Syngas cleaning with nano-structured micro-porous ion exchange polymers in biomass gasification using a novel downdraft gasifier

Sulphonated nano-structured micro-porous ion exchange polymers, known as sulphonated PolyHIPE Polymers (s-PHPs) were used in syngas cleaning to investigate their impact on tar composition, concentration and dew point depression during the gasification of fuel cane bagasse as a model biomass. The results showed that the s-PHPs used as a secondary syngas treatment system, was highly effective at adsorbing and reducing the concentration of all class of tars in syngas by 95%–80% which resulted in tar dew point depression from 90 °C to 73 °C. It was shown that tars underwent chemical reactions within s-PHPs, indicating that tar diffusion from syngas was driven by chemical potential. It was also observed that s-PHPs also captured ash forming elements from syngas. The use of s-PHPs in gasification as well as in an integrated thermochemical biorefinery technology is discussed since the tar loaded s-PHPs can be used as natural herbicides in the form of soil additives to enhance the biomass growth and crop yield.