Gasification of woody biomass in a novel indirectly heated bubbling fluidized bed steam reformer

Within this work, a novel 50 kWth indirectly heated bubbling fluidized bed steam reformer (IHBFBSR) is presented, along with its commissioning experiments. In the IHBFBSR, heat is provided through two radiant tube natural gas burners in the bed and the freeboard area. The aim of this innovative desi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Fuel processing technology 2021-12, Vol.224, p.107003, Article 107003
Main Authors: Tsekos, C., del Grosso, M., de Jong, W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air injection
Allothermal gasification
Biomass
Bubbling
Cold gas
Fluidized beds
Freeboard
Gas burners
Gas composition
Gasification
Heat loss
Hydrogen production
Loss reduction
Natural gas
Reforming
Steam reforming
Synthesis gas
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Summary:Within this work, a novel 50 kWth indirectly heated bubbling fluidized bed steam reformer (IHBFBSR) is presented, along with its commissioning experiments. In the IHBFBSR, heat is provided through two radiant tube natural gas burners in the bed and the freeboard area. The aim of this innovative design is sufficient heat provision for biomass steam reforming and cracking reactions and heat loss reduction, thus allowing the possibility of scaling-up to an industrial level. Experiments were performed with two woody biomass feedstocks and two bed material particle sizes under different operating conditions (steam to biomass ratio, lambda, temperature), in order to identify the setup's main characteristics. Product gas composition and quality, as well as the cold gas efficiency of the IHBFBSR were in reasonable agreement to similar systems, however carbon conversion prediction needs further improvement. H2 production and tar removal are favoured by small bed material particle sizes as well as by char accumulation in the bed area. Furthermore, air injection above the bed led to improved H2/CO ratios and lower tar yields compared to when air is used as a fluidization agent. Overall, it was shown that the IHBFBSR technology constitutes a promising development in the field of biomass allothermal gasification. [Display omitted] •New 2nd gen. biomass 50 kWth indirectly heated bubbling fluidized bed steam reformer.•Reasonable CGE and raw syngas composition/quality was achieved.•The presence of accumulated char in the bed favours H2 production and tar removal.•Air injection in the freeboard is more preferable than as a co-fluidization agent.•The IHBFBSR concept is a promising gasification technology with scale-up potential.
ISSN:0378-3820
1873-7188
DOI:10.1016/j.fuproc.2021.107003