Abstract
The present study through experimental investigations determines the tar content and its composition for an open-top downdraft gasifier. Tar content is determined by the gravimetric approach, and its characterization is performed by GC-MS analysis. This study compares the performance of the reactor for two different cases—single stage (from the reactor top) and double-stage (from reactor top and air nozzles) supply of air. The reported values suggest that with the increasing air mass flux tar content decreases. It is also found that in case of double-stage air supply considerable reduction in tar content can be achieved as compared to single-stage air supply. The GC-MS analysis of the collected tar samples showed that tar is mainly composed of light aromatics like toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, styrene and some light PAHs (2–3 ring) like naphthalene, biphenyl, fluorene, phenanthrene. However, out of these detected compounds, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene (BTEX) constitute about 70–80% of the total detected area. The variation of detected compounds with increasing mass flux and temperature has also been studied. A higher bed temperature favors the formation of PAHs like naphthalene, but at the same time, it also leads to the destruction of some thermally instable compounds like styrene.
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Acknowledgements
The authors duly acknowledged the financial support from DST (Grant No. 100/IFD/R/GIA/2686/2013-14), Government of India, for the RHEES project.
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Tripathi, P., Mahapatra, S., Dasappa, S. (2020). Estimation and Characterization of Tar from an Open-Top Downdraft Gasifier. In: Singh, S., Ramadesigan, V. (eds) Advances in Energy Research, Vol. 2. Springer Proceedings in Energy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2662-6_65
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2662-6_65
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