Investigation of co-gasification characteristics of coal with wood biomass and rubber seals in a fixed bed gasifier

The thermochemical processing of waste in gasification to hydrogen-rich gas is considered to be a novel, promising technological option, complementing the currently employed hydrogen production methods and an effective and environment friendly way of waste utilization. The paper discusses the results of the experimental study on this novel technological option of co-gasification of coal with automotive rubber seals or wood chips in a fixed bed reactor with the application of oxygen and steam mixture as a gasification agent. The experiments were performed with the use of waste to coal blending ratio of 10:90, 15:85 and 20:80 (%w/w), and at the temperature range of 700–900 °C. The contents of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane in the gaseous product reported in the study were in the range of 35–36 %vol., 31–33 %vol., 29–31 %vol., and 0.10–0.16 %vol., respectively. The maximum values of the lower heating value and the total gas volume were reported for fuel blends of 10%w/w waste content at 900 °C. Hydrogen and carbon monoxide production increased with process temperature, and declined with waste fraction in a fuel blend. Gasification of fuel blends composed of coal and rubber resulted in higher hydrogen production than the gasification of coal-biomass fuel blends, which may be attributed principally to the higher fixed carbon content and higher alkali index of rubber when compared to the respective values of wood chips.