PART - 3

Biomass Feedstock Generations

Biomass Cogeneration System

Efficiency = 87%

Efficiency = 55%
 What is Pyrolysis?
“Pyrolysis is thermal cracking in the absence of oxygen.”
Cedric Briens

“Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of organic material at elevated

temperatures, in the absence of gases such as air or oxygen.”
Greenpeace

Heat introduced, O2 excluded

An endothermic reaction

Pyrolysis is a thermochemical conversion technology used to produce energy from

biomass. It involves the heating of organic materials in the absence of reagents,
especially oxygen to achieve decomposition. When pyrolysis takes place in the
presence of water, it is called hydrous pyrolysis.
Pyrolysis of Biomass

HEAT

Vapour
Condensation

Biomass

6
Fast Pyrolysis
Process

(Electrostatic
Precipitator)
 Pyrolysis – Products
1) Intermediate products: Syngas, Charcoal
2) Main products (final products): Bio-oil and Bio-char
3) By products: Electricity and Thermal energy

Pyrolysis – By product
Some Advantages of Pyrolysis of Biomass

• Carbon neutrality
• Utilises otherwise waste biomass
• Potential to be self-sustaining energy-wise
• Increases bulk and energy density of
biomass
• Source of valuable chemicals
• Biomass source can be decoupled from the
energy utilisation

12
 Mode of Biomass Pyrolysis
Product yields (dry feed basis) for pyrolysis of wood

Mode Conditions Liquid Char Gas

Moderate temperature,
Fast pyrolysis 75% 12% 13%
short residence time

Low temperature, very

Slow Pyrolysis 30% 35% 35%
long residence time

High temperature, long

Gasification 5% 10% 85%
residence time.
A.V.Bridgwater

14
Carbonisation/ Slow Pyrolysis
Fast Pyrolysis
Essential features of a fast pyrolysis process:

• Very high heating and heat transfer rates, which require a

finely ground feed.
• Thermodynamically stable and easily achievable process.
• Product is obtained in less than 1 sec.
• Quenching (rapid cooling) of the pyrolysis vapours to give the
bio-oil product.
Bio-Oil
Energy efficiency of Bio-Oil

Applications of Bio-Oil
 The Challenges
For upgrading of bio-oil to transport fuels
• Low volatility
• Low heating value.
• High viscosity
• Corrosiveness
Every biomass is different!
• Coking

Alternatives to upgrading
• Gasification of bio-oil to syngas
• Combination of bio-oil with diesel

21
Bio-char
25
Part - 4
Gasification
Why biomass gasification?
 Biomass that can be used…
Very wide variety of feedstock can be used with simple processing in terms of
sizing and moisture reduction to less than 20%, bulk density of above 100 kgs/m3
& free flowing nature.

Agri-residues like Cotton / Shells of Arecanut,

Rice husk (as is basis &
Soyabean / Mustard stalks, Almond, Cashewnut,
no need to briquette)
Corn Cobs Groundnut, Coconut

Waste Wood, Wood chips,

Branches & Twigs Bamboo pieces & Pine
Plywood & Saw mill
needles
wastes

Sugarcane bagasse & Wild bushes and weeds Greening of waste lands
Sugarcane trash like Prosopis Juliflora, though production of
(briquetted) Lantana, Invader Bush etc. sturdy Energy species.
 Basic Process Chemistry
• Conversion of solid fuels into
combustible gas mixture
called producer gas (CO + H2
+ CH4)
• Involves partial combustion of
biomass

Distinct process in the gasifier viz.

• Drying
• Pyrolysis
• Combustion & Cracking
• Reduction
Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is the application of heat to raw biomass, in an absence of air, so as
to break it down into charcoal and various tar gasses and liquids. It is
essentially the process of charring.

Drying
Drying is what removes the moisture in the biomass before it enters Pyrolysis.
All the moisture needs to be (or will be) removed from the fuel before any
above 100°C processes happen. All of the water in the biomass will get
vaporized out of the fuel at some point in the higher temp processes. Where
and how this happens is one of the major issues that has to be solved for
successful gasification. High moisture content fuel, and/or poor handling of the
moisture internally, is one of the most common reasons for failure to produce
clean gas.
Combustion
Combustion is the only net exothermic process of the Five Processes of Gasification; ultimately, all of
the heat that drives drying, pyrolysis, and reduction comes either directly from combustion, or is
recovered indirectly from combustion by heat exchange processes in a gasifier. Combustion can be
fueled by either the tar gasses or char from Pyrolysis.

Cracking
Cracking is the process of breaking down large complex molecules such as tar into lighter gases by
exposure to heat. This process is crucial for the production of clean gas that is compatible with an internal
combustion engine because tar gases condense into sticky tar that will rapidly foul the valves of an engine.
Cracking is also necessary to ensure proper combustion because complete combustion only occurs when
combustible gases thoroughly mix with oxygen. In the course of combustion, the high temperatures
produced decompose the large tar molecules that pass through the combustion zone.

Reduction
Reduction is the process of stripping oxygen atoms off
combustion products of hydrocarbon (HC) molecules, so
as to return the molecules to forms that can burn again.
Reduction is the direct reverse process of combustion.
Combustion is the combination of combustible gases with
oxygen to release heat, producing water vapor and
carbon dioxide as waste products. Reduction is the
removal of oxygen from these waste products at high
temperature to produce combustible gases. Combustion
and Reduction are equal and opposite reactions. In fact,
in most burning environments, they are both operating
simultaneously, in some form of dynamic equilibrium, with
repeated movement back and forth between the two
processes.
Producer Gas Properties
 Benefits…
• Green electricity.
• Use the systems to also generate steam, chilling, hot
water, hot air.
• High plant load factors (PLFs) about 80%.
• Quick and modular solutions with no pollution.
• Generate high energy, high value charcoal & biochar as
by-product.
Applications
Two major gasification process
Types of Gasification Processes
 Types of Commercial Gasifiers
Although there are various types of gasifers (gasification reactors), different in design
and operational characteristics, there are three main gasifier classifications into which
most of the commercially available gasifiers fall. These categories are as follows:

 Fixed-bed gasifiers (also referred as moving-bed gasifiers)

- Fixed-or moving-bed gasifiers include that of Lurgi and British Gas Lurgi (BGL).
 Entrained-flow gasifiers
- Commercial gasifiers of GE Energy, CB&I E-Gas™ and Shell SCGP are examples of
entrained-flow types.
 Fluidized-bed gasifiers
- Examples of fluidized-bed gasifiers include the catalytic gasifier technology being
commercialized by Great Point Energy, the Winkler gasifier, and the KBR
transport gasifiers.
 Moving bed gasification
Schematic of a moving bed gasifier with various processes at different levels and variation of
the coal and gas temperatures along the gasifier is shown in figure. Coal which enters at top
and moves downward through gravity is gasified by the upcoming countercurrent air/oxygen
and steam mixture. In this gasifier, the hot synthesis gas from gasification zone is used to
preheat and pyrolyze the downward flowing coal. With this process the oxygen consumption
is very low, but pyrolysis products are present in the product syn gas. This gasifier operates
on lump coal and outlet temperature of syn gas is generally low.
 Characteristics
Moving-bed gasifiers share the following characteristics:

• Simplicity of gasifier configuration and operation

• High equipment efficiency

• Relatively low oxidant (oxygen or air) requirement

• Less complex feedstock preparation with the use of coarse coal particles

• Product gas at relatively low temperatures, thus no need for expensive high-temperature heat
recovery equipment

• Feedstock flexibility: suitable to handle coals with high reactivity and moisture

• High "cold-gas" thermal efficiency, when the heating value of the produced hydrocarbon liquids is
accounted for

• High methane content in product gas

• Limited ability to handle coal fines

• Caking coals require design modifications to the gasifier

• Long feedstock residence time in gasifier and slag flow characteristics require carefully controlled
feed size distribution for proper operation

• Hydrocarbon liquids such as tars and oils are produced; increased effort to clean produced gas if
it is used for applications other than direct heating

• Explosion hazard without careful process monitoring

 Entrained bed gasification
In entrained bed type gasification process, feed and oxygen enter in co-current flow. The feed is grounded to
a size of 100 µm or less to promote mass transfer and allow transport of solids using gas flow. The key
characteristics of entrained flow gasification is very high and uniform temperatures (usually more than
1000°C) and the very short residence time of the fuel within the gasifier. Because of the high temperatures,
very high conversions are possible. The high temperature operation requires high oxygen demand for these
types of processes. Schematic of the operation of an entrained flow gasifier and variation of the temperature
of coal and gas along the gasifier are shown in figure. In entrained flow gasification, ash is withdrawn in the
molten form. Solids fed into the gasifier must be very finely ground and homogeneous, which in turn means
that entrained flow gasifiers are not suitable for feed stocks such as biomass or wastes, which cannot be
readily pulverised.
 Characteristics

Entrained-flow gasifiers typically exhibit the following characteristics:

• Fuel flexibility; can accept a variety of solid feedstocks

• Large oxidant requirements

• Can either be oxygen or air blown, but most commercial plants are oxygen blown

• Uniform temperature within the reactor

• Slagging operation

• Short reactor residence time

• High carbon conversion, but low cold gas efficiency

• High level of sensible heat in product gas, heat recovery is required to improve efficiency

• Environmentally most benign; produced syngas consists of mainly H2, CO and carbon dioxide
(CO2) with trace amount of other contaminants which can be removed downstream of the
reactor; glassy slag is inert and easily disposed
 Fluidized bed gasification
Schematic of a fluidized bed gasifier and variation of the temperatures of coal and gas along the gasifier is
shown in the figure. Fluidized bed gasification offers good mixing of coal and air/oxygen and steam mixture,
which promotes both heat and mass transfer. This ensures an even distribution of material in the bed and
hence, a certain amount of partially reacted fuel is inevitably removed with the ash. This places limitation on
overall carbon conversion in fluidized bed processes. Fluidized bed gasifiers generally operate below the ash
softening temperature, because ash slagging can disturb the fluidization of the bed. Size of the particles is
critical; material that is too fine will tend to entrained in the syn gas and leaves the bed over head. This is
partially captured in cyclones and returned to bed. This type of gasifier is suitable for reactive feed stocks
such as low rank coals and biomass.
 Characteristics
Fluidized-bed gasifiers may differ in ash conditions (dry or agglomerated/slagging) and in design
configurations for improving char use. Also, depending on the degree of fluidization and bed height,
these types of reactors sometimes are also named as circulating fluidized bed reactors, and/or
transport reactors.

Fluidized-bed gasifiers display these characteristics:

• Load flexibility and high heat transfer rates

• Fuel flexibility, can gasify a wide range of feedstocks

• Moderate oxidant and steam requirements

• Uniform, moderately high temperature throughout the gasifier

• Higher cold gas efficiency than entrained-bed gasifiers, but lower carbon conversion

• Extensive char recycling is required

 Classifications of Gasifier
Gasifier equipment is generally classified as upward draft, downward draft and cross draft
gasifiers, based on the direction of air/oxygen flow in the equipment. It should be noted that
there are types of gasifier equipment which are different from types of gasification
processes. Gasification processes can be categorized into three groups: entrained flow,
fluidised bed and moving bed (sometimes called, somewhat erroneously, fixed bed).

Four Gasifier Categories

In a gasifier, fuel interacts with air or oxygen and steam. So the gasifier are classified as per
the way air or oxygen is introduced in it. On a bigger scale there are following four gasifier
types.
The choice of the one type of gasifier over the other is mostly determined by the fuel, its final
available form, its size, moisture content and ash content. First three type of gasifiers are
mostly used in entrained bed gasification process and moving bed gasification process.
While the last one is fluidised bed gasification process.
 Upward Draft or Counter-Current gasifier

• This one is oldest and simplest of all gasifier types.

• The air comes in at the bottom and produced syn

gas leaves from the top of the gasifier.

• Near the grate at the bottom combustion reaction

occurs, above that reduction reaction occurs.

• In the upper part of the gasifier heating and pyrolysis

of the feedstock occurs as a result of heat transfer by
forced convention and radiation from the lower zones.

• Tars and volatile produce produced during the reaction

will leave along with the syn gas at the top of the
gasifier. Which will be later separated by use of
cyclone and candle filter.
 Downdraft or Co-Current Gasifier

 In updraft gasifier there is a problem of tar entrainment in

the product gas leaving stream.

 A solution is to have primary gasification air introduced at

or above the oxidation zone in the gasifier.

 The produced gas is taken out from the bottom hence

fuel and gas move in the same direction.

 On their way down, the acid and tarry distillation

products from the fuel must pass through a glowing bed
of charcoal and therefore are converted into permanent
gases hydrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and
methane.

 Depending on the temperature of the hot zone and the

residence time of the tarry vapours. More or less a
complete breakdown of the tars is achieved.
 Cross Draft Gasifier

Although cross draft gasifiers have certain advantages over updraft and
downdraft gasifiers, they are not ideal. The disadvantages such as high
exit gas temperature, poor CO2 reduction and high gas velocity are the
consequences of the design. Unlike downdraft and updraft gasifiers, the
ash bin, fire and reduction zones in cross draft gasifiers are separate.
These design characteristics limit what kind of fuel can be used,
restricting it to only low ash fuels such as wood, charcoal and coke.

The load following ability of cross draft gasifier is quite good due to
concentrated zones which operate at temperatures up to 12000C. Start
up time (5-10 minutes) is much faster than that of downdraft and updraft
units. The relatively higher temperature in cross draft gas producer has
an obvious effect on exit gas composition such as high carbon monoxide
and low hydrogen and methane content when dry fuel such as charcoal
is used. Cross draft gasifier operates well on dry air blast and dry fuel.