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Internal tar/CH4 reforming in a biomass dual fluidised bed gasifier

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Abstract

An internal reformer is developed for in situ catalytic reforming of tar and methane (CH4) in allothermal gasifiers. The study has been performed in the 150 kW dual fluidised bed (DFB) biomass gasifier at Mid Sweden University (MIUN). The MIUN gasifier is built for research on synthetic fuel production. Reduction of tars and CH4 (except for methanation application) in the syngas is a major challenge for commercialization of biomass fluidised-bed gasification technology towards automotive fuel production. The MIUN gasifier has a unique design with an internal reformer, where intensive contact of gas and catalytic solids improves the reforming reactions. This paper presents an initial study on the internal reformer operated with and without Ni-catalytic pellets, by evaluation of the syngas composition and tar/CH4 content. A novel application of Ni-catalyst in DFB gasifiers is proposed and studied in this work. It can be concluded that the reformer with Ni-catalytic pellets clearly gives a higher H2 content together with lower CH4 and tar contents in the syngas than the reformer without Ni-catalytic pellets. The gravimetric tar content decreases down to 5 g/m3 and the CH4 content down below 6 % in the syngas. The tar content can be decreased further to lower levels, with increased gas contact to the specific surface area of the catalyst and increased catalyst surface-to-volume ratio. The new design in the MIUN gasifier increases the gasification efficiency, suppresses the tar generation and upgrades the syngas quality.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the project support of EU Regional Development Fund, Toyota, ÅF Foundation for Research and Development, LKAB, Länsstyrelsen Västernorrland, Swedish Gasification Centre (SFC), and SCA BioNorr AB, Härnösand.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. FSCN-Fibre Science and Communication Network, Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, SE-85170, Sweden

    Kristina Göransson, Ulf Söderlind, Till Henschel, Per Engstrand & Wennan Zhang

Authors
  1. Kristina Göransson
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  2. Ulf Söderlind
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  3. Till Henschel
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  4. Per Engstrand
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  5. Wennan Zhang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristina Göransson.

Glossary

BFB

Bubbling fluidised bed

CFB

Circulating fluidised bed

CLC

Chemical looping combustion

DFB

Dual fluidised bed

DFBG

Dual fluidised bed gasifier

GHG

Greenhouse gas

MIUN

Mid Sweden University

WGS

Water-gas-shift

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Göransson, K., Söderlind, U., Henschel, T. et al. Internal tar/CH4 reforming in a biomass dual fluidised bed gasifier. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 5, 355–366 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-014-0151-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-014-0151-5

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