Co-gasification behavior and products distribution of wet sewage sludge and corn stalks: Effect and mechanism analysis of self-moisture utilization

Abstract

Wet sewage sludge (WSS) self-moisture gasification is a promising route for H2-rich syngas production. This research investigated the co-gasification of WSS and corn stalks (CS), focusing on the effects of self-moisture content. Thermogravimetric analysis of the pyrolysis of the mixture (WSS:CS = 40:60 wt%) revealed that the reactions followed a three-parallel-reaction model. The co-gasification process was performed to compare the effects of self-moisture and external steam used as gasification agents, respectively. The results showed that the self-moisture gasification led to higher H2 yields (0.057–0.11 L/g), gas yields (0.19–0.21 L/g), and specific gas energy (2.62–2.72 MJ/kg) than those in external steam gasification (0.055–0.090 L/g, 0.16–0.18 L/g and 2.32–2.52 MJ/kg, respectively). Additionally, self-moisture gasification also resulted in lighter tar with primarily light organic acids (28.0%), and char with weaker aromatic structure features, attributed to longer reaction time during diffusion of pyrolysis products. Overall, this study provided theoretical foundations for the high-value exploitation of WSS.