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On the Measurement of the Main Inorganic Contaminants Derived from Cl, S and N in Simulated Waste-Derived Syngas

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Abstract

Because of the heterogeneity and high content of contaminant precursors (Cl, S and N), gasification of waste-derived fuels is challenging compared to clean biomass. A great deal of work has been published on thermal conversion of wastes. However, reliable quantification of pollutants (i.e. HCl, H2S, NH3 and HCN) during gasification of wastes remains a difficult task. Particularly, it is hard to scale-up results from laboratory-scale to industrial reactors, since the materials and methods used in the former result in a significant interference with the gasification process, whereas in the latter the interaction is very limited. In this paper, these issues are investigated by: (i) analyzing pilot/laboratory plant data from literature to calculate the recovery (ratio between the contaminant measured in the output streams and that in the input fuel); and (ii) conducting dedicated laboratory tests in various setups, doping a gas with the main inorganic contaminants in concentrations typical of waste-derived syngas. Outcomes from our tests are helpful to elucidate the inconsistencies detected when analyzing data from the literature. Recommendations for proper sampling and analysis of contaminants during the gasification of waste-derived fuels are given, so that the measurements from laboratory can be properly scaled up.

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Abbreviations

Cl-fuel:

Chlorine content in fuel

CM:

Cattle manure

daf:

Dry ash free basis

DSS:

Dried sewage sludge

EOX:

Extractable organic halogen

ER:

Equivalence ratio

FB:

Fluidized bed

FIA:

Flow injection analysis

FL:

A type of SRF

FL290:

SRF torrefacted at 290 °C

FL320:

SRF torrefacted at 320 °C

GC:

Gas chromatography

HM:

Heavy metals

IC:

Ion chromatography

ID:

Internal diameter

ISE:

Ion-selective electrode

MB:

Mass balance

Micro GC:

Micro gas chromatography

MSW:

Municipal solid waste

N-fuel:

Nitrogen content in fuel

NS:

Not specified

PL:

Poultry litter

PM:

Pig manure

ppmv:

Part per million volume

R:

Recovery ratio

RDF:

Refuse derived fuel

RT:

A type of SRF

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

SRF:

Solid recovered fuel

WP:

White pellets

wt:

Weight

310SS:

316 Stainless steel

316SS:

316 Stainless steel

τ:

Gas residence time

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Spanish National Plan R&D (Project NETuWAS, CTM2016-78089-R). The PhD Grant from the “Science without Borders” program, supported by CNPq, Brazil (Project 201591/2015-4) is acknowledged. The grant from the European Youth Guarantee initiative (Project PEJ-2014-A-04179) is also acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bioenergy Group, Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería, Universidad de Sevilla, Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n, 41092, Seville, Spain

    Vanessa F. de Almeida, Alberto Gómez-Barea, Javier Arroyo-Caire & Israel Pardo

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  1. Vanessa F. de Almeida
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  2. Alberto Gómez-Barea
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  3. Javier Arroyo-Caire
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  4. Israel Pardo
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Correspondence to Alberto Gómez-Barea.

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de Almeida, V.F., Gómez-Barea, A., Arroyo-Caire, J. et al. On the Measurement of the Main Inorganic Contaminants Derived from Cl, S and N in Simulated Waste-Derived Syngas. Waste Biomass Valor 11, 6869–6884 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-019-00879-4

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