Syngas production by BFB gasification: Experimental comparison of different biomasses

Abstract The potential use of waste feedstocks (beached Posidonia Oceanica and Citrus peels) as fuels for energy recovery by gasification process in a BFB reactor was explored. A direct comparison between two biomasses with a traditional woody biomass (White pine) was carried out through TG-DTG analysis and gasification experiments at 1023 K, 1 bar, Equivalence Ratio equal to 0.3, and different Steam to Biomass inlet ratio (0.5–1.0). Thermo-gravimetric measurements highlighted that under air-steam gasification conditions Posidonia Oceanica and Citrus peels decompose at temperatures lower than White pine due to the presence of high ash content (9–14 wt%) in the produced bio-chars. An increasing of syngas and H2 yields, increasing Steam to Biomass inlet stream, was obtained for all the biomasses investigated. Posidonia Oceanica gasification showed the best yield rates for both syngas (2.64 Nm3/kgbiomass) and hydrogen (0.65 Nm3/kgbiomass) at Steam to Biomass equal to 1 wt/wt, however it exhibited lower Cold Gas Efficiency, Carbon Conversion Efficiency and Lower Heating Value syngas values than Citrus peels gasification in all range of Steam to Biomass ratio.