Temperature Profile and Producer Gas Composition of High Temperature Air Gasification of Oil Palm Fronds

• Main Authors: Guangul, F. M., Sulaiman, S. A., Ramli, Anita
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://eprints.utp.edu.my/9891/1/Fiseha%201755-1315_16_1_012067.pdf; http://iopscience.iop.org/1755-1315/16/1/012067; http://eprints.utp.edu.my/9891/
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Petronas

Environmental pollution and scarcity of reliable energy source are the current pressing global problems which need a sustainable solution. Conversion of biomass to a producer gas through gasification process is one option to alleviate the aforementioned problems. In the current research the temperature profile and composition of the producer gas obtained from the gasification of oil palm fronds by using high temperature air were investigated and compared with unheated air. By preheating the gasifying air at 500°C the process temperature were improved and as a result the concentration of combustible gases and performance of the process were improved. The volumetric percentage of CO, CH4 and H2 were improved from 22.49, 1.98, and 9.67% to 24.98, to 2.48% and 13.58%, respectively. In addition, HHV, carbon conversion efficiency and cold gas efficiency were improved from 4.88 MJ/Nm³, 83.8% and 56.1% to 5.90 MJ/Nm³, 87.3% and 62.4%, respectively.