Experimental and Comprehensive Evaluation of Vegetable Oils for Biomass Tar Absorption

Abstract

Biomass tar is the bottleneck of biomass gasification, which not only is adverse to energy production but also brings severe environmental issues. A scrubber with vegetable oil is considered as a low-cost but efficient approach for tar removal, but the effects of oil’s properties on different tar absorptions were rarely reported. In this study, canola oil, palm oil, and pure oleic acid and linoleic acid, which are the main compounds of vegetable oils, were employed for absorptive removal of benzene, toluene, and phenol. The degree of unsaturation, average molecular weight, and average chain length of solvents were quantitatively characterized. A series of time and temperature-dependent absorption experiments were conducted, and the relationship between oils’ properties and absorption performances was built. Results showed that pure oleic acid had the biggest absorption capacity for benzene and toluene due to the mono-unsaturated structure. Increasing the average molecular weight and chain length also enhanced tar absorption. Moreover, Grey relative analysis was employed to investigate the influence of each factor on tar absorption. The average molecular weight exerted the most significant influence on tar absorption in the tested temperature range whose comprehensive relevance coefficients reached the highest at 0.9810, 0.7669, and 0.7739 for benzene, toluene, and phenol, respectively. This study puts more attention on the nature of vegetable oils, and we hope to provide useful information for modulating a better oil-based scrubber medium and further enhancing tar absorptive removal.

Development of a Methodology for the Synthesis of Biorefineries Based on Incremental Economic and Exergetic Return on Investment

“…Through a gasification process, this biomass will be converted into hydrogen, a fuel with a high added value as a very attractive and feasible project . Gasification is viewed as a potentially beneficial technology for the use of biomass, which converts biomass into combustible gases, biochar, and useful chemicals . It is important to note that the interest in the study of biomass to produce hydrogen is not recent; its advantage as a clean fuel for power generation was a reason for different authors to propose strategies for obtaining it. , Hydrogen is considered a novel fuel for the 21st century due to its advantages compared to fossil fuels; studies related to this fuel focus on aspects of efficiency and economy .…”

Kinetic Characterization of Tar Reforming on Commercial Ni-Catalyst Pellets Used for In Situ Syngas Cleaning in Biomass Gasification: Experiments and Simulations under Process Conditions

“…The upgrading of raw syngas is performed in situ, with remarkable process intensification of downstream gas treatments in relation to current practice of low-temperature physical/chemical treatments for tar removal. 17 , 18 …”

“…The upgrading of raw syngas is performed in situ, with remarkable process intensification of downstream gas treatments in relation to current practice of low-temperature physical/chemical treatments for tar removal. 17,18 Candles developed so far were made of an anisotropic porous support impregnated with nickel (Ni) and/or integrated with a Ni-based ceramic foam: The particulate filtration was ensured by an external layer with pores of sufficiently low size; the Nicatalytic phase was able to reduce the tar content from a few g Nm −3 down to less than 0.2 g Nm −3 . 15,19−22 Experimental studies performed on steam gasification of lignocellulosic biomass revealed that tar is made of several aromatic hydrocarbons.…”

“…The incorporation of this kind of device inside the gasifier brings in two main advantages: ,, the thermal integration of gasification and cleaning operations and the simplification of syngas cleaning and conditioning. The upgrading of raw syngas is performed in situ, with remarkable process intensification of downstream gas treatments in relation to current practice of low-temperature physical/chemical treatments for tar removal. , …”