Optimization of co-gasification process parameters of pretreated palm kernel shell and pretreated Malaysian low rank coal using response surface methodology

Abstract

Co-gasification of pretreated palm kernel shell (PKS) and pretreated Malaysian low rank coal has been conducted using a fix bed reactor system. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD) was used to determine the optimum condition on gas yield in co-gasification products. The effect of the three factors, i.e. gasification temperature, biomass blending ratio and steam flow rate on response variables (gas, tar and char yield) were examined. The p-value <0.05 for all factors indicated that the factors were significant. The predicted optimum conditions for gasification temperature, biomass blending ratio and steam flow rate were at 767 °C, 52 % and 54 ml/min, correspondingly. These optimum conditions produced maximum gas yield, minimum char and tar yield of 67.28 %, 20.83 % and 11.90 %, respectively. Thus, this study showed that the assessed RSM model has effectively determined the optimum process condition, which designates to the optimum gas yield in co-gasification.