Improvements of Biomass Gasification Process by Plasma Technologies

The chapter is dedicated to a promising method of biomass treatment—plasma gasification. Increased temperatures and energy supply allows significantly increase the range of wastes and other carbonaceous materials which could be efficiently processed. Features of plasma usage in updraft and downdraft biomass gasification are described. Several promising renewable energy sources (wood, energy crops, wastes of livestock, and poultry industry) are examined for the usage in downdraft plasma gasification. The correlation of key parameters of biomass plasma gasification was studied in thermodynamic equilibrium approach along with syngas usage for liquid fuel production. Institute for Electrophysics and Electric Power RAS experimental installation is described. Its primary component is a downdraft plasma gasifier for processing of biomass and wastes. Its technical characteristics and functionality are described. A brief survey of existing pilot and industrial projects is given. Methods of energy supply into plasma chemical reactor are described. The review of powerful plasma torches for industrial application is represented. Experimental procedures and test results on biomass gasification by air-plasma are presented as well as the comparison with the calculated data.