GASIFIERS

DEFINITION

A gasifier is a device or system that converts solid or liquid carbonaceous

materials, such as coal, biomass, or waste, into a gaseous fuel known as
"syngas" (short for synthetic gas). This conversion process is called
gasification.

Gasifiers operate by subjecting the carbonaceous feedstock to high

temperatures and controlled amounts of oxygen (or other gasifying agents like
steam or air) in a limited or oxygen-deficient environment. The lack of oxygen
prevents complete combustion, and instead, partial oxidation reactions take
place, breaking down the feedstock into its constituent elements, including
carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and traces of
other gases.

The produced syngas can be used for various applications, such as generating
electricity through gas turbines or internal combustion engines, producing heat
for industrial processes, and serving as a raw material for the production of
chemicals and fuels.

FIXED BED GASIFIER

INTRODUCTION

The fixed bed gasification system consists of a reactor/gasifier with a gas

cooling and cleaning system. The fixed bed gasifier has a bed of solid
fuel particles through which the gasifying media and gas move either up
or down. It is the simplest type of gasifier consisting of usually a
cylindrical space for fuel feeding unit, an ash removal unit and a gas exit.
In the fixed bed gasifier, the fuel bed moves slowly down the reactor as
the gasification occurs. The fixed bed gasifiers are of simple construction
and generally operate with high carbon conversion, long solid residence
time, low gas velocity and low ash carry over. In fixed bed gasifiers, tar
removal used to be a major problem, however recent progress in thermal
and catalytic conversion of tar has given credible options.

DESIGN OF FIXED BED

There are three types of fixed bed gasifiers, updraft (counter-current),

downdraft (co-current), depending on the method of air introduction
OPERATION OF FIXED BED

Fixed- or moving-bed gasifiers commonly operate at moderate pressures (25-

30 atmospheres). Feedstocks in the form of large coal particles1 and fluxes are
loaded into the top of the refractory-lined gasifier vessel and move slowly
downward through the bed, while reacting with high oxygen content gas
introduced at the bottom of the gasifier that is flowing countercurrently upward
in the gasifier. The basic configuration is the same as seen in the common blast
furnace.
Reactions within the gasifier occur in different "zones". In the "drying zone" at
the top of the gasifier, the entering coal is heated and dried, while cooling the
product gas before it leaves the reactor. The coal is further heated and
devolatized by the higher temperature gas as it descends through the
"carbonization zone". In the next zone, the "gasification zone", the devolatized
coal is gasified by reaction with steam and carbon dioxide. Near the bottom of
the gasifier, in the "combustion zone", which operates at the highest
temperature, oxygen reacts with the remaining char.

Moving-bed gasifiers operate in two different modes. In the dry-ash mode of

operation (e.g., Lurgi dry ash gasifier), the temperature is moderated to below
the ash-slagging temperature by reaction of the char with excess steam. The ash
below the combustion zone is cooled by the entering steam and oxidant
(oxygen or air) and produced as a solid ash. In the slagging mode of operation
(e.g., British Gas/Lurgi or BGL gasifier), much less steam is used, and as the
result, a much higher temperature is achieved in the combustion zone, melting
the ash and producing slag.

Moisture content of the fuel is the main factor which determines the discharge
gas temperature. Lignite, which has very high moisture content, produces raw
gas at a temperature of around 600°F. Lower moisture bituminous coal
produces gas temperatures of over 1000°F. Typically, the product gas leaving
the gasifier is quenched by direct contact with recycle water to condense and
remove tars and oils. After quench, heat can be recovered from the gas by
generation of low pressure steam.

OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATION OF FIXED BED

Charcoal particles become porous and iner during their time in the gasiication zone.
Thus, in a downdraft gasiier, when ine charcoal drops into the ash pit, the product gas
can easily carry the particles as dust. Escaping particles can be a source of carbon
loss, and they often plug downstream equipment. The movement of solids in any layer
of a moving-bed gasiier should be equal to the feed rate of the fuel at the top. Even
with that balance, if the fuel is dry, the pyrolysis zone may, in an updraft gasiier,
travel upward faster, thus consuming the layer of fresh fuel above and leading to
premature pyrolysis. The gas lost in this way may result in lower gasiication
eficiency. On the other hand, if the fuel is moist, its pyrolysis may be delayed. This
may move the pyrolysis zone downward. In the extreme case, the cooler pyrolysis
zone may sink suficiently to extinguish the gasiication and combustion reaction.
Clearly, a proper balance of rates of fuel low and air low is required for stabilization
of each of these zones in respective places.

UPDRAFT GASIFIER

DESIGN OF GASIFIER

Design consideration During design the following points were considered:

Availability of raw materials 

Simplicity in design 
Ease of fabrication, operations and maintenance 
Trouble free operation.

Components of the gasifier Gasifier unit:

Two cylinders made up of 16 gage MS sheet (one inner and another outer) were used
to fabricate the reactor. The reactor is called gasifier.

Insulation material: As the inside temperature of the gasifier is very high, there is a
great possibility to loss heat by convection, radiation or other process. In order to keep
the loss of heat at minimum level glass wool was used as insulating material. Glass
wool was attached around the outer wall of the gasifier unit in order to prevent heat
loss from inside of the gasifier.

Blower: 64 mm blower was used to supply air for combustion of fuel.

Grate: Grate is comprised with a net placed at the bottom of the gasifier. The fuel ash
falls through the grate. Grate is comprised with a perforated plate of 15 mm × 15 mm
hole size placed at the bottom of the gasifier which is act as air distributor (Fig. 2).
Virtually the fuel materials set burning on the grate and form a packed bed over it.
The fuel ash after combustion falls through the grate and retain in the ash collector.
As ash removal from updraft gasifier is little bit difficult, therefore, grate design and
selection is more important. Rice husk contains higher degree of ash compared wood,
therefore ash removal is very much important for use of high ash contained material.

Ash collector: The ash falls through the grate retain in the ash collector.

Ash outlet: The ash is removed from the ash collector through 114 × 102 mm size
outlet port.

Gas outlet pipe: Different size of pipe was used to convey the producer gas to stove.

Filter: 3-stage filtering was used to purify the producer gas. It is usually cylindrical
shape made of ms sheet.

Stove connection: Increase type taper outlet pipe was used to reduce the velocity and
to attain pressure drop of the combustible gas and connect it to the stove.

Gasifier reactor: The updraft gasifier comprised with two cylinders which is usually a
cylindrical reactor, and forms a packed bed on the grate. The outer cylinder is 1016
mm height and 356 mm diameter and the inner cylinder is 864 mm height and 305
mm diameter made up of 2 mm thickness ms sheet. The two cylinders are fixed with
the flange at the top. The top cover of the gasifier is 6 mm thickness ms sheet attached
with the flange after pouring fuel material as it is a batch type gasifier. In between two
cylinders fireclay with rice husk is used as insulation materials. Glass wool was also
used as insulating material which was attached around the outer wall of the gasifier
unit in order to prevent heat loss from inside of the gasifier reactor
 n

CONSTRUCTION OF UPDRAFT GASIFIER

The basic structure of the gasifier is built around 13 inches inside diameter,
2.5 mm thickness, and 21 inches long air tank of trucks, and a steel tube 5
inches in inside diameter, 3mm thickness, and 22 inches long. These
dimensions are not really critical. The tube could be a little longer or shorter,
and a little wider or narrower in diameter. The purpose of the drum is to be the
main body of the gasifier unit. It contains everything and collects all the gas,
ash and char the unit will produce. The steel tube serve as a flame tube where
the gasification processes takes place.
The work has been started by cutting a large hole in the top of the drum so the
stainless steel flame tube can be inserted (figure 2.4). The hole was made very
oversize, a fortuitous decision as it turned out. The hole is offset to the side of
the drum opposite the small bung. The large bung was sacrificed, since I wasn't
planning on using it. Next I cut a flange from a piece of 1/8 in steel for
mounting the flame tube into the drum. I installed clip nuts on the corners of
the hole in the top of the drum, and drilled mating holes in the above
flange. This would allow me to bolt the flange down to the top of the drum.
Next, I made some angle brackets out of aluminum and bolted the flame tube to
the flange. I left 6.5 inches of the flame tube sticking up above the flange. The
rest protrudes down into the drum. Here the unit is being test fit on top of the
drum. The holes in the ends of the angle brackets are over the clip nuts in the
top of the drum. The high temperature silicone gasket material (figure 2.5) is
used to seal every crack, crevasse, joint and bolt hole in the gasifier.

They are made of 1cm inside diameter, 0.5 mm thickness, and 1 foot length
copper tubing. They are called j- tubes because they are shaped like the letter J.
I used a large hose clamp cinched down tight to hold the tubes in place. The
opening in the top of the drum needed to have a few notches cut in it to
accommodate a couple of the j-tubes that stuck out too far.

The constrictor plate (figure 2.7) installed in the bottom of the flame tube. To
make the plate I cut a circle out of a 11 inch

sheet steel that would fit in the bottom of the flame tube. Then I cut a 1.6 inch
diameter hole in the center of the circle. To mount the constrictor in the flame
tube, I welded three 1/4-20 nuts to the plate, and drilled passage holes in the
flame tube for three 1/4-20 bolts. The manifold I made to cover the inlets of all
six j-tubes. It was cut from a 6 in to 4 in steel AC duct reduction fitting. It slips
down over the flame tube and covered all six j-tubes. A single air inlet fitting
will be installed on the side of the manifold.

Figure 2.7-Constrictor plate Figure 2.8- Updraft gasifier

After this, the gasifier is ready to use. But before starting the gasifier, it has
been

equipped with all the measuring instruments to take the readings.

In this setup (figure 3.1) the updraft biomass gasifier installed with the blower
of different speeds, Anemometer, k type thermocouple and digital temperature
reader. First of all the pulverized coal is heated with direct burning and this
coal is

used for the initial combustion of biomass fuel. This burn coal placed to the
grate. And firstly I used wood chips as a biomass fuel and filled the flame tube
and closed the upper portion of the flame tube with the special type cap which
having two outlet valves for the producer gas one is going to the burner and
another to the nozzle.

Figure 3.1 Experimental setup of updraft biomass gasifier

Figure 3.2: Experimental setup and burning flame in the burner.

After this I will starting the blower with minimum speed the process of the
gasifier is started and when the speed of the blower increases the combustion
presses of the gasifier gets faster at a time the temperature of the three different
zones of the gasifier increae greatly. And the readings of

Table 4.1 shows the composition of the producer gas for three different
biomass fuels were found by the gas analyzer. Air flow rate is constant for all
three fuels.

different air velocity taken from the Anemometer and temperatures of three
different zones taken from the Digital Temperature reader. And this process
Continues with the other two fuels sugarcane wastes and coconut shell.
OPERATION OF UPDRAFT GASIFIER

In these gasifiers, the feed is introduced from the top, and air is introduced from the
bottom through grate. Feed and air move counter currently in the gasifier. The lowest
portion of the gasifier is essentially the “combustion” zone where the char formed due
to drying and devolatilization of biomass is combusted. This helps in raising the
temperature of the lower portion of the gasifier to about 727 °C. Hot gases passing
upward through the bed of downflowing biomass are reduced in the portion
immediately above the combustion zone. Further up the gasifier, the hot gases
pyrolyze the biomass and dry it. These processes cool the gases to about 200-300 °C.
Pyrolysis of biomass results in release of volatiles and the formation of a sizeable
amount of tar. Some of this tar may leave with the outgoing gases. The overall
efficiency of the process could be high due to the low temperature of the gases
leaving the gasifier. In addition, the gas flowing through the packed bed of biomass
undergoes “filtration” as the particulate matter entrained with it is captured by the bed
material. This helps in lowering of the particulate content of the outgoing gas. The
humidity of the gasifying air plays a major role in controlling the temperature of the
gasification.
 DOWNDRAFT GASIFIER

DESIGN OF DOWNDRAFT GASIFIER

The downdraft design is essentially the same as the updraft design except that feed
and air move concurrently from top to bottom of the gasifier. Figure 14.4b shows a
schematic of the downdraft gasifier. As the exit of the producer gas is close to the
combustion zone of the gasifier with maximum temperature, the tar formed during
devolatilization of biomass is thermally cracked to some extent. Thus, the tar content
of the producer gas from downdraft design is lower than that in the updraft design.
However, disadvantage of this type of design is that the gases leave at much higher
temperature and amount to significant heat loss from the gasifier, thus lowering its
thermal efficiency. In addition, the particulate content of the gas is also high. Despite
these demerits, downdraft design enjoys greater popularity due to its low tar content
gas. Tar in the producer gas can condense over the shaft of the engine causing
operational problems and frequent shutdowns and cleanup. Thus, low tar content gas
is always preferred for firing the gas engines and turbines.
CONSTRUCTION OF DOWNDRAFT GASIFIER

OPERATION OF DOWNDRAFT GASIFIER

Biomass feedstock is added to the down-draft fixed-bed gasifier from the feeding port
at the top, and the air flows in from either the top or the throat. The direction of
airflow is downward after mixing with feedstocks. The furnace is divided into layers
with different functions from top to bottom: drying, pyrolysis, oxidation and
reduction. The advantages of down-draft fixed-bed are characterized by simple
structure, stable, flexible feeding, almost constant effective layer height, and high
gasification intensity. Moreover, most of the tar content from the process is
decomposed by heating as the gas flows downward the reactor system. However, its
disadvantages are as follows: high temperature of gas release at the outlet and high
ash content (a subsequent dust removal process needs to be connected). This type of
furnace can adapt to feedstocks of large particle sizes and directly burn them without
pretreatment to product streams, combined with less tar production and a simple
structure. Presently, it is a preferred gasification technology that has a wide range of
industrial applications (Ragnarsson et al., 2015).
FLUIDIZED BED GASIFIER

Fluidized bed reactor Fluidized-bed gasifiers employ a reactor bed contained with a
fluidizing, solid, medium such as sand. Coal is fed into the side of the reactor, while
the oxidant (air or oxygen) are fed in from the bottom to promote the fluidizing of the
sand. Once the sand is fluidized it takes on properties that act more like a fluid then a
solid. Fluidized beds 15 promote back-mixing, and efficiently mix feed coal particles
with coal particles already undergoing gasification.

DESIGN OF FLUIDISED BED - REFER TABULAR COLUMN IN

FIXED BED GASIFIER
Other Design Considerations

Although virgin biomass contains little or no sulfur, some waste biomass fuels do. For
these, limestone is fed into the luidized-bed gasiier for in-bed sulfur removal. The
height of the gasiier (freeboard and bed) should be adequate to allow the residence
time needed for the desired sulfur capture.
The tar produced should be thermally cracked inside the gasiier as far as possible.
Therefore, the depth of the gasiier should be such that the gas residence time is
adequate for the desired tar conversion/cracking.

The deeper the bed, the higher the pressure drop across it and the higher the pumping
cost of air. Because bubble size increases with bed height, a deeper bed gives larger
bubbles with reduced gas–solid mixing. Furthermore, if the bubble size becomes
comparable to the smallest dimension of the bed crosssection, a highly undesirable
slugging condition is reached. This imposes another limit on how deep the dense
section of a luidized bed can be.

Some biomass char, like that from wood, is ine and easily undergoes attrition in a
luidized bed. In such cases a deeper bed may not guarantee a longer residence time
(Barea, 2009). Here, special attention must be paid to capturing the char and either
combusting it in a separate chamber to provide heat required by the gasiier, or
reinjecting it at an appropriate point in the bed where solids are descending.

A kinetic model (nth-order, shrinking particle, and shrinking core) may also be used
to determine the residence time, the net solid holdup, and therefore the height of the
dense bed.

Freeboard Height

Entrainment of unconverted ine char particles from the bubbling bed is a major source
of carbon loss. The empty space above the bed, the freeboard, allows entrained
particles to drop back into it. A bubbling, turbulent, or spouted luidized bed must have
such a freeboard section to help avoid excessive loss of bed materials through
entrainment and to provide room for conversion of iner entrained char particles. The
freeboard height must be sufficient to provide the required residence time for char
conversion. It can be determined from experience or through kinetic modeling. A
larger cross-sectional area and a taller freeboard increase the residence time of
gas/char and reduce entrainment. From an entrainment standpoint, the freeboard
height need not exceed the transport disengaging height (TDH) of a bed because no
further reduction in entrainment is achieved beyond this.

OPERATION OF FLUIDISED BED

Fluidized-bed gasifiers suspend feedstock particles in an oxygen-rich gas

so the resulting bed within the gasifier acts as a fluid. These gasifiers
employ back-mixing, and efficiently mix feed coal particles with coal
particles already undergoing gasification. To sustain fluidization, or
suspension of coal particles within the gasifier, coal of small particles
sizes (<6 mm) is normally used. Coal enters at the side of the reactor,
while steam and oxidant enter near the bottom with enough velocity to
fully suspend or fluidize the reactor bed. Due to the thorough mixing
within the gasifier, a constant temperature is sustained in the reactor bed.
The gasifiers normally operate at moderately high temperature to achieve
an acceptable carbon conversion rate (e.g., 90-95%) and to decompose
most of the tar, oils, phenols, and other liquid byproducts. However, the
operating temperatures are usually less than the ash fusion temperature so
as to avoid clinker formation and the possibility of de-fluidization of the
bed. This, in turn means that fluidized-bed gasifiers are best suited to
relatively reactive coals, low rank coals, and other fuels such as biomass.
Some char particles are entrained in the raw syngas as its leaves the top of
the gasifier, but are recovered and recycled back to the reactor via a
cyclone. Ash particles, removed below the bed, give up heat to the
incoming steam and recycle gas. At startup, the bed is heated externally
before the feedstock is introduced.

OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATION OF FLUIDISED BED

The startup of a fluidized-bed gasifier is similar to the startup of a fluidized bed

combustor. The inert bed materials are preheated either by an overbed burner or by
burning gas in the bed. Once the bed reaches the ignition temperature of the fuel, the
feed is started. Combustion is allowed to raise the temperature. After that, the
air/oxidizer-to-fuel ratio is slowly adjusted to switch to gasification mode. One major
problem with fluidized-bed gasifiers is the entrainment (escape) of ine char with the
product gas. The superficial velocity in a fluidized bed is often sufficiently high to
transport small and light char particles, contributing to major carbon loss. A tall
freeboard can reduce the problem, but that has a cost penalty. Instead, most fluidized-
bed gasifiers use a cyclone and a recycle system to return the entrained char particles
back to the gasifier.