Experimental study on a small-scale oxygen-enriched entrained flow biomass gasifier assisted by non-thermal arc plasma

Abstract

A small-scale oxygen-enriched entrained flow biomass gasifier consisting of a non-thermal arc plasma torch and a stainless steel bellows was developed. The characteristics of the non-thermal arc plasma were diagnosed. The effects of oxygen concentration and bellows length on the gasification process using rice husk powder as feedstock at a feed rate of 27.1 g/min were studied. The results show that increasing the oxygen concentration of gasifying agent and using longer bellows both lead to the improvement of cold gas efficiency, carbon conversion efficiency, and yields of H2 and CO. The cold gas efficiency of the gasifier at a bellows length of 500 mm and oxygen concentration of 34.7% is 65.8%. And benefiting from low auxiliary energy consumption, the gasifier’s energy efficiency reaches 60.5%. The non-thermal arc plasma assists the entrained flow gasification by converting part of the feedstock into activated reactants.