Air-blown gasification of woody biomass in a bubbling fluidized bed gasifier

• Air-blown gasification of woody biomass was investigated in a pilot-scale BFB gasifier.
• The performance of the gasifier was investigated as a function of equivalence ratio and fluidization conditions..
• The average heating value of the product gas was above 4.7 MJ/Nm3.
• Stable operation of the integrated gasification-power generation system was achieved.

Air-blown gasification of woody biomass was investigated in a pilot-scale bubbling fluidized bed gasifier. Air was used as the gasifying agent as well as a fluidizing gas. Fuel was fed into the top of the gasifier and air was introduced from the bottom through a distributor. In order to control the composition of the product gas, the amounts of feedstock and gasifying agent being fed into the gasifier were varied, and the temperature distribution in the gasifier and the composition of the syngas were monitored. It was shown that the distribution of the reaction zones in the gasifier could be controlled by the air injection rate, and the composition of the syngas by the equivalence ratio of the reactants. Although the obtained syngas had a low caloric value, its heating value is adequate for power generation using a syngas engine.