Gasification of biomass and treatment sludge in a fixed bed gasifier

This study aims to compare synthetic gas (syngas) production efficiencies of a specific forest residue (chamaecyparis lawsoniana) and treatment sludge from a textile industry. The experiments were carried out in a lab-scale fixed bed steel reactor with cyclone separator. Gasification process was assisted by pre-pyrolysis of the samples at 300 degrees C in an inert media via N-2 gas. Internal temperature of the reactor during gasification was 750 degrees C. Dried air was used as an oxidizing agent with the varying flow rates of 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 L min(-1) in order to determine optimum flow rate. The highest syngas calorific values was calculated around 2500-2677 kcal m(-3) for chamaecyparis and 2500-2680 kcal m(-3) for the treatment sludge when the flow rate was 0.05 L min(-1). Solid residues and liquid products were weighed after each experiment. 55 wt% of chamaecyparis and 30 wt% of treatment sludge were converted in to medium calorific syngas. (C) 2015 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved