High-pressure gasification reactivity of biomass chars produced at different temperatures

Abstract

The knowledge of biomass char gasification kinetics is of considerable importance in the design of advanced biomass gasifiers, some of which operate at high pressures. In the present work the effects of pyrolysis temperature, total pressure and CO2 concentration on the gasification of biomass chars have been studied using the thermogravimetric approach. The chars were obtained by pyrolysis in a drop tube furnace reactor at temperatures of 1000 and 1400°C. The gasification tests were carried out in a pressurized thermogravimetric analyser (PTGA) at different temperatures, pressures and CO2 concentrations. The reactivity measurements were conducted under the kinetically controlled regime, and three nth-order kinetic models as well as the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model were applied to determine the kinetic parameters.