Syngas Production for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis from Rubber Wood Pellets and Eucalyptus Wood Chips in a Pilot Horizontal Gasifier with CaO as a Tar Removal Catalyst

This research aims to investigate steam biomass gasification in a pilot horizontal gasifier using rubber wood pellets (RWPs) and eucalyptus wood chips (EWCs) for producing syngas with an H2/CO ratio range of 1.8 to 2.3 for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The study was divided into two parts. One was carried out in a lab-scale reactor to determine the effect of temperature and CaO on the gas product composition and the efficiency of tar removal. Another part was determined by investigating the effect of the steam/biomass (S/B) ratio on the produced H2/CO ratios in the pilot horizontal gasifier, which used the optimum conditions of temperature and % loading of CaO for tar removal according to the optimal conditions from the lab-scale gasifier. The lab-scale gasifier results showed that H2 and CO2 increased with temperature due to primary and secondary water gas reactions and hydrocarbon reforming reactions. The water gas shift and hydrocarbon reforming reaction depressed the CO and CH4 contents with increasing temperature, respectively. The optimum gasifying temperature was 900 degrees C, which obtained H2/CO ratios of 1.8 for both RWPs and EWCs. The tar yield decreased with increasing temperature and was less than 0.2 wt % when using CaO as a tar-cracking catalyst. The operation of the pilot horizontal gasifier at the operating condition of 900 degrees C and a S/B ratio of 0.5 using 0.2 wt % loading of CaO for tar removal also produced a H2/CO ratio of 2.0. The supply of an external heat source stabilized the gasifying temperature, resulting in a stable syngas composition and production rate of 2.5 and 2.7 kg/h with H2/CO ratios of 1.8 and 1.9 for the RWPs and EWCs, respectively. In summary, the horizontal gasifier is another effective designed gasifier that showed high-performance operation.