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Regenerative reverse-flow reactor system for cracking of producer gas tars

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Abstract

The gas produced in a biomass gasifier contains high amounts of tars which have to be removed prior to downstream utilization. Calcined dolomite is catalytically active for tar cracking reactions and resistant to sulfur poisoning. In this study, calcined dolomite was used as bed material in a reverse-flow reactor for cracking of tars in a model synthesis gas. 1-methylnaphthalene was used as model tar compound at a concentration of 15,000 mg/Nm3. The reactor system was operated at temperatures between 700 and 850 °C in the active zone. Total tar conversion was over 95 % for the system under reverse-flow conditions at the highest temperature. Already at the lowest temperature, up to 78 % of the 1-methylnaphthlene was converted, but mainly to other more stable tar compounds such as naphthalene and benzene, reaching a total tar conversion of only 23 %. To produce tar-free gas, higher temperatures are thus needed. The use of very high temperatures does, however, lead to a significant decrease in the specific area of the dolomite, as shown by BET surface measurements. The dolomite was further characterized with x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy.

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Notes

  1. The definition of Evans and Milne states that “the organics, produced under thermal or partial-oxidation regimes (gasification) of any organic material, are called ‘tars’ and are generally assumed to be largely aromatic.”

  2. A movie showing the flare is available as electronic supplementary material.

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Acknowledgments

The research was funded by the Swedish energy Agency through the Swedish Gas Technology Centre and the Danish Gas Technology Centre, in cooperation with the industrial partners ABB Corporate Research, Alufluor AB, E.ON Gasification Development AB, E.ON Sverige AB, Göteborg Energi AB, Statoil ASA, Stockholm Gas AB, Tekniska Verken i Linköping AB, ÅForsk, and Öresundskraft AB.

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  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, 221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Per Tunå, Fredric Bauer, Christian Hulteberg & Laura Malek

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  1. Per Tunå
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Correspondence to Fredric Bauer.

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Tunå, P., Bauer, F., Hulteberg, C. et al. Regenerative reverse-flow reactor system for cracking of producer gas tars. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 4, 43–51 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-013-0088-0

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