Hydrogen-rich syngas production from wood waste and wood waste pellet via gasification in updraft circulating fixed bed reactor

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the possibility of utilizing post-consumer wood waste by converting it into high value-added and environmentally friendly products via pyrolysis assisted gasification and direct gasification. Wood waste supplied from houses and garbage containers by Beşiktaş Municipality, Turkey, was used in the trials. After characterization of the wood waste was done, the experiments were carried out in an updraft fixed-bed reactor at temperatures of 700, 800, and 900°C with dry air (DA) and pure oxygen (PO) gasifying agents with varying flow rate parameters (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 L/min for DA, 0.01 L/min for PO). Wood waste was processed separately into chips and pellets, and appropriate experimental parameters were determined and compared. The maximum H2 yield of 57%, cold gas efficiency of 68%, and mean H2/CO ratio of 2.51 were experimentally obtained in pelletized wood waste. In addition, the maximum H2 production of 51%, cold gas efficiency of 52%, and mean H2/CO ratio of 1.97 were successfully achieved for chipped wood waste. The experimental results demonstrate that in terms of hydrogen-rich syngas, H2/CO ratio, cold gas efficiency, and material conversion, pelletized wood waste is superior to chipped wood waste.