Publication | Peer reviewed papers | Potentiale, Bioenergiesysteme, Logistik
Tar conversion and recombination in steam gasification of biogenic residues: The influence of a countercurrent flow column in pilot- and demonstration-scale
Published 15 May 2024
Citation: Huber M, Benedikt F, Karel T, Binder M, Hochstöger D, Egger A, Fürsatz K, Kuba M. Tar conversion and recombination in steam gasification of biogenic residues: The influence of a countercurrent flow column in pilot- and demonstration-scale. Fuel. 15 May 2024. 364:131068
Abstract
First experiments with biogenic residues and a plastic-rich rejects and woody biomass blend were conducted in an advanced 1 MW dual fluidized bed steam gasification demonstration plant at the Syngas Platform Vienna. Wood chips, bark, forest residues, and the plastic-rich rejects and woody biomass blend were tested and the tar composition was analyzed upstream and downstream of the upper gasification reactor, which is designed as a high-temperature column with countercurrent flow of catalytic material. Each feedstock was gasified with olivine as bed material in demonstration scale and is compared to the gasification of softwood pellets with olivine and limestone in pilot scale. A reduction in tar content was observed after countercurrent column for all feedstocks. However, a shift in tar species occurred. While styrene, phenol, and 1H-indene were predominant upstream, naphthalene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were the prevailing tar species downstream the countercurrent column. Hence, an increase of i.e. anthracene, fluoranthene, and pyrene from the upstream concentration was observed. For pyrene, up to twice the initial concentration was measured. This recombination to PAHs was observed for all feedstocks in demonstration- and pilot-scale. The only exception occurred with limestone as bed material, characterized by a higher catalytic activity in comparison to the typically used olivine. In the perspective of the integrated product gas cleaning, tar with higher temperature of condensation are separated more efficiently in the installed scrubbing unit. Hence, the recombination facilitates an overall decline of tar content after the gas cleaning.