IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v9y2016i4p283-d68024.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Biomass Physical Properties on Top-Lit Updraft Gasification of Woodchips

Author

Listed:
  • Arthur M. James R.

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, Apartado 0819-07289, El Dorado, Panamá City, Panama)

  • Wenqiao Yuan

    (Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7625, Raleigh 27695, NC, USA)

  • Michael D. Boyette

    (Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7625, Raleigh 27695, NC, USA)

Abstract

The performance of a top-lit updraft gasifier affected by biomass (pine wood) particle size, moisture content and compactness was studied in terms of the biochar yield, biomass burning rate, syngas composition and tar content. The highest biochar yield increase (from 12.2% to 21.8%) was achieved by varying the particle size from 7 to 30 mm, however, larger particles triggered tar generation that reached its maximum of 93.5 g/m 3 syngas at 30-mm biomass particles; in contrast, the hydrogen content in syngas was at its minimum of 2.89% at this condition. The increase in moisture content from 10% to 22% reduced biochar yield from 12% to 9.9%. It also reduced the tar content from 12.9 to 6.2 g/m 3 which was found to be the lowest range of tar content in this work. Similarly, the carbon monoxide composition in syngas decreased to its minimum of 11.16% at moisture content of 22%. Finally, the biomass compactness increased biochar yield up to 17% when the packing mass was 3 kg. However, the addition of compactness also increased the tar content in syngas, but little effect was noticed in syngas composition.

Suggested Citation

  • Arthur M. James R. & Wenqiao Yuan & Michael D. Boyette, 2016. "The Effect of Biomass Physical Properties on Top-Lit Updraft Gasification of Woodchips," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-13, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:4:p:283-:d:68024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/4/283/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/4/283/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kezhen Qian & Ajay Kumar & Krushna Patil & Danielle Bellmer & Donghai Wang & Wenqiao Yuan & Raymond L. Huhnke, 2013. "Effects of Biomass Feedstocks and Gasification Conditions on the Physiochemical Properties of Char," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-15, August.
    2. Kirubakaran, V. & Sivaramakrishnan, V. & Nalini, R. & Sekar, T. & Premalatha, M. & Subramanian, P., 2009. "A review on gasification of biomass," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 179-186, January.
    3. Wang, Duo & Yuan, Wenqiao & Ji, Wei, 2011. "Char and char-supported nickel catalysts for secondary syngas cleanup and conditioning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(5), pages 1656-1663, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yogesh Mehta & Cecilia Richards, 2017. "Gasification Performance of a Top-Lit Updraft Cook Stove," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-11, October.
    2. Yin Pang & Leo Bahr & Peter Fendt & Lars Zigan & Stefan Will & Thomas Hammer & Manfred Baldauf & Robert Fleck & Dominik Müller & Jürgen Karl, 2018. "Plasma-Assisted Biomass Gasification with Focus on Carbon Conversion and Reaction Kinetics Compared to Thermal Gasification," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-24, May.
    3. Francesco Gallucci & Raffaele Liberatore & Luca Sapegno & Edoardo Volponi & Paolo Venturini & Franco Rispoli & Enrico Paris & Monica Carnevale & Andrea Colantoni, 2019. "Influence of Oxidant Agent on Syngas Composition: Gasification of Hazelnut Shells through an Updraft Reactor," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Ramin Khezri & Wan Azlina Wan Ab Karim Ghani & Dayang Radiah Awang Biak & Robiah Yunus & Kiman Silas, 2019. "Experimental Evaluation of Napier Grass Gasification in an Autothermal Bubbling Fluidized Bed Reactor," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    5. Nadia Cerone & Francesco Zimbardi, 2018. "Gasification of Agroresidues for Syngas Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, May.
    6. Domenico Borello & Antonio M. Pantaleo & Michele Caucci & Benedetta De Caprariis & Paolo De Filippis & Nilay Shah, 2017. "Modeling and Experimental Study of a Small Scale Olive Pomace Gasifier for Cogeneration: Energy and Profitability Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-17, November.
    7. Shurooq Badri Al-Badri & Ying Jiang & Stuart Thomas Wagland, 2018. "Possible Interactions and Interferences of Copper, Chromium, and Arsenic during the Gasification of Contaminated Waste Wood," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-17, July.
    8. Rukshan Jayathilake & Souman Rudra, 2017. "Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Equivalence Ratio (ER) and Feedstock Particle Size on Birchwood Gasification," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-19, August.
    9. Kirch, Thomas & Medwell, Paul R. & Birzer, Cristian H. & van Eyk, Philip J., 2020. "Small-scale autothermal thermochemical conversion of multiple solid biomass feedstock," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1261-1270.
    10. Živilė Černiauskienė & Algirdas Jonas Raila & Egidijus Zvicevičius & Vita Tilvikienė & Zofija Jankauskienė, 2021. "Comparative Research of Thermochemical Conversion Properties of Coarse-Energy Crops," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-15, October.
    11. Quintero-Coronel, D.A. & Lenis-Rodas, Y.A. & Corredor, L.A. & Perreault, P. & Gonzalez-Quiroga, A., 2021. "Thermochemical conversion of coal and biomass blends in a top-lit updraft fixed bed reactor: Experimental assessment of the ignition front propagation velocity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qian, Kezhen & Kumar, Ajay & Zhang, Hailin & Bellmer, Danielle & Huhnke, Raymond, 2015. "Recent advances in utilization of biochar," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1055-1064.
    2. Domenico Borello & Antonio M. Pantaleo & Michele Caucci & Benedetta De Caprariis & Paolo De Filippis & Nilay Shah, 2017. "Modeling and Experimental Study of a Small Scale Olive Pomace Gasifier for Cogeneration: Energy and Profitability Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Shen, Yafei & Wang, Junfeng & Ge, Xinlei & Chen, Mindong, 2016. "By-products recycling for syngas cleanup in biomass pyrolysis – An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1246-1268.
    4. Amigun, Bamikole & Gorgens, Johann & Knoetze, Hansie, 2010. "Biomethanol production from gasification of non-woody plant in South Africa: Optimum scale and economic performance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 312-322, January.
    5. Loha, Chanchal & Chattopadhyay, Himadri & Chatterjee, Pradip K., 2011. "Thermodynamic analysis of hydrogen rich synthetic gas generation from fluidized bed gasification of rice husk," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 4063-4071.
    6. Neves, Renato Cruz & Klein, Bruno Colling & da Silva, Ricardo Justino & Rezende, Mylene Cristina Alves Ferreira & Funke, Axel & Olivarez-Gómez, Edgardo & Bonomi, Antonio & Maciel-Filho, Rubens, 2020. "A vision on biomass-to-liquids (BTL) thermochemical routes in integrated sugarcane biorefineries for biojet fuel production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    7. Myung Lang Yoo & Yong Ho Park & Young-Kwon Park & Sung Hoon Park, 2016. "Catalytic Pyrolysis of Wild Reed over a Zeolite-Based Waste Catalyst," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-9, March.
    8. Sitka, Andrzej & Szulc, Piotr & Smykowski, Daniel & Jodkowski, Wiesław, 2021. "Application of poultry manure as an energy resource by its gasification in a prototype rotary counterflow gasifier," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 422-429.
    9. Przybyla, Grzegorz & Szlek, Andrzej & Haggith, Dale & Sobiesiak, Andrzej, 2016. "Fuelling of spark ignition and homogenous charge compression ignition engines with low calorific value producer gas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(P3), pages 1464-1478.
    10. Xing Yang & Hailong Wang & Peter James Strong & Song Xu & Shujuan Liu & Kouping Lu & Kuichuan Sheng & Jia Guo & Lei Che & Lizhi He & Yong Sik Ok & Guodong Yuan & Ying Shen & Xin Chen, 2017. "Thermal Properties of Biochars Derived from Waste Biomass Generated by Agricultural and Forestry Sectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-12, April.
    11. María Pilar González-Vázquez & Roberto García & Covadonga Pevida & Fernando Rubiera, 2017. "Optimization of a Bubbling Fluidized Bed Plant for Low-Temperature Gasification of Biomass," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-16, March.
    12. Hu, Mian & Laghari, Mahmood & Cui, Baihui & Xiao, Bo & Zhang, Beiping & Guo, Dabin, 2018. "Catalytic cracking of biomass tar over char supported nickel catalyst," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 228-237.
    13. Li, Chunlin & Xu, Hengyong & Hou, Shoufu & Sun, Jian & Meng, Fanqiong & Ma, Junguo & Tsubaki, Noritatsu, 2013. "SiC foam monolith catalyst for pressurized adiabatic methane reforming," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 297-303.
    14. Kambo, Harpreet Singh & Dutta, Animesh, 2015. "A comparative review of biochar and hydrochar in terms of production, physico-chemical properties and applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 359-378.
    15. Li, C.Y. & Wu, J.Y. & Shen, Y. & Kan, X. & Dai, Y.J. & Wang, C.-H., 2018. "Evaluation of a combined cooling, heating, and power system based on biomass gasification in different climate zones in the U.S," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 326-340.
    16. Wei, Rufei & Feng, Shanghuan & Long, Hongming & Li, Jiaxin & Yuan, Zhongshun & Cang, Daqiang & Xu, Chunbao (Charles), 2017. "Coupled biomass (lignin) gasification and iron ore reduction: A novel approach for biomass conversion and application," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 406-414.
    17. Buentello-Montoya, D.A. & Zhang, X. & Li, J., 2019. "The use of gasification solid products as catalysts for tar reforming," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 399-412.
    18. Bhutto, Abdul Waheed & Bazmi, Aqeel Ahmed & Zahedi, Gholamreza, 2011. "Greener energy: Issues and challenges for Pakistan--Biomass energy prospective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 3207-3219, August.
    19. Al-Rahbi, Amal S. & Williams, Paul T., 2017. "Hydrogen-rich syngas production and tar removal from biomass gasification using sacrificial tyre pyrolysis char," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 501-509.
    20. Gyeong-Min Kim & Dae-Gyun Lee & Chung-Hwan Jeon, 2019. "Fundamental Characteristics and Kinetic Analysis of Lignocellulosic Woody and Herbaceous Biomass Fuels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:4:p:283-:d:68024. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.