Biomass heat pipe reformer—design and performance of an indirectly heated steam gasifier

Abstract

Indirectly heated dual fluidized bed (DFB) gasifiers are a promising option for the production of syngas, in particular in the small- and medium-scale range. The application of so-called heat pipes solves the key challenge of indirectly heated gasifiers—the heat transfer into the gasifier's reformer part. Performance, technical challenges, and solutions for the so-called biomass heat pipe reformer are discussed, and the development of the last 10 years is summarized. An equation for the heat pipe reformer's cold gas efficiency is presented. The equation applies for any dual fluidized bed gasifier and indicates that the efficiency of the combustion process dominates the cold gas efficiency of any directly or indirectly heated allothermal steam gasification system.