Chemical Engineering Journal 237 (2014) 259267

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Chemical Engineering Journal

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cej

Inuence of operating conditions on the steam gasication of biomass

in a conical spouted bed reactor
Aitziber Erkiaga, Gartzen Lopez, Maider Amutio, Javier Bilbao, Martin Olazar
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644-E48080, Bilbao, Spain

h i g h l i g h t s
 Spouted bed reactor is an interesting technology for biomass steam gasication.
 Temperature improves gas and hydrogen yields and carbon conversion efciency.
 Steam/biomass ratio has a positive effect on gas composition and conversion.
 Biomass particle size has shown a limited effect on gasication performance.
 High tar yields are obtained and consequently cracking catalysts should be used.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 6 June 2013
Received in revised form 23 September 2013
Accepted 8 October 2013
Available online 17 October 2013
Keywords:
Steam gasication
Spouted bed
Biomass
Hydrogen

a b s t r a c t
Pinewood sawdust has been gasied by using steam as gasifying agent in a conical spouted bed reactor
operating in continuous regime. A study has been made of the effect of temperature (in the 800900 C
range), steam/biomass ratio (between 0 and 2) and sawdust particle size (0.31, 12 and 24 mm ranges)
on the distribution of products (gas, tar and char) and their composition has been studied. Temperature
has a positive effect on the gas composition by increasing H2 content and reducing that of CO. Furthermore, the tar and char yields are reduced as gasication temperature is higher. An increase in steam/biomass ratio from 0 to 1 has a positive effect on hydrogen concentration, char gasication and tar
reforming, and a further increase in this parameter from 1 to 2 gives way to only a limited improvement
in the results. Sawdust particle diameter plays a minor role in the gasication process in the temperature
range studied, which must be attributed to the high heat transfer rate in the bed. Thus, this technology
allows operating with coarse sawdust particles without reducing the syngas yield. However, the reduced
gas residence time gives way to a high tar yield.
2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Biomass is regarded as the most promising alternative to fossil
fuels, given that when it is properly exploited it does not contribute to a net rise in the level of CO2 in the atmosphere. Furthermore,
it is the only renewable source of xed carbon that can be used for
generating both heat and power and converted into liquid, solid,
and gaseous fuels and chemicals [1,2].
Gasication is considered to be one of the most effective methods for the upgrading of biomass because the gas produced can be
used directly as fuel or as renewable raw material for the large
scale production of valuable chemical products and fuels.
The main advantage of using steam as gasifying agent lies in the
production of gas with a high hydrogen concentration, and the

Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 946012527; fax: +34 946 013 500.
E-mail address: martin.olazar@ehu.es (M. Olazar).
1385-8947/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2013.10.018

main drawback is the highly endothermic nature of the process.

The steam gasication of biomass has been studied in a wide range
of reactor congurations (xed bed, uidized bed, entrained bed,
vertical shaft, moving grate furnace, rotary kiln and plasma reactor) [3]. The uidised bed is the most commonly used technology
and the one with the highest scaling up development [413], with
the common solution for providing heat being the dual uidised
bed gasication, which consists in combining a steam-blown uidised bed with a fast uid bed blown with air [1418]. Steam gasication takes place in the rst bed and the char is burnt in the
second one to provide energy for the rst reactor by means of
hot bed material circulation.
This paper addresses the steam gasication of biomass in a
bench-scale plant provided with a conical spouted bed reactor
(CSBR) operating with continuous feed, and the effects of temperature, steam/biomass ratio and sawdust particle diameter have been
studied. The spouted bed has been applied to the drying of biomass

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A. Erkiaga et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 237 (2014) 259267

[19], the pyrolysis of biomass [20,21], waste plastics [2224] and

tires [25,26], and the gasication of low-rank coal [2729]. However,
it has never been used in the gasication of biomass. Accordingly,
the main objective of this paper is to gain the basic knowledge on
the performance of this gassolid contact method for the steam
gasication of biomass. Given the difculties associated with this
process, improvements will be carried out in future studies based
on the further development of this technology, such as reactor modications to increase residence time and the operation in dual
spouted beds.
Certain features of the CSBR that make it suitable for biomass
gasication are as follows: (i) the cyclic and vigorous particle
movement characteristic of spouted beds, which avoids bed deuidization due to the agglomeration of particles [22,30], which is a
serious problem in uidized beds [31], (ii) bed isothermicity, with
a high heat transfer rate between phases (the gas rises though the
spout and annulus, whereas the particles descend countercurrently
through the annular region) [3234], which is essential in a highly
endothermic process that requires continuous heat ow into the
reactor; (iii) capacity for treating materials with a wide particle
size distribution or together with other materials of different density or granulometry (waste plastics, tyres, coal, catalysts in situ)
without bed segregation problems [35]; (iv) versatility in the gas
ow rate, which allows operating in a wide steam/biomass ratio
with a short residence time (interesting for minimising secondary
reactions). Furthermore, improvements have been made to the
CSBR technology, such as the use of internal devices to increase
bed stability (control spout geometry and fountain height), reduce
gas ow rate requirements and allow scaling up the continuous
mode operation [36,37].
2. Experimental section
2.1. Biomass properties
The biomass used in this study is forest pinewood waste (Pinus
insignis), which has been crushed and ground to a particle size below 4 mm. The sawdust has been sieved to obtain three different
fractions, 0.31 mm, 12 mm and 24 mm. This material has been
dried at room temperature to a moisture content below 10 wt%.
Ultimate and proximate analyses have been carried out in a LECO
CHNS-932 elemental analyzer and in a TGA Q500IR thermogravimetric analyzer, respectively. The higher heating value (HHV) has
been measured in a Parr 1356 isoperibolic bomb calorimeter. The
main features of the raw biomass are summarized in Table 1.
2.2. Equipment
Steam gasication runs have been carried out in a bench scale
plant whose scheme is shown in Fig. 1.

Table 1
Raw biomass characterization.
Ultimate analysis (wt%)
Carbon
Hydrogen
Nitrogen
Oxygen

49.33
6.06
0.04
44.57

Fig. 1. Scheme of the laboratory scale biomass gasication plant.

The reactor is located within an oven, which is in turn placed in

a forced convection oven maintained at 270 C to avoid the condensation of steam and tars before the condensation system. A
high-efciency cyclone and a sintered steel lter (5 lm) are also
placed inside this oven in order to retain the ne sand particles entrained from the bed and the soot or char particles formed in the
gasication process.
The plant is provided with a system for continuous biomass
feed, which consists of a vessel equipped with a vertical shaft connected to a piston placed below the material bed.
Water has been fed by means of a Gibson 307 pump that allows
a precise measuring of the ow rate.
The gases leaving the forced convection oven circulate through
a volatile condensation system consisting of a condenser, a Peltier
cooler and a coalescence lter. The spouted bed reactor is placed
inside a 1250 W radiant oven. The lower section of the reactor is
a gas preheater lled with an inert ceramic material, which increases the surface area for heat transfer and ensures that steam
is heated to the desired reaction temperature. Additional details
of the experimental device can be found elsewere [38].
2.3. Experimental conditions

Proximate analysis (wt%)

Volatile matter
Fixed carbon
Ash
Moisture

73.4
16.7
0.5
9.4

HHV (MJ kg1)

19.8

The conical spouted bed reactor contains 70 g of silica sand

(sieved to a particle diameter in the 0.350.4 mm range, density
2600 kg m3), with bed height being of around 6.5 cm for the mentioned sand mass. The selection of the range for sand particle size is
related to the hydrodynamic performance of the reactor. Thus,

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A. Erkiaga et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 237 (2014) 259267

particle size has been selected in order to operated with a spouting

velocity 1.5 times higher than that corresponding to minimum one.
Furthermore, vigorous circulation in the bed (without entrainment) must be ensured in the range of S/B studied. Therefore, there
is an optimum particle size range fullling these conditions. Water
ow rate is 1.5 mL min1 under all the conditions studied, corresponding to a steam ow rate of 1.86 NL min1. The runs have been
carried out in continuous regime by feeding 1.5 g min1 of pinewood sawdust, which accounts for a steam/biomass ratio of 1. In
the runs using a steam/biomass ratio of 2, the biomass feed rate
has been reduced to 0.75 g min1 in order to maintain the same
steam ow rate (1.5 mL min1). Consequently, the residence time
of the products in the reactor (below 0.5 s) and the hydrodynamic
performance are similar, which allows comparing the results under
different steam/biomass ratios. The performance of the operation
without steam (S/B = 0) has also been studied by replacing the
steam with a nitrogen ow rate of 2 L min1. The S/B ratios mentioned are higher when the moisture content of the biomass (of
around 10%) is considered. Accordingly, the S/B ratios corresponding to 0, 1 and 2 are 0.11, 1.22 and 2.33, respectively. The effect of
temperature on gasication has been studied in the 800900 C
range and the effect of steam/biomass ratio and sawdust particle
diameter have been studied at 900 C and 850 C, respectively.
Table 2 summarizes the variables studied and their levels.
All the runs have been performed in continuous mode for
20 min in order to ensure a steady state process. Steam gasication
kinetics is very fast above 800 C and steady state is attained in a
short period of continuous operation. Moreover, the runs have
been repeated several times (at least three) under the same conditions in order to guarantee reproducibility of the results. Once continuous operation has been carried out for 20 min, biomass feed
has been stopped and the steam ow has been maintained for another 5 min. Finally, the reactor was cooled under nitrogen atmosphere. It is essential to always repeat the same procedure,
because the char is slowly gasied by feeding steam into the reactor. The amount of char formed has been determined by weighing
the mass in the reactor and that retained in the cyclone and sintered steel lter. Its yield has been calculated by monitoring this
weight and the amount of biomass fed into the reactor in each
run (approximately 30 g).

biomass in the feed (10 wt% approximately). The water is formed

throughout biomass degradation and, furthermore, it is fed into
the reactor as a gasifying agent. Therefore, non-reacted water at
the outlet stream must be accurately determined in order to close
oxygen and hydrogen mass balances. Given the difculties involved in this method, the carbon mass balance (closure above
95% under all the experimental conditions) has been used to determine both the gas yield and carbon conversion efciency (ratio
between the carbon mass in the gaseous product and that in the
original biomass). All the experiments have been repeated at least
three times under the same condition, with the relative error being
below 5%.
3. Results
3.1. Effect of gasication temperature
Temperature is one of the more inuential variables in steam
gasication and its effect has been studied in the 800900 C range
for a steam/biomass ratio of 1. Accordingly, the steps that take
place throughout the gasication process should be considered.
Thus, the rst step is the drying of biomass followed by its thermal
degradation or pyrolysis to yield gases, hydrocarbons, oxygenated
compounds and char (Eq. (1)). Pyrolysis has a major impact on the
overall gasication process, and the performance of this step depends on temperature, heating rate and biomass properties (e.g.,
composition and particle diameter). The presence of steam and
CO2 in the reaction environment enhance the gasication of the
char formed in the previous step, according to Eqs. (2)(4). Moreover, the tars formed in the pyrolysis process are cracked and reformed by the steam in the reaction environment (Eq. (5)).
Nevertheless, the reactions that mainly determine the gas composition in steam gasication are the watergas shift reaction
(Eq. (6)) and the reforming of methane and other hydrocarbons
(Eq. (7)). Temperature plays a signicant role on the overall
kinetics of the gasication process. Furthermore, temperature
enhances endothermic equilibrium reactions, i.e., steam and dry
reforming, and gasication reactions.

Biomass pyrolysis : Biomass

! GasesCO;CO2 ; CH4 ; H2 . . .

2.4. Product analysis

The volatile stream leaving the gasication reactor has been
analysed on-line by means of a GC Agilent 6890 provided with a
HP-PONA column and a ame ionization detector (FID). The noncondensable gases have been analysed in a micro GC (Varian
4900) equipped with four modules, namely, Molecular sieve 5,
Porapak (PPQ), CPSil and Plot Alumina. Once the reactor outlet
stream has been ltered to remove the char particles, a sample
has been diluted with an inert gas (nitrogen) and injected into the
GC through a line thermostated at 280 C. The relatively low concentration of tar and the high temperature in the transfer line avoid
any tar condensation, and therefore ensure a quantitative analysis.
The tars collected in the condensation system have been identied in a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS, Shimadzu
UP-2010S provided with a HP-PONA column). Moreover, the gaseous products have also been identied by means of a micro-GC
connected to a MS (Agilent 5975B). This microGC contains four
modules, namely, OV-1, Stabilwax, MS5A and PPQ. However, only
the rst two modules (OV-1 and Stabilwax) are connected to the
mass spectrometer.
The mass balance has been closed by monitoring the carbon
moles both in the original biomass and in the product stream
(gas, tar and char). The mass balance closure of both oxygen and
hydrogen is not straightforward. Thus, there is water in the

oxygenates char

Char primary steam gasification : C H2 O ! CO H2

1

131:3 kJ mol

Char secondary steam gasification : C 2H2 O ! CO2 2H2

1

90:1 kJ mol

3
1

Boudouard reaction : C CO2 ! 2CO 162:4 kJ mol

Tar cracking and reforming : Tar H2 O

! CO CO2 H2 CH4 . . .
Water gas shift : CO H2 O () CO2 H2

5
1

 41:2 kJ mol

Methaneor hydrocarbonsteam reforming : CH4 H2 O

() CO 3H2

206:3 kJ mol

1

Fig. 2 shows the composition of the gases (on a dry basis)

formed at different temperatures. Given the low concentration of
hydrocarbons heavier than C4+, they have been grouped into a

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A. Erkiaga et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 237 (2014) 259267

Fig. 2. Effect of gasication temperature on the gaseous fraction composition (on a

dry basis) in the 800900 C temperature range. Steam/biomass = 1, particle size
12 mm.

lump. As observed, an increase in temperature enhances hydrogen

formation due to the endothermic nature of the reactions involved,
Eqs. (1)(5), (and) (7). Furthermore, Wei et al. [39] have reported
that the inorganic species in the char have a positive catalytic effect on the watergas shift reaction (Eq. (6)) at high temperatures.
Consequently, hydrogen concentration increases from 28% at
800 C to 38% at 900 C. The volumetric yield of hydrogen obtained
at 900 C is 0.36 Nm3 per kilogram of biomass fed into the gasier,
with that for carbon monoxide being 0.31 Nm3 kg1.
The concentration of CO decreases as temperature is increased
and so the H2/CO ratio increases from 0.70 to 1.15 in the temperature range studied. The effect of temperature on CO2 concentration
is of little signicance, given that its content increases from 12% to
16% in the range studied. The concentration of methane and the
other gaseous hydrocarbons (C2 to C4) decreases as temperature
is raised due to the enhancement of hydrocarbon reforming
reactions.
Other authors have observed the same effect of temperature (in
a similar range) on the gaseous product composition in the steam
gasication of pinewood [6,3941]. However, this effect is highly
dependent on the reaction conditions and their inuence on
CO2 formation and transformation reactions (Eqs. (3)(6), which
explains why certain authors have observed a slight reduction in
the formation of carbon dioxide with temperature [9,14]. Likewise,
Gao et al. have observed carbon dioxide reduction, but only at
temperatures above 850 C [42].
Fig. 3 shows that temperature plays a crucial role in the efciency of the gasication process. Thus, an increase in the gasication temperature reduces both the tar content in the gaseous
product stream (Fig. 3a) and the char yield (mass of char obtained
from 100 g of biomass fed into the reactor) (Fig. 3b) and, consequently, the carbon conversion efciency in the process (Fig. 3c)
is considerably higher. The increase in char conversion with temperature is related to the shift of Boudouard reaction equilibrium
[43]. In fact, the yield of gas (g of gas per 100 g of biomass fed into
the reactor) increases from 53.3 g at 800 C to 81.6 g at 900 C. The
corresponding volumetric yields (Nm3 of gas per kg of biomass)
range from 0.73 to 0.96 Nm3 kg1 of biomass in the temperature
range studied.
It should be noted that no deuidization problems are observed
in the steam gasication, which is thanks to the vigorous solid cyclic movement in the conical spouted bed. This circulation avoids
the formation of dead zones and, consequently, bed agglomeration,
which is a problem in uidized beds [44,45]. However, the short
residence time in the conical spouted bed reactor (below 0.5 s) is
responsible for the limited tar cracking, whose concentration in

Fig. 3. Effect of gasication temperature on the tar content in the gaseous product
stream (on a dry basis) (Fig. 3a), char yield (Fig. 3b) and carbon conversion
efciency (Fig. 3c). Steam/biomass = 1, particle size 12 mm.

the gaseous stream is rather high. The maximum tar content is obtained at 800 C (364 g Nm3, on a dry basis) and this value decreases to 142 g Nm3 operating at 900 C due to the positive
effect of temperature on tar cracking and reforming reactions
(Eq. (5)) [46].
The tar yield is highly dependent on gasication conditions,
such as residence time, temperature and S/B ratio. Therefore, very
different results are obtained depending on the technology used.
Thus, Wei et al. [39] have studied the steam gasication (S/
B = 0.6) of pinewood sawdust in a free fall reactor and have observed a signicant decrease in tar content in the gaseous product
stream with temperature from 46 g Nm3 at 750 C to 6 g Nm3 at
850 C. Rapagna et al. [7] have used a uid bed of sand for the
steam gasication (S/B = 1) of almond shells at 770 C, obtaining
a tar content of 43 g Nm3. Gil et al. [5] have studied the gasication (S/B = 0.9) of pinewood at 780 C also in a uid bed made up of
sand, with the tar yields being in the 3080 g Nm3 range. Michel
et al. [9] have obtained high tar yields in the steam gasication of
miscanthus giganteus in a uidised bed reactor using olivine as primary catalyst, at the highest temperature studied of 880 C, i.e.,
46 g of tar (gbiomass+water)1 for a S/B ratio of 1.1. The tar values obtained by Umeki et al. [47] using an updraft gasier are between 50
and 100 g Nm3, although it should be noted that the S/B ratios
used in this study are very high because superheated steam is used
in this reactor to provide energy for the gasication process.
In order to reduce the tar content in the gaseous product stream
obtained in the steam gasication of biomass (usually lower when
air or steam/O2 mixtures are used as gasication agent) [5,46],
different options have been studied in the literature, such as the
use of catalysts and on-line cracking/reforming [48]. Koppatz

A. Erkiaga et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 237 (2014) 259267

et al. [14] have obtained low tar concentrations (19 g Nm3) in the
steam gasication of wood pellets in a dual uidised bed at 850 C
using sand as inert bed material, and they managed to reduce this
concentration by 3560% (depending on tar nature) by using
olivine as catalyst. Carpenter et al. [49] have studied a two-step
process, that is, gasication in a uidised bed followed by thermal
cracking in-line at 875 C, obtaining a tar concentration of
49 g Nm3. Eka et al. [50] have also studied a two-step process
involving pyrolysis (500 C) in a screw kiln and subsequent
cracking or catalytic reforming at 760 C. Their runs with sand in
the second reactor give way to a high tar yield, 33 wt%, but this
value is reduced to 25% when using a reforming Ni/SiO2 catalyst.
As observed in Fig. 3b, char gasication is enhanced by temperature due to the highly endothermic nature of steam (Eqs. (2) and
(3)) and dry char (Eq. (4)) gasication reactions. The char yield at
800 C is 8.9% and decreases to 4.5% at 900 C. It should be noted
that this result depends on char residence time in the reactor. Thus,
char gasication reaction kinetics is slow even above 800 C and,
consequently, char yield depends on its residence time. In this
study, each continuous run lasted for around 20 min, with the char
remaining in the reactor for this period of time.
The char yields obtained in the literature by other authors differ
considerably due to the wide variety of technologies used and the
different kinds of biomasses studied. Thus, several studies have
been carried out in dual uidised beds in which the char is burned
to provide energy for the endothermic gasication process. Other
studies pay attention to the effect of operating conditions on gas
composition, but the char yields are not determined. The reduction
in char yield with temperature has been mentioned by other
authors [9,39]. Thus, the char yields obtained by both Uemiki
et al. [47] in an updraft gasier and Rapagna et al. [7] in a uid
bed are higher than those in this paper, with values being over
10%. Michel et al. [9] have used a uid bed and observed a minimum char yield of 6.7% at the maximum temperature studied of
880 C. Wei et al. [39] achieved efcient char gasication in a free
fall reactor at 850 C, with char yield being as low as 2%.
As observed in Fig. 3c, carbon conversion efciency increases
with temperature, from 50% at 800 C to 70% at 900 C, by tar
cracking and char gasication reactions to yield gases. This result
may be improved by increasing the char residence time in the reactor. The spouted bed reactor is able to operate without deuidization problems with high amounts of char in the bed and,
consequently, with high residence times for the char. In addition,
the char can be burned to provide energy for the process, which
will not cause loss of efciency in the gasication process.
However, tar formation leads to a loss of efciency in the conversion of biomass to gases, given that tar condensation gives
way to the formation of aerosols in the process equipment, engines, turbines and so on. Consequently, the main challenge to increase carbon conversion efciency lies in the cracking of the tar to
obtain higher gas yields. Tar reduction can be achieved by primary
measures (inside the gasier) or secondary ones (downstream of
the gasier). Thus, successful results are reported in a previous
study dealing with the steam gasication of waste plastics, in
which two different cracking catalysts (olivine and c-Al2O3) have
been used to reduce the tar content in the syngas produced [38].

263

Cracking catalysts will be used in situ in future studies in order

to minimise tar formation and improve carbon conversion
efciency in the steam gasication of biomass in a conical spouted
bed.
According to the criteria used by several authors, the tar fraction has been considered here as the organic compounds heavier
than benzene [9,41,46,51,52]. The tar obtained at different temperatures has been analysed by GC/MS and the compounds have been
grouped into four fractions according to the criteria proposed by
Anis and Zainal [51]: light aromatics, namely, single ring aromatics; heterocycles, formed by aromatic rings with heteroatoms; light
polyaromatics (PAHs) containing 2 or 3 rings, and; heavy PAHs,
namely, polyaromatics with more than 3 rings. Fig. 4 shows the effect of temperature on the composition of the tar fraction in the
800900 C range and Table 3 shows a detailed identication of
tar compounds. An increase in temperature causes a reduction in
the tar concentration of the gaseous product stream and, furthermore, modies its composition. As observed in Fig. 4, an increase
in temperature signicantly reduces the concentration of heterocyclic tar and heavy PAHs (in the 800850 C range), whereas it
increases the concentration of light PAHs considerably, but only
slightly that of light aromatics. A similar effect of temperature on
tar composition has been previously reported by other authors
[17,49].

3.2. Effect of steam/biomass ratio

The effect of steam/biomass ratio has been studied in the 02
range at 900 C. In the runs carried out with an S/B ratio of 0, no
steam was fed into the reactor, but the sawdust contained a moisture content of approximately 10%, with water being formed
during the thermal degradation of biomass. Therefore, some steam
reforming will occur even in the runs without water in the feed
(runs with S/B = 0). The effect of the S/B ratio on the gaseous product composition is shown in Fig. 5. An increase in the S/B ratio and,
consequently, in the concentration of steam in the reaction
environment favours the water gas shift reaction (Eq. (6)) and so
methane and other hydrocarbon steam reforming (Eq. (7)). Consequently, an increase in the S/B ratio promotes H2 and CO2 formation, but hinders CO and hydrocarbon formation, with this trend
being especially noteworthy when the S/B ratio is increased from
0 to 1. The same effect of the S/B ratio has been reported in the gasication of different types of biomasses by several authors using
different technologies [7,8,17,39,41], and it is consistent with the
results obtained in the thermodynamic study carried out by Baratieri et al. [43]. However, other authors have observed different

Table 2
Variables studied and their levels.
Temperature (C)

S/B ratio

Particle size (mm)

800
850
900

0 (0.11)a
1 (1.22)
2 (2.33)

0.31
12
24

a
The values in brackets correspond to the S/B ratio calculated considering the
biomass moisture content.

Fig. 4. Evolution of tar composition (wt%) in the 800900 C temperature range.

Steam/biomass = 1, particle size 12 mm.

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A. Erkiaga et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 237 (2014) 259267

Table 3
Detailed composition (wt%) of the tar fraction obtained at different temperatures.
Compound

800 C

850 C

900 C

Toluene
Phenol
2-Ethyl phenol
3-Methyl phenol
Naphtalene
2,3-Dihydrobenzofuran
1-Methyl naphtalene
2-Methyl naphtalene
Biphenylene
1,7-Dimethyl naphtalene
2-Ethenyl naphtalene
1,2-Dimethyl naphtalene
2,3-Dimethyl naphtalene
Acenaphthene
Biphenylene
4-Methyl-1,10 -biphenyle
2-Methyl-1,10 -biphenyle
1-Naphtalenol
Dibenzofurane
3-Methyl-1,10 -biphenile
1-(2-Propenyl)-naphtalene
9-Methanol uoreno
1H-Phenalene
Fluorene
1-Methyl-9H-uorene
4-Methyl dibenzofurane
[1,10 -Biphenyl]-3-ol
p-Hydroxyphenile
9H-Fluoren-9-one
2-Dibenzofuranol
Anthracene
Phenanthrene
9-Methyl anthracene
2-Methyl anthracene
1-Methyl anthracene
4H-Cyclopentaphenanthrene
1-Methyl phenanthrene
2-Phenyl naphtanele
9-Ethenyl anthracene
1-Phenyl naphtalene
Pyrene
4,5-Dihydropyrene
Fluoranthene
1-Methyl pyrene
2,3-Benzouorene
Benzo[c] phenanthrene
Benzanthrene
Benzo [e] acefenantrilene
Perylene
Benzo [j] uoranthene
Unidentied

3.5
2.1
0.1
7.8
4.2
0.6
1.0
0.6
0.8
0.3
0.4
0.3
0.1
0.8
2.3
0.4
1.1
1.2
2.7
0.9
0.2
0.4
0.3
1.6
0.7
0.4
0.6
0.5
0.4
1.5
5.1
1.7
0.9
0.8
0.6
1.9
0.9
1.4
0.2
0.4
2.4
0.6
4.1
0.3
0.2
0.6
0.4
0.1
0.3
0.2
39.0

4.0
2.0
0.1
5.6
7.0
0.2
1.2
0.0
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.2
0.1
0.6
3.0
0.3
0.3
3.3
0.5
1.7
0.2
0.2
0.2
3.5
0.5
0.6
0.3
0.6
0.5
0.5
9.6
3.2
1.0
1.1
0.5
2.7
1.0
1.9
0.1
0.3
4.3
0.1
0.5
0.5
0.2
0.8
0.5
0.0
0.1
0.2
32.7

5.2
2.5
0.0
4.1
13.3
0.0
1.4
0.0
1.6
0.0
0.7
0.2
0.1
0.6
3.3
0.3
0.0
5.3
0.1
3.0
0.1
0.1
0.1
6.1
0.6
0.3
0.1
0.7
0.3
0.0
14.6
3.5
0.8
0.9
0.2
1.5
0.8
1.7
0.0
0.0
4.5
0.0
4.3
0.1
0.1
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
16.8

Fig. 5. Effect of steam/biomass ratio on the gaseous fraction composition (on a dry
basis). 900 C, particle size 12 mm.

Fig. 6. Effect of steam/biomass ratio on the tar content in the gaseous product
stream (on a dry basis) (Fig. 6a), char yield (Fig. 6b) and carbon conversion
efciency (Fig. 6c). 900 C, particle size 12 mm.

trends depending on the range of S/B ratios used. Thus, Umeki et al.
[47] and Luo et al. [40] have observed the same trend as in this
study, up to S/B ratios of 3 and 2.1, respectively, but they have reported a decrease in the concentration of both hydrogen and carbon dioxide for higher S/B values.
The maximum hydrogen content of 41% has been obtained
operating with an S/B ratio of 2, with an H2/CO ratio being of
around 1.4 under these conditions. Subsequent catalytic reforming
of the gaseous product would increase the content of hydrogen
and, therefore, the H2/CO ratio. Thus, Orio et al. [53] have reported
that the tars obtained by steam gasication are more suitable for
subsequent elimination than those obtained using other gasifying
agents.
Fig. 6 shows the effect of the S/B ratio on tar content in the gaseous product stream (Fig. 6a), char yield (Fig. 6b) and carbon conversion efciency (Fig. 6c). As observed in Fig. 6a, the tar content
has been reduced from 154 g Nm3 with a S/B ratio of 0 to 142
g Nm3 with an S/B = 1, given that an increase in the S/B ratio promotes tar cracking and reforming reactions (Eq. (5)). However, a
further increase in the S/B ratio from 1 to 2 only slightly reduces
the tar content of the gaseous product. Similarly, the increase in
the gas yield is also rather low when the S/B ratio is increased from
1 to 2. Thus, the gas yield reaches 83.8 g/100 g biomass when
operating with an S/B ratio of 2, whereas the yields are 81.6 and
66.5 g/100 g of biomass with an S/B ratio of 1 and 0, respectively.
An additional positive effect of operating with high S/B ratios is
the enhancement of char gasication (Eqs. (2) and (3)). Thus, a
signicant reduction in char yield is observed, from 10.7% using
an S/B = 0 to 3.6% with the maximum ratio used being S/B = 2.
The enhancement of char gasication and the slight reduction
in the tar content give way to an increase in carbon conversion

A. Erkiaga et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 237 (2014) 259267

efciency to a value of 70% with an S/B = 2. Although gasication

efciency is improved in terms of biomass conversion, the energy
efciency of the process is lower when high S/B ratios are used, given that higher amounts of water must be vapourized, unreacted
steam must be cooled and condensed and its heat recovered at
the outlet of the gasier. In fact, Kaushal and Tyagi [54] suggest
optimum S/B ratios between 0.6 and 0.85 to ensure the thermal
efciency of the process and, at the same time, the presence of enough steam in the gasier to promote steam reforming reactions.
Fig. 7 shows the concentration of the tar fractions corresponding to the different S/B ratios studied. The main effect of increasing
the amount of steam is a reduction in the light PAH fraction, but
this effect is rather limited, and the reduction in the total tar yield
is therefore the main positive effect of increasing the S/B ratio in
the feed. Consequently, cracking/reforming strategies with a catalyst in situ or the downstream treatment of the gaseous product
should be implemented.

265

Fig. 8. Effect of sawdust particle size on the gaseous fraction composition (on a dry
basis). 850 C, Steam/biomass = 1.

3.3. Effect of sawdust particle size

In order to study the effect of particle size on biomass steam
gasication, sawdust particles with three size ranges have been
used: 0.31 mm (ne), 12 mm (medium), and 24 mm (coarse).
These runs have been performed at 850 C using an S/B ratio of 1.
As observed in Fig. 8, the effect of sawdust particle size on gas composition is of little signicance in the range studied.
The effect of particle size is related to the limitations of the initial steps in the gasication process, i.e., the heating of the particle,
pyrolysis and diffusion of gaseous products inside the biomass particle. The explanation for the minor effect of particle size when
operating with a conical spouted bed reactor lies in the high heat
transfer rate that minimises the limitations of the physical steps.
Makibar et al. have determined the values of heat transfer coefcients both wall-to-bed (around 170 W/m2 K) and bed-to-particle
(around 220 W/m2 K) in a biomass pyrolysis pilot plant [32]. However, particle size plays a signicant role when other technologies
are used, probably due to the differences in heat transfer and gas
solid contact. Thus, Luo et al. [55] have observed that an increase in
particle diameter in a xed bed gives way to an increase in the concentration of CO2 and a decrease in H2 and CO concentrations,
which is the same trend observed in this study, but to a much lesser extent.
Fig. 9 shows the effect of particle size on the tar content in the
gaseous product (Fig. 9a), char yield (Fig. 9b) and carbon conversion efciency (Fig. 9c). As observed, tar content increases only

Fig. 9. Effect of sawdust particle size on the tar content in the gaseous product
stream (on a dry basis) (Fig. 9a), char yield (Fig. 9b) and carbon conversion
efciency (Fig. 9c). 850 C, Steam/biomass = 1.

Fig. 7. Effect of steam/biomass ratio on the tar fraction composition. 900 C, particle
size 12 mm.

slightly as biomass particle size is increased, from around

243 g Nm3 for ne and medium sawdust to 263 g Nm3 for coarse
sawdust (Fig. 9a). This result may be attributed to heat transfer
restrictions during devolatilization and to the mass transfer limitation of biomass components that presumably affect high molecular
weight compounds derived from lignin. The effect of particle diameter on the gas yield is almost negligible, given that the yield values
range from 65.2 to 66.2 g/100 g of biomass for the different particle
diameters studied.
A slight increase in char yield has been observed with larger
particle sizes (Fig. 9b) due to diffusion restrictions of the volatile
products formed in the pyrolysis stage enhancing char formation.

266

A. Erkiaga et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 237 (2014) 259267

studies in order to minimize this problem. Another alternative is to

carry out modications in the spouted bed reactor hydrodynamics
in order to the increase the residence time in the reactor and, consequently, favour tar cracking.

Acknowledgements
This work was carried out with nancial support from the
Ministry of Science and Education of the Spanish Government
(Project CTQ2010-16133), from the Basque Government (Project
IT748-13 ) and from the University of the Basque Country (UFI
11/39). Maider Amutio thanks the University of the Basque
Country for her postgraduate Grant (UPV/EHU2011).

Fig. 10. Effect of sawdust particle size on the tar fraction composition. 850 C,
Steam/biomass = 1.

The consequence of increasing both tar and char yields by operating with larger sawdust particles is a decrease in carbon conversion
efciency (Fig. 9c).
The effect of particle size is almost negligible in the range studied, and coarse particles (24 mm) may therefore be used without
signicant operational problems, with the performance being
similar to that observed with ne biomass particles. This result is
especially interesting for the economy of the process, given that
the cost of reducing biomass particle size is of around 10% of the
output energy obtained in the gasication process [54,56,57].
However, as particle size is increased the steam gasication rate
decreases [58] and the residence times required for gasication
are also higher, so the reactor volume must be higher for obtaining
the same output [54,59].
Fig. 10 shows the tar composition obtained with different
sawdust particle sizes. As observed, the composition of the tar is
almost independent of biomass particle size. Therefore, particle
size has no inuence on subsequent tar cracking processes.

4. Conclusions
The conical spouted bed reactor is an interesting technology for
the continuous steam gasication of biomass given its capacity for
operating in isothermal regime, versatility in the steam/biomass
ratio and absence of deuidization problems. An increase in gasication temperature improves process efciency in terms of conversion to gases, with the maximum carbon conversion efciency
being 70% at 900 C. Furthermore, an increase in temperature also
has a positive effect on the hydrogen content in the gases, with a
value of 38% at 900 C.
An increase in the steam/biomass ratio has a positive effect on
the gas fraction composition by increasing the hydrogen content
and the hydrogen/carbon monoxide ratio, which is interesting for
the applications of the syngas produced. In addition, higher steam
concentrations in the reaction environment enhance both tar
cracking and char gasication, and so increase carbon conversion
efciency.
Biomass particle size has a limited effect on both gas composition and tar and char yields, even when particles are coarse
(24 mm), which is explained by the high heat and mass transfer
rates in the conical spouted bed reactor. This is an encouraging
result because biomass grinding requires a signicant amount of
energy.
A rather high tar yield is obtained in the steam gasication of
biomass, given that under the optimum conditions (900 C,
steam/biomass = 2) the tar content in the gas is 168 g Nm3. The
use of catalysts for cracking/reforming will be addressed in future

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