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Contact information: MOE Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering, School of Energy
and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China;
* Corresponding author: tanhz@mail.xjtu.edu.cn
INTRODUCTION
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Recent works on biomass stoves have focused primarily on pollutant emissions
(Brauer et al. 1995; Smith et al. 2000; Ezzati and Kammen 2001; Reddy and
Venkataraman 2002; Koyuncu and Pinar 2007; Johnson et al. 2011). Comparisons of
different kinds of stoves indicate that the fan stove and the gasifier stove emit relatively
few particulates and greenhouse gases (Smith et al. 1993; MacCarty et al. 2008). The
gasifier stove has the potential for higher-efficiency, lower-emission, small-scale biomass
utilization. However, there are many problems with the application of biomass gasifier
stoves, including the low gas heat value, poor fuel adaptability, and high tar content.
Many previous studies have focused on the final efficiency and emissions.
Research on the reaction process in the stove has been insufficient, although very
important for building a theoretical basis for emission control and efficiency
improvement in stoves. In the present study, the effect of the air distribution method
(including the overall air quantity into the stove system and the ratio of air supplied
between the gasifier and burner) on the performance of a household up-draft biomass
gasification stove was investigated. The temperature distribution and gas composition
along the gasifier were determined, and the gasified gas heat value and thermal efficiency
of the stove were calculated.
EXPERIMENTAL
Gasification Stove
The tested gasification stove system is shown in Fig. 1. It consisted of gasifier, air
supplying and distribution, burner, gas sampling, and temperature measurement sections.
The gasifier was made of a refractory steel tube with an inside diameter of 290 mm and a
heating-length of 330 mm. The outside diameter of the gasifier was 385 mm. Along the
height of the gasifier, six sampling holes were fixed into one side of the gasifier to
measure the gas composition at heights of 50, 125, 200, 275, 350, and 425 mm. On the
other side of the gasifier, four K-type thermocouples accurate to within 1 °C were
installed to measure the central temperatures at heights of 90, 215, 335, and 455 mm. The
distributed air blown into the gasifier or burner could be adjusted using the valves on the
branch pipes.
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Fuel Properties
Previous studies (Wang et al. 2012, 2014) have shown that the differences
between different kinds of agricultural biomass are relatively minor. Straw, the most
common crop waste in China, was used in the present investigation. It was acquired from
the city of Baoji in western China. The fuel properties are listed in Table 1.
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12 (CVCO2 CVCO CVCH4 )
η carbon GV
298 (4)
22.4 ( ) Ccarbon
273
where CV is the species volume content in the gas produced (%), GV is the production
rate of gasified gas (m3/kg), and Ccarbon is the carbon content in the biomass fuel used.
Gas heating value is the lower heating value in this work, and its calculation
formula is as follows,
Q 12.64 VCO 18.79 VH 2 35.88 VCH4 64.35 VC2 H 6 59.44 VC2 H 4 (5)
where Q is the gas heating value (MJ/m3), and VCO, VH2, VCH4, VC2H6, and VC2H4 (vol%) are
the volumes of the respective gas components of the producer gas.
Test Conditions
Two groups of tests were conducted in this study. In the first, all air was supplied
to the gasifier and there was no air supplied to the burner. These tests were done to
investigate the effect of the air quantity supplied on the gasifier. Under these conditions,
the flame on the burner was a diffusion flame. The air quantities into the gasifier tested
were 0.265×10-3, 0.529×10-3, 0.794×10-3, and 1.058×10-3 m3/s·kg. The unit of air quantity
is m3/s·kg, the air quantity per unit mass biomass fuel. In each test, 8 kg of biomass was
loaded into the gasifier.
In the second group of tests, the air quantity into the gasifier was held constant at
the optimum value from the first group of tests, and the air quantity into the burner was
either 0, 1.27×10-3, 2.117×10-3, or 2.717×10-3 m3/s, corresponding to gasifier-to-burner
air ratios of 0, 0.2, 0.333, and 0.428.
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The gasification process in an up-draft gasifier can be divided into four layers:
drying, pyrolysis, reduction, and oxidation, from top to bottom, as shown in Fig. 2. In the
present gasifier, these layers corresponded to heights of 455, 335, 215, and 90 mm,
respectively.
In the drying layer, the water in the biomass was removed in the following
reaction,
CaHbOc•n H2O→CaHbOc + n H2O, ΔH > 0 (R1)
In the pyrolysis layer, the volatiles in the biomass decomposed into gas and tar,
producing char as follows,
In the reducing layer, both CO2 and H2O can be reduced to CO, H2, and CH4 by
char at high temperatures as described by the following reactions,
In the oxidation layer at the bottom of the gasifier, biomass is oxidized in the
presence of air as described by the reactions,
The four layers of reaction structure were set up and will be used further in data
analysis. Most importantly, the temperature distribution was in a dynamic relation with
the tests. Along with the going of reaction in the gasifier, the general temperature
increased, ash was produced and stacked at the bottom, consequently, these four reaction
layers moved upwards.
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Temperature
The temperature distribution along the gasifier height at different times is shown
in Fig. 3. Measuring the temperature at different heights is important, especially in
building the layered reaction structure model of the gasifier. The results obtained in the
experiment can be used to verify the model. In addition, according to the temperature
distribution at different heights and the reaction model, the gas distribution at different
heights could be obtained. Under these conditions, all air passed through the gasifier
(0.794×10-3 m3/s·kg) and there was no air routed to the burner. At the beginning of
gasification, the outlet temperature at 450 mm was very low, at room temperature,
because the hot flue gas had not had time to have a great influence. With increasing
operating time, the high temperature zone moved upwards and the outlet temperature
increased to 267 °C after 30 min.
1200
5min
10min
1000
15min
20min
800 25min
Temperature ( C)
30min
o
600
400
200
0
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Height in gasifier (mm)
H2
40
CO
CH4
CO2
30
Gas composition (%)
O2
20
10
5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (min)
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In the first 20 min, the temperature decreased along the gasifier height from the
bottom to the top, and the highest temperature was always at the bottom oxidation layer.
However, after 20 min, when the gasification stove system reached stable conditions, the
highest temperature moved upwards, to about 220 mm. Under stable operation, the
highest temperature was mostly in the range of 950 to 1050 °C. Such a layered
temperature distribution was useful and can be used for modeling and analysis of the
reaction process inside the gasifier.
Gas composition
After ignition, the outlet gas was sampled and analyzed using GC every 5 min; the
gas composition over time is shown in Fig. 4. In the first 5 min, the CO2 content was very
high because biomass combustion had begun in the oxygen layer but the reaction in the
pyrolysis and reducing layers was slight. With increasing operating time, the content of
CO and H2 increased because the high-temperature zone moved upwards, as shown in Fig.
3. The operating condition tended toward stability; after 20 min, the gas composition
remained unchanged. Under stable conditions, CO was most abundant at approximately
25%, the contents of CO2 and H2 were approximately 10%, and CH4 accounted for
approximately 4% of the gas produced. There was a small amount of O2 at the outlet
from unreacted air.
28
26
24
22 H2
20 CO
Gas composition (%)
18 CH4
16
CO2
14
O2
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
-2
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
Height (mm)
Under stable operating conditions, the gas distribution at six positions along the
gasifier height was measured, as shown in Fig. 5. The O2 concentration was notably high
at 50 mm, but it dropped to almost zero at 150 mm. This was because the ash zone was
below 50 mm and no oxidation reaction occurred in this zone. In the oxidation layer from
50 to 100 mm, O2 was quickly consumed and the CO2 content rose rapidly. In this
oxidation layer, the CO content rose very slowly because of the excess air used.
In the layer from 125 to 200 mm, the CO2 content dropped rapidly and the CO
content rose rapidly, indicating this was the reducing layer in which CO2 was reduced to
CO by char according to reaction R4. In this layer, the H2 content also increased as
reactions R5 and R6, while the increase in CH4 content was very slow, indicating that
reactions R7 through R11 occurred at slow rates. In the layer from 200 to 300 mm, the
CH4 and H2 contents continued to rise, but the CO content was almost stable, indicating
that this was the pyrolysis layer and that the hydrocarbons were mostly from the pyrolysis
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reaction. In the layer above 300 mm, all gas concentrations were stable, indicating that
this was the drying layer, inside of which no remarkable reactions took place.
Temperature(℃)
o
600 600
0 0
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
-3 3
Height in gasifier (mm) Air quantity (10 m /s·kg)
(a) (b)
Fig. 6. Effect of air quantity on temperature distributions
Gas composition
The effect of air quantity into the gasifier on gas composition is shown in Fig. 7.
Increasing the air quantity increased the H2 content from 7% to 11% and the O2 content
from 2.12% to 2.96% but decreased the CH4 content from 9.33% to 6.30%. The changes
in CO and CO2 contents were inversely related.
25
H2
20
CO
CO2
Gas composition (%)
15 CH4
O2
10
0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
-3 3
Air quantity into gasifier (10 m /s·kg)
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The changed amounts of CO and CO2 were almost equal, indicating the
transformation between CO2 and CO. Because reaction R4 was endothermic, the equation
R4 went in the direction of producing CO. So, an increase of air flow rate increases the
amount of CO but reduces the amount of CO2 produced. CO accounted for most of the
produced gases, and it was found that the content of CO reached a maximum at
0.794×10-3 m3/s·kg, which also yielded the maximum reaction temperature in oxidation
and reducing layers. This further demonstrated the existence of an optimum air quantity
into the gasifier and that higher reaction temperatures enhanced endothermic reducing
reactions such as R4, R5, and R6.
Table 2. Stove Performance with Various Air Quantities Introduced into the
Gasifier
Condition Condition Condition Condition
- Name
1 2 3 4
Air Air quantity (10-3 m3/s·kg) 0.265 0.529 0.794 1.058
Water Initial Temperature (°C) 11 11 9 10
Water After Boiling (°C) 99.5 99.8 100.5 100
Water Water Initial Mass (kg) 2 2 2 2
Water Final Mass (kg) 1.896 1.74 1.72 1.761
Time for Water Boiling Test (s) 2100 960 840 870
Gas Yield (m3/kg) 1.43 1.47 1.53 1.59
Gas Heating Value (MJ/m3) 5.90 6.24 6.48 6.08
Gasifier Carbon Conversion Efficiency
61.84 63.81 60.20 57.22
(%)
Gasification Efficiency (%) 31.47 32.82 33.59 31.96
Stove Power (kW) 0.464 1.385 1.664 1.286
Stove
Stove Thermal Efficiency (%) 22.001 30.015 32.632 31.253
Because there was no air passing through the burner in this group of tests, the gas
combustion on the burner should be via typical diffusion combustion. Under these
conditions, the stove performance should be determined primarily by the performances of
the gasifier. Consequently, at the optimum air quantity of 0.794×10-3 m3/s·kg, both the
output power and the thermal efficiency reached their maximum values, of 1.664 kW and
32.632%, respectively.
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the air quantity through the burner was varied. The three tested conditions were air ratios
of 0.2, 0.333, and 0.428, as shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Stove Performance When Changing the Air Quantity through Burner
- Name Condition 4 Condition 5 Condition 6 Condition 7
Ratio of Air Quantity of Burner
Air 0.000 0.200 0.333 0.428
and Gasifier (1)
Water Initial Temperature (°C) 9 11 10 10
Water After Boiling (°C) 100.5 99.5 100 99
Water Water Initial Mass (kg) 2 2 2 2
Water Final Mass (kg) 1.72 1.762 1.76 1.773
Time for Water Boiling Test (s) 840 750 720 840
Stove Power (kW) 1.664 1.734 1.798 1.697
Stove
Stove Thermal Efficiency (%) 32.632 34.873 36.527 33.122
The air quantity through the gasifier was constant at 0.794×10-3 m3/s·kg.
With increasing air quantity through the burner, the time required to boil the water
first decreased and then increased, whereas the stove power and thermal efficiency
increased and then decreased. The optimum air distribution was a ratio of 0.333 between
the air to the burner and gasifier. Under the optimum conditions, the stove power
increased from 1.664 (diffusion flame with no air through the burner) to 1.798 kW
(partial premixed flame with optimum air though the burner) and the thermal efficiency
increased from 32.632% to 36.527%. The best operating condition for a partial premixed
flame yielded an additional 0.134 kW of power and 3.895% thermal efficiency as
compared with the diffusion flame.
(c) flame with optimum air through the burner (d) flame with too much air through the burner
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The flame appearance with various burner air quantities is shown in Fig. 8. Three
kinds of flames were observed. Figure 8(a) shows the burner employed in this study, in
which the gasified gas flowed through the central, circular holes and air passed through
the swirling, inclined channels around these holes.
When no air passed though the burner and all the air went directly into the stove,
the flame on the burner was a typical diffusion flame, as shown in Fig. 8(b). Under these
conditions, there was no air from the swirling channels available to be mixed with the
gasified gas from the central holes; consequently, the flame was very long, unstable, and
had a yellow-red color.
With increasing air quantity passing through the burner, the flame length was
remarkably reduced because the injection of supplementary air from the swirling,
inclined channels mixed rapidly with the gasified gas. The flame color gradually changed
from yellow-red to blue, as shown in Fig. 8(c). A blue flame produces much higher
temperatures than a yellow-red flame and the blue flame exhibits much higher thermal
efficiency. This is why, under these conditions, the stove power and efficiency were the
highest, as shown in Table 3.
When the burner air was increased even further, the swirling air quantity was
excessive and led to a normal flame submerged by such high-speed air coming from the
swirling, inclined channels. Moreover, because the tangential momentum of the swirling
flow was too large, the energy loss in the tangential direction increased and the flame
area touching the bottom of the water pot was reduced. This is why the power and
thermal efficiency decreased when burner air was further increased.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The producer gas composition and energy output stabilized 15 min after ignition, and
the highest temperature was at the bottom oxidation layer of the gasifier, in the range
of 950 to 1050 °C. Along the gasifier height from bottom to top, the contents of H2,
CO, and CH4 increased until 250 mm and the content of CO2 reached a peak value at
approximately 150 mm.
2. There was an optimum air quantity at approximately 0.794×10-3 m3/s·kg that yielded
the best gasifier performance. With increasing air quantity into the gasifier, the stove
temperature, contents of CO and H2 in the producer gas, gas heating value, and
gasification efficiency first increased and then decreased. The highest gas heating
value and gasification efficiency were 6.48 MJ/m3 and 33.59%, respectively.
3. The best stove performance was obtained at an optimum air distribution ratio of 0.333
between the burner and gasifier air (0.794×10-3 m3/s·kg). Under these conditions, the
stove power and thermal efficiency reached 1.798 kW and 36.527%, respectively.
4. With increasing air quantity passing through the burner, the flame length above the
burner was remarkably reduced and the flame color gradually changed from yellow-
red to blue. At the optimum air distribution ratio of 0.333, the flame color showed
blue and stable.
Deng et al. (2015). “Gasifier stove optimization,” BioResources 10(3), 4178-4190. 4188
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(Nos. 51306142 and 51376147) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central
Universities.
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Article submitted: February 6, 2015; Peer review completed: April 26, 2015; Revisions
received and accepted: May 18, 2015; Published: May 22, 2015.
DOI: 10.15376/biores.10.3.4178-4190
Deng et al. (2015). “Gasifier stove optimization,” BioResources 10(3), 4178-4190. 4190