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2015 International Conference on Energy Systems and Applications (ICESA 2015)

Dr. D. Y. Patil Institute of Engineering and Technology, Pune, India 30 Oct - 01 Nov, 2015

A review on wood downdraft gasifier plant design


for Biomethane gas production

Sunil Kumar S.K.Shukla


Centre for energy and resources development Centre for energy and resources development
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT (BHU) Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT (BHU)
Varanasi, India Varanasi, India
sunilkumardin@gmail.com shuskla@gmail.com

Abstract— Gasification is a thermo-chemical process for have Solar, Hydro, Wind energy in abundance, it is not easy to
converting a solid fuel into a mixture of combustible gases known convert those into useful form immediately. Therefore, here
as “product gas”. Product gas contains carbon monoxide, comes the use of biomass energy in our daily life. In recent
Hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, nitrogen, tar years, extensive research and development is invested in
(Heavy Hydrocarbons), sulphur compounds, and particulate promoting the use of Gasification technology in large and
matter etc. Although the potential of the process is high in terms small scale power generator plants.
of uses and expenditure but the problem is to eradicate the
hazardous contents present in the form of residues. Emission has
also become the main drawback in the uses of product gas. The II. BIOMASS
quality of the product gas depends on design and operating Biomass is a collection of organic and inorganic materials
parameters of the gasifier. The idea of gasifier design should be mostly consisting of bi-products and wastes from Agriculture
in such a way that it can convert the solid biomass like wood and Animals. Biomass is considered renewable because unlike
particulate, organic and inorganic wastes into the form clean Fossil fuels, there is continuous reproduction of plants through
product gas. Tar can be removed either through physical crop harvesting and consumption of food by the animals. At
techniques or by catalytic cracking or by thermal cracking or
present 450 – 500 million tons per year of biomass is produced
combination of these. A suitable composition of the syngas has to
be collected which will be useful for extracting bio-methane gas.
in India and provides 32% of all the primary energy in the
This paper reviews extensively on techniques to obtain a clean country [2]. For production of Bio-Methane following biomass
product-gas and ways to extract Bio-methane to use it directly or fuels were tested successfully, they are wood, sewage sludge
as a supplement with diesel to run a diesel generator for and lignite. Farm products like Corn, Sugar, Wheat, Rape
electricity generation. seeds, Soybean, Palm sunflower seeds etc. are consumed daily.
Hence, has attracted as the source of energy generation.
Keywords—Gasification; Syngas; Biomass; Tar; Filtration; Biomass is considered as “Carbon Neutral fuel” because the
Design parameters; Diesel blending; Biomethane amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the plants for their
growth are again released back to the atmosphere, not
I. INTRODUCTION disturbing the carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere [1]. If
grains and crops are used as biomass for energy generation like
In a country like India, where agriculture industry palm oil for biodiesel, corn for ethanol to replace fossil fuels,
influences larger part of the economy, amount of biomass like then controversial discussion may arise on fuel over food. In
wood, bio-waste are also available in large quantities. At such case wood and other bio-waste from agriculture sector are
present, power generation system like Diesel generators are suitable for thermal gasification.
used extensively in rural and hilly areas as an alternative to the
shortage in power supply. The emissions from these generators
are affecting the surrounding environment. The need of the III. DOWNDRAFT GASIFICATION
hour is usage of clean and eco-friendly fuel which has zero One of the technologies involved in energy production
GHG (Green house gas) emissions and help in generating using biomass is Gasification. Gasification is the process of
electricity independently without relying on the external power converting complex class of solid or liquid feedstock into a
supply sources. useful and convenient gaseous or liquefied fuel that can be
In a period of fast growing era of human evolution, man’s burned to release energy [1]. In recent decades, many gasifier
dependency on various forms of energy forms like Electricity, reactor designs were introduced depending on several aspects.
Thermal, Mechanical, Hydro is increasing exponentially. Mainly there are three types of gasifiers namely – Fixed-bed
Simultaneously, conventional energy resources are depleting at type, Fluidized-bed type and Entrained-flow type. This paper
faster rate. This realization has lead to focus on developing deals with gasification using Downdraft Gasifier. The
technology to draw energy from renewable energy sources, an feedstock is fed from the top and Air or Steam is supplied
effort to save the nature or rather safeguard our present and inside from the sides of the reactor at combustion zone. In
coming generation’s lives from getting destroyed. Though we

978-1-4673-6817-9/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE 57


general the process involves complex combination of TABLE I. Names of The Parts of the Gasifier Unit
pyrolysis and oxidation reactions. When the biomass is
gasified under limited oxygen supply and high pressure, the 1- Hopper 19- Cyclone Separator
resulting gas released out consists of CO, H2O, CH4, CO2 ,H2 , 2- Hopper balance 20- Cyclone drain pipe
3-Reactor first 21- Catch pot
NOx, tar.
4-Firing nozzle 22- Fire valve
5-Stair for feeding biomass 23- Chimney
6- Reactor second 24- Gas testing point
7-Grid 25- Three way gas filter
8-Water seal 26- Dry filter using wood dust
9-Water Suction pump 27- Dry filter using rice husk
10- Thermocouple 28- Cotton filter
11- Down draft 29- Manometer
12-Up draft or Pack Column 30- Moisture drain valve
13-Shower wash control valve 31- Producer gas outlet
14- Steam jet control valve 32- Tar collecting pot
15-Venture 33- Water talk
16- Drain box
17- Blower band
Fig. 1. Typical outline sketch of gasification process 18- Blower
A typical gasification process involves four stages –
Drying, Pyrolysis, Partial Combustion and Reduction. In brief, Power Output = 14kW
Drying and Pyrolysis zones comprise of heating of the biomass
at temperature ranging from 100qC – 200qC and 300qC – V. DESIGN AND OPERATING PARAMETERS
650qC respectively under the absence of air or pure oxygen [1]. Extraction of biomethane depends on the quality of the gas
Pyrolysis involves thermal breakdown of larger hydrocarbon produced by the gasifier. If the yield of methane in the product
molecules into smaller gas molecules. Most of the moisture is gas is high then it will be easier for extracting the methane
removed and the main product obtained in this process is Tar,
product. The quality, yield and composition of the product-gas
formed through condensation of the water vapor produced in
depend largely on the gasification process design. Based on
the process. The heat required for drying and pyrolysis to take
place is acquired from the combustion zone, where due to fast the literature survey, following parameters are reviewed which
oxidation reactions between the carbon compounds and oxygen help in constructing a process plan to obtain a purified SNG.
in air release large amount of heat. Temperature in the The parameters are classified as follows.
combustion zone ranges between 1000qC and 1200qC. CO2 A. Biomass
and H2O are the major compounds released after combustion.
1) Biomass Type: Wood is chosen because of its
These gases are later on passed through reduction zone availability and various advantages explained in paper [3].
where reduction or gasification reactions take place to form CO 2) Ash content: Amount of ash present in the biomass is
and H2 . The resulting gas coming out of the reactor will be the determined while performing proximate analysis of the
product gas. The operating temperature of the gas in the reactor biomass. If ash content is less then it will help in improving
will be around 800qC [1]. the gasifier performance and also on quality. On observing the
values given in the TABLE II show that only wood materials
IV. URJA - 14 KW DOWNDRAFT GASIFIER are having lower ash content compare to other biomass fuel.
This proves that wood type biomass is more favorable [1].
TABLE II. ULTIMATE ANALYSIS OF FEW BIOMASS (DRY BASIS)

Fuel C H N S (%) O Ash HHV


(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (kJ/kg)
Redwood 53.5 5.9 0.1 0 40.3 0.2 21,028
Redwood 53.4 6.0 0.1 39.9 0.1 0.6 21,314
(waste)
Sewage 29.2 3.8 4.1 0.7 19.9 42.1 16000
Sludge
Rice 39.2 5.1 0.6 0.1 35.8 19.2 15,213
Straw
Rice 38.5 5.7 0.5 0 39.8 15.5 15,376
husk
Sawdust 47.2 6.5 0 0 45.4 1.0 20,502
MSW 47.6 6.0 1.2 0.3 32.9 12.0 19,879
Fig. 2. URJA - 14kW Downdraft gasifier system installed at IIT (BHU)
3) Moisture content: Presence of moisture affects the
gasifier performance, calorific value of the product-gas, heat

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input and CO, H2, CO2 concentration. TABLE III shows that TABLE IV. LHV OF THE PRODUCT GAS [1]
when moisture content in the biomass increases the Gasification medium Range of Heating Value of the
concentration of CO decreases whereas CO2 and H2 increase, Product gas (MJ/Nm3)
there is no effect on CH4 production. Maximum of 40% of Air gasification 4-7
moisture content is permissible in wood when used in Steam gasification 10-18
downdraft gasifier [1,3,4]. Oxygen gasification 12-28

TABLE III. MOISTURE CONTENT INFLUENCE ON PRODUCT-GAS


COMPOUNDS USING DOWNDRAFT GASIFIER. [3]
C. Gasifier Design Parameters
Moisture CO CO2 H2 CH4 Max. 1) Gasifier type: Downdraft Gasifier is preferred
content Limit (% because of its simplicity, low cost and better efficiency (70 –
w.b)
Increases Decreases Increases Increases No <40 85%), suitable for wood gasification.
change 2) Reactor height: This parameter refers to the total
length from top to bottom. It depends on SGR, operating time
and density of the fuel. The expression for calculating the
B. Product gas reactor height is given as [5].
1) Desired Composition: Main constituents of the clean SGR uT
producer gas are CO, H2O, CH4, CO2, H2. The composition of (2)
Ur
the syngas depends on the chemical composition of the
feedstock fed into the gasifier. The typical composition of 3) Reactor diameter: The diameter of the reactor is
syngas is CO (35% – 40%), H2 (20 – 40%), CO2 (25 - 35%), calculated using the following expression given [6].
CH4 (0 – 15%), N2 (2 – 5%). Objective is to possess large 1.27 u FCR
(3)
amounts of bio-methane (Natural gas). When the product gas SGR
is filtered and purified properly, clean syngas (SNG) can be 4) Throat design: In a throated gasifier, due to the
obtained. The advantage of SNG is that it has high conversion reduction of the area just before the Oxidation zone, the
efficiency and through methanation process SNG can be devolatilized or pyrolized biomass will be able to move in a
converted to bio-methane. Negligible amount of N2 and uniform manner, allowing uniform distribution of temperature
proportionally high amounts of CH4, H2 and CO is desirable. and provides sufficient time for cracking the tar into smaller
2) Product-Gas flow rate: The volume flow rate of the molecules of hydrocarbon. Throat dimensioning is related to
product gas (Nm2/s) is determined by the following expression the “Hearth Load” concept.
[1]. 5) Hearth load (Bg): It is expressed as the amount of
Power output (MW) fuel consumed divided by the surface area of the throat (BS),
(1)
Lower heating value MJ/Nm
3 expressed as Kg-m3/cm2-h. It is given that for one kilogram of
dry fuel under normal conditions produces about 2.5 m3 of
This parameter is useful in finding out other parameters like producer gas. Relation between Bg and BS is given by: Bg =
mass flow of fuel gas species. Values of the mass flow rate of 2.5 BS . Hearth load depends on the heat insulation of the hot
the species are required to calculate mass balance and energy zone and temperature of the zone. A maximum value of 0.9
balance of the gasifier [7]. indicates that the gasifier is in good operation. High value of
3) High Heating Value: HHV is the amount of heat Bg gives rise to extreme pressure drop over the reduction zone
released during combustion of specified amount of the fuel. of the equipment. With provision of good insulation gasifiers
Data provided from the paper [8], provides details of lower and can be operated with tar-free at Bg values between 0.15 and
higher heating values of various fuels. Among the gaseous, 0.18. [6]
liquid and solid fuels, Natural gas has 52.225 MJ/kg, Diesel Gross volume
Max B g (4)
has 45.766 MJ/kg, Gasoline has 46.536 MJ/kg, and Hydrogen Surface area of the throat
has 142.18 MJ/kg. This clearly shows that after Hydrogen,
Natural gas has the potential compare to the other conventional From this expression throat diameter can be obtained.
fossil fuels. [8] Further standard calculations for reactor dimensions are
provided in paper [6].
4) Gasifying agents: They are Air, Steam and Oxygen. 6) Insulation: Temperature plays major role in the
Selection of the agent depends on the desired composition of gasification process. Fluctuation in temperature ranges will
the product-gas and the heating value of it. TABLE IV shows
affect the quality and composition of the product gas. Active
the typical HHV values of the product gas produced using
different gasifying agents. In ideal cases, air has 79% of N2, oxidation reactions takes place between 200qC to 800qC and
21% of O2. Though O2 in the air takes active part in from 800qC to 1200qC tar is cracked into smaller gaseous
combustion, at high temperatures N2 gets oxidized and forms molecules. Average of 1000qC temperature is maintained
NOx . Presence of N2 lowers the calorific value of the final continuously. Loss of heat results in improper reactions,
product gas than the product-gas obtained through steam or consumption of more biomass fuel and gasifying medium
pure Oxygen quantity. leading to decrease in gasifier efficiency [9].

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D. Turn-down ratio: The transformation of these tar products is a function of
1) Gasifier Operating Parameters: temperature and gas phase residence time. A schematic
a) Air flow rate: It is the rate of air flowing into the relation of Tar formation at different temperatures is shown in
combustion zone to partially oxidize the devolatilized biomass. the below equation. After the biomass reaches its igniting
This parameter is useful for determining the size of the fan or temperature an average of 250 qC, due to partial oxidation
blower needed to be fixed along side of the reactor. it depends reactions, under low pressure and 400qC temperature a part of
on the equivalence ratio, fuel consumption rate, stoichiometric biomass fuel is transformed to primary vapors (oxygenates), at
rate of the fuel and density of air. Air flow rate is obtained by 500qC these oxygenates change to light hydrocarbons,
calculating the expression given below: aromatics like phenolic ethers, then later to alkyl phenolics at
H u FCR u SR 600qC, then to heterocyclic ethers at 700 qC, in the next stage
(5) at 900qC and above large complex polyaromatic hydrocarbons
Ua
are formed. These large molecules get cracked down to CO,
b) Operating Temperature: Operating temperature is the H2 , CO2 , H2O and upon condensation form soot and coke.
function of amount of oxygen fed to the gasifier. Oxidation
reactions are exothermic reactions. The heat energy released Mixed Phenolic Alkyl Heterocycl ic L arg e

become the source for the whole gasifier to work properly and oxygenates
o
Ethers
o
phenolics
o
Ethers
o
PAH
o
PAH
(6)
for the reactions taking place in pyrolysis and reduction zones. 400
0
C 500
0
C 600
0
C 700
0
C 800
0
C 900
0
C
Once the gasifier temperature reaches the self igniting From the results shown in the paper [11] it is inferred that
temperature of the biomass then the gasification process Tar cracking was possible when the vaporized form of gas
becomes self sustaining and solely depends on the oxygen with tar was allowed to send through the char bed, it results in
source [9]. less formation of tar and increase in yield of was observed.
c) Equivalence ratio: It is the ratio of actual air-fuel ratio VII. WAYS TO CLEAN THE PRODUCT GAS
to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. This parameter comes under
notice if air or oxygen is used as the gasifying agent. This ratio Tar Reduction Techniques or method to eliminate Tar can
determines the concentration of Tar content during be divided into two types: Primary method, an approach to
gasification. Tar formation in the product gas is reduced by reduce tar production inside the gasifier and Secondary
increasing the ER. High ER means greater oxygen content method, an approach to treat the product gas outside the
allowed to react with the volatiles present in the combustion gasifier either by apply physical separation or thermal
zone. ER ranging between 0.25 to 0.3 is said to be an cracking or plasma assisted cracking or catalytic reforming.
appropriate value for air gasification. From the observations Paper [12] suggests few strategies to reduce tar production.
made in paper [9], variation in equivalence ratio affects the
energy in the product gas, gasification temperature, gas A. Primary technique:
composition, conversion of energy from char to gas. For 1) Apply staged gasification systems: To improve the
complete oxidation of biomass with oxygen a weight ratio
gasification efficiency and reduce the tar content, multistage
(mass of oxygen / mass of the biomass) of 1.476 is required,
whereas with air, a weight ratio of 6.36 is needed. Equivalence downdraft gasifier is a good option to start with. It is a
ratio of 0.25 has been given more preference to convert all the strategic approach, where the 4 reaction zones drying followed
char into gas. with pyrolysis, combustion and reduction are separated from
each other. Viking Gasifier, TK Energi AS, Clean ST Gas,
VI. TAR FORMATION Xylowatt are few staged gasifiers to name. The concentration
of the tar content in these gasifiers was comparatively very
Tar is an undesirable aromatic byproduct of thermal or low. The performance details of the Viking Gasifier are given
partial oxidation reactions of biomass material. It is a complex
in [13,14]. The gasifier efficiency is 93%, Tar level and the
mixture of condensable hydrocarbons, oxidized 1-5 ring
dust levels are less than (5mg/Nm3).
aromatic and complex polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Tar is
2) Use catalytic active bed materials as additives in the
classified into four major types [10].
biomass: Additives or catalysts like dolomite, limestone,
1) Primary products: Levoglucosan
olivine sand, bauxite, lanthanum, alumina, nickel aluminate,
hydroxylacetaldehyde, furfurals, analogous hemicellulose-
cobalt, natural clay minerals and iron minerals [16]. Many
derived products and lignin-derived methoxyphenols.
catalyst were investigated by different visitors, but active
2) Secondary products: Phenolics and olifins.
carbon, calcined dolomite, Y-zeolite at 550qC are best suited
3) Alkyl tertiary products: Include methyl derivatives of
for tar removal [16]. A thorough mixing of the additives with
aromatics, acenaphthylene, methylnaphthalene, toluene and
the biomass is needed before starting with pyrolysis process.
indene.
Paper [15] deals with In-situ catalysis using Silica – Based
4) Condensed tertiary products: PAH series like benzene,
nickel nanoparticles embedded in rice husk char. Various
naphthalene, acenaphthylene, anthracene/phenanthrene, and
proportions of nickel catalysts embedded rice husk are
pyrene.
prepared and tested during gasification. Small amounts of
PAHs were formed, main tar compounds were in simple

60
molecular structure which makes things easier for the Ni tested to sequester CO2 . Carbon dioxide scrubber is one such
catalysts to eliminate or reduce the tar formation. The above device which uses catalysts like amines, minerals – zeolites,
given approaches are bit expensive as the additives have to be sodium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide and activated carbon to
replaced after few hours of operation with new bed. Instead, absorb CO2. Among these catalysts activated carbon is a cheap
Bio-char as In-situ catalyst can be beneficial, cheaper and source available in abundance. It can be used to absorb CO2
efficient enough in removing heavy PAHs like toluene, and after getting saturated it can be regenerated by blowing
benzene. The activated carbon proves to have higher removal ambient air to collect the accumulated CO2 and reuse it as a
efficiency of 69 to 92% because it has higher surface area. At scrubber [20].
higher temperature at around 800qC potentiality to remove
toluene was increased by 10% [17]. VIII. METHANATION - BIOMETHANE EXTRACTION
This is the final stage process in purifying the product gas.
B. Downstream utilization technique
The product gas has to be tar free and has less concentration of
1) Cyclone Separator: A standard hot gas cyclone CO2. The remaining CO and CO2 left in the gas will undergo
separator can be installed at the outlet of the gasifier to catalytic reaction with hydrogen to form methane.
remove the dust particles and other solid impurities greater CO 3H o CH  H 2O , 'H - 573
0
K - 51.8 k cal/mole (7)
2 2 4
than 10Pm size [9]. This apparatus is simple in design and
0
inexpensive, can be scaled to the desired dimension according CO 2  4 H 2 o CH 4  2 H 2 O, ' H -573 K(8) 41 . 9 kcal/mole
to the gasifier size. According to paper [21] nickel based catalyst is used. The
2) Bag house filter: These filters are widely used in process is operated at temperature about 300qC, converting all
capturing fine dust particles. The gas is passed through the oxides of carbon to methane and water. Since, the reactions
fibrous bag which is enclosed inside the metal caged chamber. are exothermic in nature, the temperature rise for the
The deposits are accumulated in the bag. Once the bag is filled methanation reaction is around 35qC. Paper [22] presents a
with dust cake then the cake is either removed manually or by Direct Methanation process to convert synthesis gas to natural
gas pressure. gas directly without involving any more complex cleaning
3) Char Catalytic reforming: The bio-char catalyst which technology. This process uses new family of catalysts named
is used in the reduction bed can be used outside the gasifier as GRI 400 and GRI 500, work as a substitute for the water-gas
a downstream catalytic converter. Char supported catalysts shift reaction. The method has many advantages like it reduces
have been proven to show high potentiality for reforming of the overall unit cost of production of the product gas. But this
biomass tar. Nickel additive has been efficient enough in process is under development stage and not many
reducing tar, nickel based char can be arguably good enough developments have been found in later stages.
in tar reforming but a comparison study from paper [18] IX. SCOPE OF DEVELOPMENT
shows that char supported Iron catalyst is better for tar
reforming application than Ni supported char catalyst.
4) Gas washing / scrubbing system: Wet scrubbing system
has been in use for quite some time. This scrubbing system is
built on the basis of Brownian motion principle of the particles
with diameter between 0.1 and 1 Pm. This system is able to
eliminate 49% of heavy tar, 62% of light tars and 79% of
heterocyclic content with dew point at around 180qC [19]. The
problem with this system is that the tar and water get mixed to
form sticky polymeric liquid which cannot be decomposed
anywhere.
5) Catalytic NOx Absorber: If has been used as the
gasifying agent, due to high temperature oxidation reactions
oxides of nitrogen are formed. Catalyst converters like SCR,
EGR and Adsorption techniques were used to remove NOx
molecules from exhaust gases. Few papers have reviewed on Fig. 3. Proposed pilot plan of Multistage Downdraft Gasifier
methods to filter NOx. Paper [19] presents a research results
on absorption of Nitrogen oxides in alkaline solution of 1 - Feedstock 2 - Hopper
sodium hypochlorite in a packed column. The results have 3 – Drying zone 4 – Pyrolysis zone
5 – Air Filter 6 – Oxygenated Air
shown absorption works efficiently depending on parameters
7 – Combustion zone 8 – Residue collector
like gas velocity, spraying density, concentration of nitrogen
9 – Reduction Chamber 10 – Cyclone
oxides in gas and concentration of spraying solution.
11 – Bio-Char filter 12 – Bag house filter
6) CO2 Sequestration: Technology to capture and store
13 - Sequestration 14 – Heater - 300qC
CO2 is still under research phase. Several methods have been 15 - Methanation 16 – Bio-methane

61
X. GAP IN LITERATURE REVIEW AND FUTURE RESEARCH ρr Means density of the fuel (kg/m3)
DIRECTION
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