Steam gasification of meat and bone meal in a two-stage fixed-bed reactor system

Gasification of meat and bone meal (MBM) has been carried out using steam in single and two-stage fixed-bed reactor systems. The first stage was used for the gasification, while the second stage allowed the thermal cracking and reforming of tar as well as some additional secondary reactions to take place. The effects of temperature (650-850 degrees C) in both stages, steam/MBM (wt/wt) (0.4-0.8), and second-stage packed-bed height (40-100 mm) on product distribution (char, liquid and gas) and gas composition (H(2), CO, CO(2), CH(4), C(2)H(4), other H/C) were studied. It was observed that a higher reaction temperature (850 degrees C) favored high gas and hydrogen yields. Hydrogen yield was increased from 36.2 to 47.1 vol% with an increase in steam/MBM (wt/wt), while an increase in the packed-bed height increased gas (29.5-31.6 wt%) and hydrogen (45-49.2 vol%) yields. (C) 2010 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.