CLASS 11 – BIOENERGY-THERMAL CONVERSION
6th Sem. 2019 Green Technology – 12G6E02
Thermal Gasification of Biomass
The word gasification implies converting a solid or liquid
into a gaseous fuel without leaving any solid carbonaceous
residue
Gasifier : equipment which can gasify a variety of biomass
such as wood waste, agricultural waste like stalks, roots
and various crops, maize cobs etc
Essentially a chemical reactor where various complex
physical and chemical processes take place
Biomass gets dried, heated, pyrolysed, partially oxidised
and reduced, as it flows through it
Thermal Gasification of Biomass
The gas produced in the gasifier - clean burning
fuel - heating value: 950-1200 kcal/m3
Main constituents : hydrogen (18-20%); carbon-
monoxide (18-24%)
Thermal gasification: a solid fuel is converted by
a series of thermochemical processes like drying,
pyrolysis, oxidation, and reduction to a gaseous
fuel – producer gas
Thermal Gasification of Biomass
If atmospheric gas is – gasification agent, the producer gas
consists mainly : CO, H2, O2
Wood gasification yields on volumetric basis
the following composition of the gas
CO 18-22%
H2- 13-19%
CH4 – 1-5%
Heavier hydrocarbons – 0.2 -0.4%
CO2 – 9-12%
N2- 45-55%
Water vapour – 4%
Thermal Gasification of Biomass
Engines operating on a spark ignition system (eg
petrol engines) can be made to run entriely on
producer gas
Those using compression ignition systems ( eg
diesel engines) can be made to operate with
about 60-80% fuel oil replacement by the gas
In larger systems, the gas can be burnt directly
(eg in an industrial oil fired boiler)
Classification of Biomass Gasifiers
Gasifiers are classified as per:
1) output or capacity of the gasifiers
2) the direction of the gas flow
As per the output power, gasifiers are classified as
i) Small size gaisifers with output upto 10 kW
ii) Medium size gasifiers with outputs between 10 -50kW
iii) Large size gasifiers with output in the range of 50 –
300kW
iv) Very large gasifiers with outputs of 300 kW and above
Classification of Biomass Gasifiers
As per the direction of the gas flow:
i) Updraft gasifiers
ii) Downdraft Gasifiers
iii) Cross draft gasifiers
Updraft gasifiers
Air enters below the combustion zone and the
producer gas leaves near the top of the gasifier
Easy to build and operate
Gas produced has practically no ash but contains
tar and water vapour because of passing of gas
through the unburnt fuel
Suitable for tar free fuels like charcoal
Types of Gasifiers
Updraft Gasifier
Downdraft gasifiers
Air enters at the combustion zone and the gas produced
leaves near the bottom of the gasifier
The volatiles and the tars produced from the descending
fixed bed have to pass through the reaction zone where
mostly they are racked and gasified
Also a constriction provided an the heart, i.e. the throat
ensures that the gaseous products pass through the
hottest zone,
The gas produced contains less of tar and more of ash
Suitable for fuels like wood and agricultural wastes
Types of Gasifiers
Downdraft Gasifier
Crossdraft gasifiers
In this type, the gas produced passes upwards in the
annular space around the gasifier that is filled with
charcoal
The charcoal acts as an insulator and a dust filter
Air enters the gasifier through a water cooled nozzle
mounted on one side of the firebox
The gas is produced in the horizontal zone in front of the
nozzle and passes through a vertical grate into the hot gas
port on the opposite side
Not very commonly used
Types of Gasifiers
• Crossdraft gas producers
Chemistry of the gasification process
Thermo-Chemical reactions
The conversion process revolves around the
combustion reaction which supplies heat to the
neighboring zones in the reactor
i) Carbon constitutes the major portion of the
feed and the main reaction is
C+ O2 +3.79 N2 → 3.79 N2 +CO2
Exothermic reaction: 395, 000 KJ/kg atom of
carbon
Chemistry of the gasification process
ii) The carbon dioxide formed is reduced in the
presence of flowing carbon, over 90% of the CO2 is
reduced to CO at temperatures above 9000C
C+ CO2 +3.79 N2 → 3.79 N2 +CO
Endothermic reaction: 172,000 kJ/kg atom of carbon
The main reaction which ideally should occur in the
reactor bed is
2C+ O2 +3.79 N2 → 3.79 N2 +2CO
Exothermic reaction 223,000 KJ/kg atom of carbon
Chemistry of the gasification process
An important function of the combustion zone is to raise
the reduction zone temperature to promote the
carbon/steam gasification reaction which has a higher
activation energy
This reaction requires temperature of 9000C and above
C + H2O→ CO + H2
Endothermic reaction: 130,000 kJ/kg atom of carbon
Chemistry of the gasification process
Termed ‘wet gasification’ and has the added
advantage of dropping the temperatures in the
immediate vicinity of the hearth and reducing the
formation of clinker
Very important in producer gas generation as it
can enrich the gas manufactured with hydrogen,
thus enhancing its calorific value
Chemistry of the gasification process
The other reaction with carbon/steam occurs at
lower temperature and predominates between
500-6000C
C + 2H2O →CO2 + 2H2
Endothermic reaction 88,000 kJ/kg atom of
carbon
Chemistry of the gasification process
Further steam reaction which occurs in the gas
producer with an excess of steam is the water
gas shift reaction
CO + H2O →CO2 + H2
Exothermic reaction 42,000 kJ/kg mole of CO
Other reactions which occur in the char at
temperature of about 5000C
C+ 2H2→ CH4
Endothermic reaction 75,000 kJ/kg
Applications of the gasifiers
Gasification technology has tremendous
potential in terms of its applications as the
process outputs can be converted into electrical,
mechanical and/or heat energy
Applications of the gasifiers
Small size gasifiers
Find applications in rural areas, especially for providing
shaft line power to agricultural pumps, processing
machinery and agricultural-processing machineries like
thrashers, straw choppers etc
Ex: to provide shaft line-power to a 10 HP pump used for
irrigation
Operating period for such pumps ranges from 600 to 1200
hrs/year which can irrigate 10 to 15 hectares of land
Feed required : 6 to 11 MT/year which can be available
from one or two hectares only
Applications of the gasifiers
Medium size gasifiers
Can meet shaft line power requirements of various rural
industries like saw mills, carpentry workshops, mechanical
fabrication shops as well as small rice mills
Finds extensive applications as a decentralized source of
electrical energy in milk chilling centers
EX: A small size chilling center with a storage capacity of
5000 liters of milk shall have a shaft line power
requirement of 30 to 40 kW and hot water requirement of
1000 to 2000 liters per day.
Both these requirements can be met
Applications of the gasifiers
Large size gasifiers
Find applications in rural as well as urban industries,
besides being a source of decentralized electrification
Meet the shaft power requirements of diary, oil mill,
mineral processing, brick manufacturing, ceramics and
pottery industries
Also used in mining operations, forest based wood
processing units, well drilling etc
Used for total electrification of small and medium size
villages
