Characterization of particulate matter from atmospheric fluidized bed biomass gasifiers

Abstract: Through biomass gasification, biomass can be converted at high temperature to a product gas rich in carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and methane. After cleaning and upgrading, the product gas can be converted to biofuels such as hydrogen; methanol; dimethyl ether; and synthetic diesel, gasoline, and natural gas. Particulate matter (PM) is formed as a contaminant in the gasification process, and the aim of this work was to develop and apply a method for sampling and characterization of PM in the hot product gas. A particle measurement system consisting of a dilution probe combined in series with a bed of granular activated carbon for tar adsorption was developed, with the aim of extracting a sample of the hot product gas without changing the size distribution and composition of the PM. The mass size distribution and concentration, as well as the morphology and elementary composition, of PM in the size range 10 nm to 10 µm in the product gas from a bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) gasifier, a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) gasifier and an indirect BFB gasifier using various types of biomass as fuel were determined. All gasifiers and fuels displayed a bimodal particle mass size distribution with a fine mode in the <0.5 µm size range and a coarse mode in the >0.5 µm size range. Compared with the mass concentration of the coarse mode the mass concentration of the fine mode was low from all gasifiers. The evaluation of the results for the fine-mode PM was complicated by condensing potassium chloride for the CFB gasifier when using miscanthus as fuel and by condensing tars for the indirect BFB gasifier when using wood C as fuel. The mass concentration of the coarse-mode PM was higher from the CFB gasifier than from the two BFB gasifiers. The coarse-mode PM from the BFB gasifier when using wood A as fuel was dominated by char. In the CFB gasifier the coarse-mode PM was mainly ash and bed material when using all fuels. The coarse-mode PM from the indirect BFB gasifier when using wood C as fuel was mainly ash.