Comparison of mass and energy balances for air blown and thermally ballasted fluidized bed gasifiers

The objective of this study was to compare the mass and energy balances for a conventional air blown fluidized bed gasifier and a ballasted fluidized bed gasifier developed at Iowa State University. The ballasted gasifier is an indirectly heated gasifier that uses a single reactor for both combustion and pyrolysis. Heat accumulated in high-temperature phase change material during the combustion phase is released during the pyrolysis phase to generate producer gas. Gas composition, tar and char contents, cold gas efficiency, carbon conversion, and hydrogen yield per unit biomass input were determined as part of these evaluation. During the pyrolysis phase of ballasted gasification, higher volumetric concentrations of hydrogen and methane were obtained than during air blown gasification. Hydrogen yield for ballasted gasification was 14 g kg−1 of biomass, which was about 20% higher than that obtained during air blown gasification. The higher heating value of the producer gas also reached higher levels during the ballasted pyrolysis phase than that of air blown gasification. Heating value for air blown gasification was 5.2 MJ m−3 whereas the heating value for the ballasted pyrolysis phase averaged 5.5 MJ m−3, reaching a maximum of 8.0 MJ m−3. The ballasted gasifier was expected to yield producer gas with average heating value as high as 15 MJ m−3 but excessive use of nitrogen to purge and cool the fuel feeder system greatly diluted the producer gas. Relatively simple redesign of the feeder system would greatly reduce the use of purge gas and may increase the heating values to about 17.5 MJ m−3. Higher char production per kilogram of biomass was associated with the ballasted system, producing 140 g kg−1 of biomass compared to only 53 g kg−1 of biomass during air blown gasification. On the other hand, tar concentrations in the producer gas were 6.0 g m−3 for ballasted gasification compared to 11.7 g m−3 for air blown gasification. On balance, carbon conversion was found to be higher for air blown gasification. Cold gas efficiencies were somewhat higher for air blown gasification compared to ballasted gasification, although the difference did not appear to be significant.

► The ballasted gasifier uses a single reactor for both combustion and pyrolysis.
► Hydrogen yield was 20% higher than for air blown gasification.
► Higher heating value was 5.5–8.0 MJ m−3 vs. 5.2 MJ m−3 for air-blown gasification.