Experimental Investigation of Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) Gasification: Effect of Temperature and Equivalence Ratio on Process Performance and Release of Minor Contaminants

Abstract

The growing problem related to municipal solid waste generation has encouraged the development of alternative paths to convert waste to energy. Among the different options, gasification has been proposed as an interesting and efficient technology. In this study the influence of equivalence ratio (ER) and temperature on the performance of the air-gasification process during the gasification of a SRF material has been evaluated. One of the parameters to assess the gasification performance was the tracking of the evolution of some minor contaminants present in the syngas (tar and N, S, and Cl compounds). The results suggest that gasification temperatures around 800–850 °C and ER on the order of 0.30–0.35 could be appropriate conditions during SRF gasification aiming for tar and trace contaminants abatement without compromising to a large extent other gasification performance parameters.

Air-blown gasification of Solid Recovered Fuels (SRFs) in lab-scale bubbling fluidized-bed: Influence of the operating conditions and of the SRF composition

“…In the past few years, SRFs gasification was increasingly studied in lab-scale fluidized beds, and the effect of the operating conditions on gasification behavior was investigated. Increasing equivalence ratio (ER) was proved to promote the oxidation reactions which increases both the syngas yield and the carbon conversion [26,27]. Similar results were obtained with the gasification of other wastes [10,28].…”

“…Contradictory results were reported about the evolution of the CH4 content and of the LHV of the syngas. While Berrueco et al found that they reached a maximum at 800 °C before to decrease with higher temperature [26,27], Dunnu et al reported that they increased with rising temperature from 800 to 850 °C [21]. These opposite trends can result from the different SRF composition, but a lack of study devoted to the influence of the SRF composition prevents to conclude this point.…”

“…Globally, the cold gas efficiency (CGE) decreased with increasing temperatures due to the drop in syngas LHV [26,27]. Contradictory results were reported about the evolution of the CH4 content and of the LHV of the syngas.…”

“…These trends can be attributed to several phenomena. Indeed, high gasification temperature can promote: the kinetic of gasification reactions generating H2 and CO at the expense of CO2 (R2); steam and dry reforming reactions of tar and light hydrocarbons which consume H2O and CO2 to produce H2 and CO (R3 and R4); and tar cracking reactions, mainly generating H2 and CO [21,26,27]. In addition to dry reforming reaction, the decrease in CO2 can also be attributed to Figure 11: Evolution of the composition of the gas produced (without nitrogen) versus gasification temperature for the different SRFs.…”

The Synergy Effect of Ni-M (M = Mo, Fe, Co, Mn or Cr) Bicomponent Catalysts on Partial Methanation Coupling with Water Gas Shift under Low H2/CO Conditions

“…Biomass gas generated by means of gasification from organic materials, such as agricultural and forestry residues, which exist abundantly in rural places, might be one potential solution to the problem of central gas supply [1]. However, due to assorted biomass resources, as well as gasification conditions and agents [2][3][4][5][6], the H 2 /CO ratio of acquired biomass gas varies greatly, and particularly, low H 2 /CO ratio biomass gas (H 2 /CO < 1) cannot be applied directly by urban residents because of its dreadful toxicity and relatively low heating value. Hence, from the standpoint of safety and efficiency, a series of requisite processing technologies has to be employed in order to eliminate the above two drawbacks before it is transported through a pipeline to downstream users.…”