Investigation into co-gasifying Indian coal and biomass in a down draft gasifier - Experiments and analysis

Gasification studies were conducted using an open top downdraft gasification system of 10 kg/h capacity, with different fuel blends, and varying reactants (air, air + steam), and it was observed that the fuel blend with higher percentage of coal generated severe clinker due to ash fusion. Steam was found beneficial in increasing the carbon conversion, reducing clinkers and also improving gas quality. The best performance was achieved with biomass to coal ratio of 85:15 on weight basis. With 94% carbon conversion and 65% cold gas efficiency, the present study successfully establishes the optimum operating conditions for stable operation with multi-fuel feed.