Soot formation and oxidation during bio-oil gasification: experiments and modeling

A model is proposed to describe soot formation and oxidation during bio-oil gasification. It is based on the description of bio-oil heating, devolatilization, reforming of gases and conversion of both char and soot solids. Detailed chemistry (159 species and 773 reactions) is used in the gas phase. Soot production is described by a single reaction based on C2H2 species concentration and three heterogeneous soot oxidation reactions. To support the validation of the model, three sets of experiments were carried out in a lab-scale Entrained Flow Reactor (EFR) equipped with soot quantification device. The temperature was varied from 1000 to 1400 °C and three gaseous atmospheres were considered: default of steam, large excess of steam (H2O/C = 8), and the presence of oxygen in the O/C range of 0.075–0.5. The model is shown to accurately describe the evolution of the concentration of the main gas species and to satisfactorily describe the soot concentration under the three atmospheres using a single set of identified kinetic parameters. Thanks to this model the contribution of different mechanisms involved in soot formation and oxidation in various situations can be assessed.