Abstract
Biomass gasification often encounters the shortage of biomass supply for continuous operation. Co-gasification of different biomass materials is a promising solution that can address the shortage of biomass supply for the continuous gasification process. However, the effectiveness of co-gasification is not well understood. Furthermore, there is nearly no reported work of co-gasification of two or more biomass materials. In this study, two Malaysian local biomass materials, wood residual and coconut shells were co-gasified in a 33.6 kW thermal capacity downdraft gasifier to investigate the effect of blending ratio the on quality of the producer gas. The results show that producer gas composition increased as coconut shells proportion increased in blends of up to 60%. A blend of 40:60 W/CS results in a synergetic effect as compared to discrete gasification of both feedstock. The maximum H2 and CO were obtained as; 11.46 vol.% and 23.99 vol.% respectively at 40:60 W/CS blending ratio. The results achieved from 40:60 W/CS blend were 16.70% and 10.96% higher as compared to pure wood gasification for H2 and CO respectively. It is concluded that coconut shells can be utilized a substitute of wood residual in form of blends or as discrete feedstock for the continuous gasification process without the change in gasifier geometry.
Highlights
The world projected to face energy shortage and global environmental issues related to the emission of conventional fossil fuel
The utilization of biomass is considered a promising renewable energy source that could be a substitution of fossil fuels via gasification
The results show that concentration of CO in producer gas was higher as compared to the other gas contents of H2, CH4, and CO2
Summary
The world projected to face energy shortage and global environmental issues related to the emission of conventional fossil fuel. The utilization of biomass is considered a promising renewable energy source that could be a substitution of fossil fuels via gasification. The main areas, which contribute to the streamline of the biomass energy supply, are forestry (30.56%) and agricultural sector. Malaysian agricultural crops contributed as; oil palm (43.67%), rubber (30.56%), rice (12.68%), cocoa (6.75%) and coconut (6.34%) [4, 5]. Coconut is another industrial crop in Malaysia, which is the third biggest in plantation area size. The wood and coconut shells base lignocellulosic biomass materials are considered as a potential source of energy, which could be exploited by using a co-gasification process [2]. The composition of producer gas consists of combustible gases, for instance; CO, H2, and CH4 and non-combustible gases CO2 and N2 [20]
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