm glass beads, the apparent density of the fluidized mixture bed could be varied between 0.63 and 0.99 g/cm(3) by changing the mixing ratio of the two materials. In the case of a mixing ratio of 20% for glass beads, an apparent density of 0.65 g/cm(3) was produced, in which wood and paper components were recovered while plastics remained in the bed to give a final overall efficiency of 0.88.