Soot reduction in an entrained flow gasifier of biomass by active dispersion of fuel particles

Abstract

Soot is an undesired by-product of entrained flow biomass gasification since it has a detrimental effect on operation of the gasifier, e.g. clogging of flow passages and system components and reduction of efficiency. This study investigated how active flow manipulation by adding synthetic jet (i.e. oscillating flow through orifice) in feeding line affects dispersion of fuel particles and soot formation. Pine sawdust was gasified at the conditions similar to pulverized burner flame, where a flat flame of methane-air sub-stoichiometric mixture supported ignition of fuel particles. A synthetic jet flow was supplied by an actuator assembly and was directed perpendicular to a vertical tube leading to the center of the flat flame burner through which pine sawdust with a size range of 63–112μm were fed into a reactor. Quartz filter sampling and the laser extinction methods were employed to measure total soot yield and soot volume fraction, respectively. The synthetic jet actuator modulated the dispersion of the pine sawdust and broke up particle aggregates in both hot and cold gas flows through generation of large scale vortex structures in the flow. The soot yield significantly reduced from 1.52wt.% to 0.3wt.% when synthetic jet actuator was applied. The results indicated that the current method suppressed inception of young soot particles. The method has high potential because soot can be reduced without changing major operation parameters.