Flax straw char‐CO2 gasification kinetics and its inhibition studies with CO

Abstract

AbstractChar gasification has been studied in different ways with different feedstock; however, the fundamental studies about the variation of char reactivity with different combination of parameters are still required in order to design the biomass char gasification process in large scale unit. In this work, char from flax straw pyrolysis was used for gasification with different partial pressure of CO2, different temperature and particle size. Results showed that 375‐µm particle sizes of char has higher reactivity compared to other particle sizes and the inhibition effect was also less at 375‐µm particle size. Kinetic parameters varied for gasification reaction with different particle sizes and the average activation energy was 196 kJ/mol and the order of the reaction was approximately 1. Inhibition studies with the addition of CO in the gasifying agent proved that CO molecules interfere significantly and reduced the reactivity. ANOVA test showed that the temperature plays a vital role in char reactivity. The particle sizes of 375 and 800 µm along with the CO2 partial pressure of 0.35 bars are the best combination for achieving the maximum reactivity. © 2012 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering