Gasification

Gasification can be defined as the thermochemical conversion of a solid or liquid fuel into a combustible gas product. The process takes place at high temperatures in an oxygen deficit atmosphere under stoichiometric conditions. The biomass is generally transferred into a fuel gas constituting mainly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen using air, oxygen or steam at temperatures greater than 800 °C. This fuel gas can be used to run gas engines or gas turbines which are used for the generation of electricity. Alternatively the product gas can be utilized as a feedstock (syngas) for the production of various chemicals for instance methanol. Gasification essentially converts the built in chemical energy of the carbon in the biomass into a combustible gas. An important application of gasification is that it can also be applied for power generation.

The research activity at EBRI involves the coupling of the Pyroformer (Pyrolysis reactor) with the fluidized bed gasifier, by this coupling the necessity of high sensible process components like condenser, filtration unit and aerosol precipitator can be avoided. Avoiding these units a wide spectrum of biogenic resources can be used within the process. The pyrolysis char bearing all ashes will not be gasified. The total pyrolysis vapours (about 60-75% of the energy of the input material) now low in ash are directly passed to a gasifier and gasified. This topic is of great interest because it esentially contributes to the idea of hydrogen grid which can be used for various purposes. Colaboration with various industries and academic institutions is enhancing the scope of this research topic. The very well known Guessing type gasifier is shown in the picture above.