Energy Conversion and Management 233 (2021) 113901

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Energy Conversion and Management

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

Natural gas-supported gasification of polyethylene and wood mixtures in a

porous medium reactor
M. Pilar Orihuela a, Lorena Espinoza b, Nicolás Ripoll b, Ricardo Chacartegui a, Mario Toledo b, *
a
Dpto. de Ingeniería Energética, Universidad de Sevilla, Camino de los Descubrimientos SN, Sevilla 41092, Spain
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Av. España 1680, 2340000 Valparaiso, Chile

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Valorisation of plastic waste or forest-agroindustrial residues poses an opportunity to reduce landfilling and to
Co-gasification obtain value-added products simultaneously. Through thermal partial oxidation, hydrocarbon fuels can be
HDPE gasified and converted into syngas. Particularly, hybrid porous media reactors allow gasifying low-grade fuels in
Filtration combustion
an efficient eco-friendly way. In this work, the natural gas-supported gasification of polyethylene and wood
Syngas production
Waste to energy
mixtures in a porous bed reactor is studied. The reactor is designed and built to operate in semi-continuous mode.
The temperature evolution, the reaction wave propagation rate, and the resulting concentration of the main gas
species (H2, CO, CH4, CO2, NOx, and UHC) were measured for different polyethylene and wood mixtures, keeping
an optimum natural gas-to-air ratio of 0.8. The influence of the gasification conditions on the reaction pathways
and the process development is analysed by sampling the system in two representative moments. The maximum
syngas production was 23.86 vol%, which was obtained when loading only 100% polyethylene, while the
maximum energy return on investment of 49% was registered for the highest biomass fraction in mixture. The
semi-continuous operation design was validated based on the thermal behaviour and the combustion wave
displacement. This experimental work shows promising results in the search for solutions to gasify solid wastes in
continuous mode.

1. Introduction
The continuous and massive generation of solid wastes worldwide is
an increasing threat to the environment, ecosystems, and public health.
In 2017, a yearly average of 524 kg of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
were generated per capita in countries from the Organization for Eco­
nomic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 42% of which end up
directly in landfills [1]. Apart from visual pollution, landfilling can
pollute underground aquifers, surface water, and soil [2]. In addition,
they release large amounts of greenhouse gases [3]. In this respect,
Waste-to-Energy (WtE) processes have been proven to be an effective
way of contributing to the growing global energy demand and reducing
the impact of landfilling at the same time [4,5].
The composition of MSW differs from one country to another;
however, plastic waste is usually one of its main components, account­
ing for around 12% [6,7]. More than 380 Mt of plastic are generated in
the world every year demanded by different sectors (packaging, con­
struction, textile, etc.) [8]. Around 40% of which is recycled or incin­
erated, while the rest is discarded [8]. A large amount of plastic is not
even collected but end up in oceans and seas causing an environmental
catastrophe [9,10]. However, plastic is a unique material with excellent
properties for many applications and it will be difficult to give up using
it in the short or medium term [11]. Additionally, given its abundance
and energy content, it is also an opportunity for the energy sector [12].
Plastic components of MSW may have heating values between 20 and
47 MJ/kg depending on the type [13]. WtE incinerators have contrib­
uted to exploit plastic wastes since the middle of 20th century [12].
Given the heterogeneity of MSW, a previous classification and selection

Abbreviations: C.I, Confidence Interval; C.V, Coefficient of Variation; EROI, Energy Return on Investment; HDPE, High Density Polyethylene; HFC, Hybrid
Filtration Combustion; HHV, High Heating Value; LHV, Low Heating Value; LPM, Liters per Minute; MFC, Mass Flow Controller; MSW, Municipal Solid Waste; NG,
Natural Gas; PE, Polyethylene; PET, Polyethylene Terephthalate; PM, Porous Media; POX, Partial Oxidation; PWM, Polyethylene and Wood Mixtures; t, Time; TC,
Thermocouple; TCD, Thermal Conductivity Detector; Tmax, Maximum combustion temperature; UHC, Unburned hydrocarbons; vw , Combustion wave propagation
rate; w, Mass fraction; WtE, Waste to Energy; x, Distance in axial length; ZTA, Zirconia Toughened Alumina; φ, Equivalence ratio.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mario.toledo@usm.cl (M. Toledo).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2021.113901
Received 17 November 2020; Received in revised form 17 November 2020; Accepted 25 January 2021
0196-8904/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M.P. Orihuela et al.
process is necessary in these plants [14]. Besides, the combustion of
MSW, and plastic waste in particular, generates large amounts of
greenhouse gas emissions [15] and other gaseous pollutants [16], what
makes a gas cleaning system necessary. The need of pre- and post-
treatment systems, along with a lower energy efficiency compared to
other traditional power plants, limits the financial feasibility of WtE
plants [5]. Gasification of plastic waste is an advanced alternative to
incineration, but still limited by some technical and economic problems
[17,18]. However, MSW are known to hold a considerable fraction of
biomass whose ashes contain several useful alkali metal catalysts like
dolomite, olivine, CaO, CaCO3 and MgO [19]. The catalytic effect of
these alkaline earth metal catalysts has been observed to be effective on
tar removal during hot gas clean-up processes, and they have been found
to be particularly effective when pairing biomass to polymeric feed­
stocks such as polyethylene or waste tires [20,21].
A gasification process with an extended range of feedstock that al­
lows gasifying biomass as well as plastics would therefore offer an
innovative approach to the chemical recycling of plastics [22]. Blends of
plastic waste with pine wood sawdust and coal have been successfully
treated in fluidized bed gasifiers without relevant changes in the process
[23]. By using a two-stage reaction system provided with a conical
spouted bed reactor (CSBR) and a fluidized bed reactor, the continuous
pyrolysis-reforming of pine sawdust and HDPE may yield up to 37.3 g of
H2 per 100 g of feed [24]. The co-gasification of pine wood and poly­
ethylene through chemical looping in a fixed bed reactor has demon­
strated to improve the cold gas efficiency and the H2/CO ratio compared
to the pine wood mono-gasification [25]. Moreover, co-pyrolysis of
wood and plastic have been found to produce oils with higher heating
values and better properties than pyrolysis of pure woody biomass [26].
As reported in the review by Uzoejinwa et al. co-pyrolysis of biomass
and waste plastics is generally more beneficial than the normal biomass
pyrolysis alone [27]. Jae Hyun Park et al. [20] evaluated the co-
gasification of blended raw material composed of high-density poly­
ethylene (HDPE) and biomass using two-stage gasification system.
Conclusions detected that large amounts of hydrocarbons were gener­
ated from the oxidative pyrolysis reactor at a high content of HDPE in
blended raw material, and these convert to CO and H2 in the high
temperature region of thermal plasma. The steam gasification of
biomass and HDPE mixtures was investigated by Gartzen Lopez et al.
[28] in a conical spouted bed gasifier, and its results evidence the in­
terest of the cogasification.
Porous media (PM) combustion has been proven to enable the effi­
cient conversion of hydrocarbon fuels (low pollutant emissions, high
energy density, wider range of thermal power supply, and stable oper­
ation) into syngas [29]. PM-based reactors able to produce syngas from
the thermal partial oxidation (POX) and dry reforming of methane have
been shown to increase the reaction rates compared to traditional free
flame reactors [30]. Besides, PM reactors are an alternative to the cat­
alytic reforming that could avoid the limitations and drawbacks of using
catalysts [31]. Porous combustion has demonstrated to be useful in the
valorisation of low-grade gaseous fuels such as biogas or lean methane
[32]. Also, the addition of steam in the inert PM reactor has been
observed to enhance thermochemical biogas conversion to syngas [33].
Among the inert PM reactors, continuous operation has been achieved
by the stabilization of the reaction wave. This feature can be achieved
through two main strategies: control of the modified Peclet number and
the inversion of the flow direction. The latter stabilization option has
been widely developed in reciprocal flow reactors which have a char­
acteristic thermal structure shaped as a trapezoid with two clear tem­
perature peaks where the reaction wave changes its direction.
Reciprocal flow reactors operating with a porous medium have been
previously studied by Drayton et al [34], Dobrego et al [35], and Bar­
cellos et al [36].
The concept of hybrid filtration combustion (HFC) was initially
coined by Toledo et al. [37] for referring to a porous combustion process
that takes place in a mixed porous bed composed of an inert porous
2
Energy Conversion and Management 233 (2021) 113901
medium and a solid reactant. Toledo et al. studied, for instance, the use
of mixed porous beds composed of wood pellets and alumina spheres for
the gasification of butane. A higher syngas production with this hybrid
filtration reactor than with the normal filtration combustion [37] was
observed. In this study, hydrogen concentrations above 15% were
found. Later, Gentillon et al. [38] studied the use of porous beds
composed of polyethylene pellets and alumina spheres for the gasifica­
tion of propane. A maximum hydrogen concentration of 12.2% while
operating with an equivalence ratio (φ) of 1.6 was reported. The
equivalence ratio is defined as the ratio of the actual fuel/air ratio to the
stoichiometric fuel/air ratio.
Subsequent studies on HFC moved the gasification target from the
gas fuel to the solid reactant in the mixed bed. For instance, Caro et al.
focused their research on the gasification of several biomass pellets from
forestry and cereal origin in a HFC reactor using rich mixtures of natural
gas/air as gasification agent [39]. Araus et al. also addressed the solid
fuel gasification in a HFC reactor, with a hybrid bed composed of wood
pellets and alumina spheres and using the combustion of lean natural
gas-air mixtures as heat source [40]. Thus, the fuel gas in these studies
was not the main gasification target, but it was considered a gasification
agent. Furthermore, Toledo et al. studied the syngas production from
coal in a HFC reactor (using a hybrid bed of coal particles and alumina
spheres), and with a mixture of air and steam in varying fractions as
gasifying agents. Only for the initial ignition, a supporting gas fuel was
used [41].
Operating these HFC reactors in continuous mode poses a challenge.
Gonzalez et al. showed the possibility of gasifying polyethylene in a
semi-continuous reactor and obtained higher conversion rates to
hydrogen and carbon monoxide than in a baseline with only biogas [42].
By suspending fine coal particles within an oxidant gas flow, Salgansky
et al. presented an alternative method for solid fuel gasification in a
continuous operation mode [43]. The same research group has also
succeeded to develop an inclined rotary reactor able to gasify coal
particles with improved stability and lower possibility of burnout
[44–46]. In this context, the proposed reactor is a first step to develop a
reciprocal porous media reactor and an alternative to the rotating
porous media reactor for solid fuels gasification [44,47].
This work is aimed at designing and implementing a semi-continuous
porous media combustion reactor for the gasification of polyethylene
and wood mixtures (PWM) that contributes to stablish the design re­
quirements of a continuous HFC gasifier. Polyethylene was chosen
among the different types of plastics that can be found in MSW due to its
high energy content having a higher heating value (HHV) above 45 MJ
kg− 1 [13]. Temperature profiles, propagation rates of combustion
waves, and concentrations of different gaseous species in the exhaust
gases were measured. An operational base line was defined using natural
gas only (without PWM), for several cases with different equivalence
ratios. Once the optimum equivalence ratio was identified, similar pa­
rameters were obtained for different combinations of polyethylene and
wood. CO2 and NOx concentrations were determined in order to
compare the environmental performance of the system with other con­
ventional technologies. The concentration of H2, along with the con­
centration of CO, was also measured to assess the efficiency of the
gasification process in each case, and to quantify the amount of syngas
produced. As a result of this study, optimal parameters for the gasifi­
cation of polyethylene and wood mixtures were identified.
2. Materials and methods
In this work, the natural gas-supported gasification of polyethylene
and wood mixtures in a porous bed reactor was studied. The reactor was
designed and built to operate in a semi-continuous mode. The solid fuel
was introduced in the reactor through two separated feeding ports; and
the porous medium in-between was an inert ceramic foam. In this sec­
tion, the description of the experimental setup and the testing procedure
are presented.
M.P. Orihuela et al. Energy Conversion and Management 233 (2021) 113901

Fig. 1. Layout of the experimental setup considering an air/gas supply, an HFC reactor with PWM fuel supply, temperature data acquisition system, and exhaust gas
analysis systems.

Fig. 2. Detailed scheme of the HFC reactor.

2.1. Experimental setup
The experimental apparatus used in this work derives from the one
reported by González et al. [42] with some differences. It consists of
three main parts: (i) the air/gas supply; (ii) the reactor, including the
solid fuel feeding system; and (iii) the data acquisition system composed
of a continuous gas analyzer, a gas chromatograph, and a temperature
acquisition module. The scheme of the experimental setup is shown in
Fig. 1.
Since the reactor was designed to operate under autothermal con­
ditions, a mixture of natural gas and air was used to support the highly
endothermic reactions associated to the gasification process. The
reported composition in the gas cylinders was ~ 96 mol.% methane and
the rest C2H6, C3H8, C4H10, and other minor components. To provide air
to the reactor, an air compressor (Bauker, EURO 100) was used. Two
thermal mass flow controllers were used to regulate the natural gas flow
rate (Aalborg, GFC17, Orangeburg, USA) and the air flow rate (Aalborg,
GFC37), their flow rate operation ranges being 0–2 LPM and 0–20 LPM
respectively, with a full-scale accuracy of 1%. An inlet pipe for the air/
gas supply was attached to one end of the reactor where the premixed
mixture of natural gas and air was introduced through a perforated
aluminium plate (12 bores, 2.7 mm diameter) to ensure the uniformity
of the flow at the porous media inlet.
The housing of the reactor horizontally arranged, was a steel pipe

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M.P. Orihuela et al. Energy Conversion and Management 233 (2021) 113901

Table 1 2.2. Fuel composition

Elemental composition (percentage by weight), energy content (lower heating
value), and moisture content (percentage by weight) of the fuel constituents: The fuel gasified in this study was a mixture of polyethylene and
polyethylene and wood pellets. wood pellets. On the one hand, commercial high-density polyethylene
Element Recycled HDPE Wood pellets (HDPE) recycled from MSW was selected. On the other hand, wood
Carbon 79.1 wt% 52.6 wt% pellets made of forest species from exotic commercial crops were used
Hydrogen 17.3 wt% 7.0 wt% (Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus globulus). The elemental composition of
Oxygen 2.7 wt% 40.1 wt% both, HDPE and wood pellets, was determined with a Fourier Transform
Nitrogen < 0.2 wt% 0.0 wt% Infrared Spectroscopy (Thermo Scientific, Nicolet 6700 FT-IR), and the
Sulphur < 0.4 wt% 0.0 wt%
LHV 42.98 MJ kg− 1
16.14 MJ kg− 1 results are shown in Table 1.
Moisture Content – – 5.6 wt% The lower heating value (LHV) of the recycled HDPE and the wood
pellets was determined as stated in ASTM 240 standard [48], using an
isoperibol bomb calorimeter (Parr Instrument Company, 1261 calo­
with 79.3 mm inner diameter, 5 mm thick and 500 mm length. Inside the rimeter). In addition, the wood pellets moisture content was obtained
housing, a cylindrical porous bed was fitted, composed of 17 zirconia- according to the ASTM E871-82 standard [49] resulting in 5.6% in total
toughened alumina (ZTA − 90 wt% Al2O3 and 10 wt% ZrO2) discs of weight basis, whereas the HDPE moisture content was not considered
57 mm in diameter and 25 mm thick, each one with a porosity of 85%. due to the non-polar nature of the material.
The steel housing was thermally isolated from the ambient with a 30 mm
thick layer of glass fibre, while an inner insulation layer of 11 mm was
2.3. Experimental procedure
set to prevent thermal damage to the steel housing from the inside of the
reactor. For the supply of solid fuel, two separated vertical inlets regu­
In this work, the main fuel was a mixture of polyethylene and wood,
lated with two ball-valves (Inlet A and Inlet B in Fig. 2) were considered.
while lean natural gas combustion was used as a heat source for the
Below these feeding sections, at the lower part of the reactor, two
gasification reaction.
additional ball-valves allowed the collection of solid residues from the
In the first stage of the experimental work, a baseline for the filtra­
process (ash mainly).
tion combustion of NG in the fully inert bed packed reactor was defined.
To measure the temperature distribution during the gasification
The maximum combustion temperature (Tmax ) was registered and the
process, a ceramic rod 5 mm in diameter with 6 lengthwise bores (0.8
combustion wave propagation rate (vw ) was studied based on the vari­
mm in diameter each), was placed along the reactor axis holding the
ations of the temperature field for a series of different φ. At the baseline
same number of S-type thermocouples, located at a homogeneous dis­
case, no solid fuel was used; the NG was fed to the reactor premixed with
tance of 50 mm between them (TC1 to TC6 in Fig. 2). The analog signals
air in different concentrations; and the porous bed was occupying the
from the thermocouples were collected and digitized by a data logger
whole space inside the reactor. The total gas flow rate was set to 20 LPM,
(Omega, OMB DAQ 56) and registered in the computer with the specific
summing up the NG and the air flows. This flow rate represents a
software (Omega, DaqView). Temperature measurements were used for
filtration velocity of 15.3 cm s− 1. The amount of each constituent was
both recording the maximum combustion temperature and estimating
calculated according to φ, which was varied along the experimental
the propagation rate of the gasification reaction based upon the
campaign from 0.3 to 1.0 with incremental steps of 0.1 to cover a wide
displacement of the thermal profile along the reactor.
range of air-gas blends. The equivalence ratio was calculated consid­
For product gas sampling and analysis, a ceramic road was placed
ering only the gaseous mixture, not the solid fuel. For each test, the
next to the thermocouple holder at the outlet end of the reactor, open to
reactor was ignited from the right end (see Fig. 3) beginning with φ =
the atmosphere, with the tip submerged 50 mm inside the porous ma­
0.8, and then the specific value for the test was set. Volume concen­
trix. To determine the volume concentration of NOx and unburned hy­
trations of O2, CO, CO2, NOx and UHC were monitored at two moments
drocarbons (UHC) in the exhaust gases, a continuous gas analyzer
of operation: when the combustion wave was 50 mm from inlet B
(Bosch BEA 250-EU) was used. To measure the syngas composition H2,
(maximum value of TC1, M1-Fig. 2), and 50 mm from inlet A (maximum
CH4, CO and CO2, a gas chromatograph (Perkin-Elmer Clarus 580) was
value of TC4, M2-Fig. 2). In each moment, sample gas was continuously
used. Two discrete samples of gas were extracted in representative
directed to BOSCH emissions analyzer, until constant value was ach­
moments of each test: the first one when TC1 registers its maximum
ieved. From this first experimental analysis, an optimum equivalence
temperature (the combustion wave is in M1-Fig. 2); and the second one
ratio was identified based on operational parameters.
when TC4 registers its maximum temperature (the combustion wave is
In the second stage, the NG-supported gasification of PWM was
in M2-Fig. 2). In Fig. 2, a scheme of the HFC reactor is presented, where
studied in the same reactor. Two foam pieces were detached this time
the positions of the different rods and thermocouples are shown.
from the stack, to allow the feeding of solid fuel where the vertical inlets
were located. Four different mixtures of polyethylene and wood were

Fig. 3. Recorded temperature evolution in the thermocouples TC1-TC6 for a natural-gas-to-air ratio of 0.8, with fully inert packed bed.

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M.P. Orihuela et al. Energy Conversion and Management 233 (2021) 113901

Table 2
Solid fuel mixtures of HDPE and wood: volume and weight of samples according to each test.
Inlet A Inlet B
HDPE/Wood HDPE volume Wood volume HDPE weight Wood weight Total weight HDPE weight Wood weight Total weight
ml ml g g g g g g

100/0 58 0 32.6 0.0 32.6 33.2 0.0 33.2

80/20 46 12 26.2 6.7 32.9 26.2 7.2 33.4
60/40 35 23 19.2 14.2 33.4 19.2 14.1 33.3
40/60 23 35 12.4 22.6 35.0 12.2 22.3 34.5

considered as presented in Table 2. The tests were carried out with the
(previously identified) optimum φ. The equivalence ratio was observed
to determine the flame propagation direction. When φ < 1.0, the flame
propagates upstream, i.e. in counter current with respect to the inlet
reactants flow. In each test, a fixed volume of 58 ml of PWM was fed and
distributed in each cavity according to the corresponding mixture pro­
portion, resulting in an average mass per chamber of 33.5 ± 0.7 g at 95%
confidence level (n = 8) (67.1 ± 2.6 g of total mass processed). The
combustion process was monitored while the flame propagated from the
ignition point at the right end of the reactor, to the air/gas inlet at the
left (see Fig. 2). In the continuous operation mode, periodic solid fuel
loads would be made while φ is switched to make the combustion wave
propagate towards the opposite direction. Regarding to product gas
analysis, the volumetric concentration of the syngas related species, i.e.
H2, CO, CH4 and CO2 were analytically analyzed and extracted with the
same criteria described for baseline tests. A Thermal Conductivity De­
tector (TCD) was used to quantify the previously listed gases using a
method similar to the one reported by Pedersen-Mjaanes et al. [50].
Additionally, O2, NOx and UHC concentration were directly quantified
following the same procedure described for baseline samples. All the
tests were performed at ambient pressure, ~1 atm, and the experimental
error was measured as 10%.
For all the tests, Tmax was calculated as the average peak temperature
registered by each thermocouple with 95% confidence level
(Tmax ± C.I(95%), n = 6). To analyse vw , a reference temperature of 973
K was selected and the moment in which each thermocouple reached
that temperature was recorded. Thus, the propagation rate was obtained
in each case dividing the axial distance between thermocouples (Δx =
50 mm) by the average time difference between temperature points,
according to Eq.1. Results were presented as mean values with 95%
confidence level (vw ± C.I(95%), n = 5).
Δxi+1,i Fig. 4. Maximum temperature Tmax (A) and combustion wave propagation rate
vw = = xi+1 − xi (ti+1 − ti ), 1 ≤ i ≤ 5 (1) vw (B) obtained during the filtration combustion of natural gas in a fully packed
Δti+1,i
porous reactor for different equivalence ratios.
Product gas concentrations were presented as average at a 95%
confidence level based on results from sample extraction procedure (M1 HDPE, biomass and the NG volume available in each cabin of solid fuel,
and M2, Fig. 2). For the syngas characterization during the co- while the outlet energy content corresponds to the weighted product
gasification tests (PWM samples), [H2]/[CO] ratio was calculated between the mass fraction (wj ) of H2, CO and CH4 in the product gases,
based on hydrogen and carbon monoxide concentrations in product and the corresponding heating values. LHV of the species involved were
gases [51]. Hydrogen yield for each tested PWM and at each sampling considered as: 42.98 MJ kg− 1, 16.14 MJ kg− 1, 47.1 MJ kg− 1, 120 MJ
time was computed. Also, an approximation to the energy return on kg− 1, 10.1 MJ kg− 1, and 50 MJ kg− 1 for HDPE, wood, NG, H2, CO and
investment (EROI) [52,53] was represented based on the average syngas CH4 respectively.
production for a complete combustion wave displacement for each
proportion of PWM under study. EROI indices are usually used to assess 3. Results and discussion
the energy performance of a whole process taking all conceivable energy
expenditures into account. However, since this study only analyses the In the first stage of this study, the performance of the reactor oper­
influence of operational parameters of the HFC reactor on the resulting ating with only with NG and air was analysed. The temperature distri­
syngas, a simplified EROI previously presented by Ripoll et al. [54] is bution, the combustion wave displacement and the gaseous emissions
used. Simplified EROI rank the energy performance of the reactor were measured for different φ in order to determine an optimum oper­
weighting the quotient between energy content of syngas produced, ation point. Once selected, the φ is fixed for the rest of the study, and
with respect to energy content of the starting fuel, as presented in Eq.2. different PWM are considered as target fuel for gasification.
∑S The typical thermal evolution registered by the thermocouples
LHV out j=1 wj ⋅LHV j
EROI = = ∑N (2) showed an initial heating stage characterised by a rapid temperature
LHV in i=1 wi ⋅LHV i increase; then the peak of maximum temperature caused by the com­
The inlet energy content corresponds to the mass fraction (wi ) of bustion wave displacement; and then a slow temperature decrease as the

5
M.P. Orihuela et al.
Fig. 5. Gaseous emissions measured during the filtration combustion of natural
gas in a fully packed porous reactor for different equivalence ratios.
combustion wave moves away upstream until a final pseudo-
stabilisation point. Fig. 3 shows the transient temperature evolution in
the thermocouples for φ = 0.8. Similar graphs were obtained for other
tests with different φ at baseline stage.
In the following subsections, the main results of the experimental
study are presented and discussed.
3.1. Filtration combustion of natural gas in the fully packed reactor
Measurements of Tmax and the vw obtained in the first stage of the
study, while operating with only natural gas and air in the fully packed
reactor are presented in Fig. 4.
A low variability is observed in the peak temperature, showing a
coefficient of variation (C.V) of 6.2%. Maximum temperatures range in
any case between 1,033 and 1,278 K, while the lowest peak temperature
was registered for φ = 0.7, becoming higher as the equivalence ratio
increases (Fig. 4-A). Accordingly, combustion temperatures registered a
relatively constant value of 1,149 ± 60 K in average, showing no
sensitivity with respect to gas fuel content in mixture throughout the
evaluated φ range. These values are in good agreement with the results
reported by Araus et al. for the filtration combustion of NG in an inert
porous bed with a filtration velocity of 15 cm s− 1 [40]. Compared to the
results reported by Gonzalez et al. for the filtration combustion of biogas
in lean-burn conditions, the peak temperatures observed in this study
follow a similar trend but they are slightly lower [42], occasionally due
to differences in filtration velocity of the tests. For richer mixtures above
the stoichiometric ratio, higher peak temperatures could be expected
[37].
Regarding the vw , it can be observed in Fig. 4-B that the combustion
wave moves upstream (negative values) in all the cases. For ratios near
6
Energy Conversion and Management 233 (2021) 113901
φ = 0.8, a significant increase in the propagation rate was observed. The
mean propagation rate at φ = 0.8 was − 0.017 ± 0.007 cm s− 1, doubling
the measured values for 0.3 < φ < 0.5. Compared to the results reported
by Araus et al. [40], this study yielded higher absolute values. The dif­
ference may be due to the reactor design, but more probably to the
nature of the porous bed (alumina spheres instead of a foam). However,
a similar trend was reported with the minimum values slightly deviated
in the lower range of equivalence ratios. Combustion wave propagation
rates for filtration combustion of lean biogas mixtures (φ < 1.0) reported
by Gonzalez et al. [42], showed similarities with respect of the present
results. In both cases, a displacement of combustion waves in upstream
direction was observed with higher absolute values near φ = 0.8. For
richer mixtures above the stoichiometric ratio, velocities are expected to
tend to zero and then continue increasing in absolute values but moving
downstream as a response to the varying laminar flame speed under a
constant filtration velocity [37,41,55].
In Fig. 5, the gaseous emissions of O2, CO, CO2, NOx and UHC
measured during the first part of the study are presented. The lean
combustion of NG in porous media favours the complete oxidation of the
fuel and so the production of syngas is usually negligible [32,40] (Fig. 5-
A). Regarding the NOx and UHC emissions, both showed a decreasing
trend as φ was reduced (Fig. 5-B). In particularly, NOx concentrations
were lower than 10 ppmv for the entire range evaluated, which is within
the expected range for this type of reactors (less than 30 ppm) [32].
Despite the maximum concentration of NOx was measured for φ = 0.8
(9.2 ± 0.6 ppmv), there is a growing trend as the equivalence ratio in­
crease, and the local peak is attributed to a higher uncertainty in the
measurement.
Since no significant difference was observed in the thermal condi­
tions of the reactor (1,149 ± 60 K, on average), and the concentration of
nitrogen oxides was within a lower range as expected (less than 10
ppmv), the optimum φ for the subsequent gasification tests, was selected
based on maximum propagation rate (absolute value). This would
reduce the operation time of the semi-continuous reactor, thus
increasing the capability to process more solid fuel per unit of time. In
particular, the equivalence ratio that caused the maximum propagation
rate upstream was selected: φ = 0.8. Therefore, the following gasifica­
tion tests with PWM considered a NG/air proportion of 1.6 LPM and
18.4 LPM respectively.
3.2. Natural-gas-supported gasification of PWM
The results obtained for the co-gasification of PWM in terms of
reactor performance and syngas production, are presented. Thermal
profiles, combustion wave displacement, as well as operational param­
eters of Tmax , vw and product gas analysis were determined for different
solid fuel proportions of 100/0, 80/20, 60/40 and 40/60 HDPE/Wood.
3.2.1. Thermal profiles and average peak temperature
Thermal behaviour of the reactor with PWM was described through
the analyses of its temperature profiles and peak temperatures mea­
surements. Fig. 6-A to 6-D show the temperature evolution of all ther­
mocouples in the reactor for the whole length of each experiment. Fig. 6-
A corresponds to the case with 100% HDPE – 0% Wood pellets; while
Fig. 6-B, 6-C and 6-D correspond to 80/20, 60/40 and 40/60 PWM,
respectively. The length of each test was determined by the time needed
by the flame front to reach the left end of the reactor (to surpass TC6).
Fig. 6 shows that the test with only HDPE in the chambers was the
longest one; it was ~80 min long. When similar proportions of HDPE
and wood pellets are used, the tests were observed to be shorter. When
60/40 PWM was used, the test length was almost halved in comparison
to pure HDPE. This fact is considered to be a consequence of a higher
combustion wave propagation rate, as explained in the following sec­
tions. The sampling times M1 and M2 (defined in Section 2.3) have been
indicated in Fig. 6 for each test.
The peak temperatures were shifted towards the inlet base of the
M.P. Orihuela et al.
Fig. 6. Evolution of temperature profiles inside the reactor as a function of time for: (A) 100:0 PWM; (B) 80:20 PWM; (C) 60:40 PWM; and (D) 40:60 PWM.
reactor (left end, Fig. 2) when PWM were used. In these operating
conditions, the maximum temperatures during the test were registered
in the middle zone of the reactor, filled only with porous material (TC3
and TC4), and after cabin A filled only with solid fuel (TC6). The pres­
ence of high temperatures in these zones may be related to two different
factors: (i) the chemical species participating in each point; and (ii) the
preheating of the reactive species due to heat transfer and the general
gradual warming of the reactor during the testing time. The gas stream
was flowing from the left end towards the right end of the reactor (see
Fig. 2). NG has higher HHV than HDPE or wood. Hence, in those points
where NG is the main reactant (TC1, TC3, TC4 and TC6) the peak
temperatures are potentially higher when compared to zones where the
gaseous fuel was mixed with pyrolysis and gasification products, such as
H2, CO or CxHy. Part of the heat released during the reaction process is
transferred to the system, preheating the foam and the approaching
reactants. Thus, for the same chemical conditions, the peak tempera­
tures will be higher in the left side of the reactor, where the system has
had more time to warm up. Moreover, it should be noted that in all the
PWM cases, the temperature distribution through the porous matrix
remained above 800 K, mainly due to heat transfer promoted by the
thermal properties of the porous material, as well due to the overall
insulation of the reactor.
Regarding the behavior of the recorded thermal profiles (Fig. 6),
thermocouples 1, 3, 4 and 6 presented a typical evolution for filtration
combustion of gaseous fuels (see Fig. 3). In contrast, at thermocouples 2
and 5, located in the center of cabins A and B respectively (Inlet A and B,
Fig. 2), the effect of thermal degradation of solid fuel materials was
observed. For 100/0 PWM, TC2 and TC5 showed a sustained increase
until temperatures rose close to 600 K; then, the temperature increased
at a lower rate as it reaches 700 K, to later increase at a similar rate with
respect to the initial phase (300 to 600 K). The reduction in the
7
Energy Conversion and Management 233 (2021) 113901
temperature increase observed in TC2 and TC5 is consistent with the
thermal degradation of HDPE, where different studies reported good
thermal stability until 573 K followed by a successive phase of rapid
mass loss rate directly related with a high devolatilization of the poly­
meric material between 673 and 748 K [56,57].
A more homogeneous increase in TC2 and TC5 was observed for
higher biomass fractions in mixture, which could be related to the sig­
nificant differences in chemical composition and thermal stability be­
tween particles of the PWM. Biomass main components are cellulose,
hemicellulose and lignin, in addition to extractive compounds, water
and minerals [56]. Its thermal degradation considers a drying stage (373
to 473 K), a devolatilization stage (between 343 and 773 K), POX, and a
reduction phase (between 1,073 and 1,273 K) [58]. In this way, the
degradation patterns of polymers and biomass occur at different tem­
perature levels. In a first heating phase (373–473 K) while biomass be­
gins to reduce its moisture content, HDPE, as a thermoplastic material,
begins to weaken until reaching its melting point (400 K) without
showing a significant mass loss due to volatilization. Subsequently,
degradation of hemicellulose (from 463 to 563 K), cellulose (from 563 to
633 K) and lignin (from 633 to 773 K) fractions takes place [59].
Therefore, between 673 and 773 K, volatiles from HDPE of high
hydrogen content, interact with the volatile and solid products (char) of
biomass favoring the degradation reactions of the structural components
of biomass, which in turns, release oxygen-rich volatiles that promote
the breaking of the polymeric chains that structure HDPE [60]. In Fig. 6,
the effect of feed composition on thermal profiles can be observed from
comparing the temperature evolution of TC2 and TC5. Both thermo­
couples showed a similar thermal behavior when compared with each
other during the same experimental run. Increasing the biomass fraction
resulted in faster HDPE degradation rates when compared to the 100/
0 HDPE/biomass case. A detailed analysis of the temperature evolution
M.P. Orihuela et al.
Fig. 7. Average peak temperature for each PWM, with respect to the base­
line case.
Fig. 8. Variation of combustion wave propagation rate along axial displace­
ment, for each PWM with respect to the baseline case.
offers a steady increment of TC5 until reaching an inflection point fol­
lowed by a plateau where the heating rate was clearly reduced due to the
heat required by the thermal degradation of the solid fuel, which is
particularly high for the thermal decomposition of HDPE. Fastest heat­
ing rates were observed at its highest presence in the mixture (40/60
HDPE/biomass), resulting in an effective contraction of the character­
istic plateau previously mentioned and developing a continuously
increasing slope with two clear inflection points. Consequently, and
based on the stability of the temperature data, it can be said that the
reactor design here proposed, allows a stable flame front displacement
through the axial length of the reactor despite that the solid fuel is fed
transversely to the gasifying agent flow.
Across all PWM test, the average peak temperature over the six
thermocouples was calculated and compared with the average peak
temperature of the baseline case (Fig. 7). Peak temperatures showed a
low sensibility regarding the variation in the proportion of solid fuels in
mixture, resulting in an overall C.V of 3.5%. The first case with 100/
0 PWM was the one that presented higher temperature (1,142 ± 69 K),
showing almost the same value that the one observed in the baseline
case (1,132 ± 70 K). On the other hand, for the other fuel mixtures, the
8
Energy Conversion and Management 233 (2021) 113901
Fig. 9. Propagation rate for co-gasification of each PWM, with respect to the
baseline case.
maximum temperatures were 3% lower in average than baseline,
showing the lowest temperature of 1,050 ± 119 K in the case of 60/40
PWM.
3.2.2. Combustion wave propagation
For each PWM tests, Fig. 8 present the results of vw for each interval
between thermocouples throughout the axial length of the reactor, ob­
tained according to Eq.1. High variations were observed based on the
characteristics of the solid matrix through which the combustion front
moved, resulting in C.V of 36.7% for all cases. Two main zones conform
the solid matrix of the reactor design: (i) a fully inert porous area
composed of zirconia toughened alumina foams (homogeneous
porosity), (ii) and two solid fuel cabins (Inlet A and B in Fig. 2). These
cabins present non-uniform gas permeability since the thermal degra­
dation of the fuel leave to the formation of cavities where gas-
impermeable regions can form. Additionally, the heat required by the
solid fuels to volatilize and later react, acts as an effective heat sink that
lowers the reaction wave temperature. As a result, in the regions where
the combustion front approach the transition zone into the solid fuel
cabins, a reduction in the absolute value of vw was registered. In
contrast, when the combustion front transits from cabins into the inert
foam, its magnitude increases regardless of the fuel mixture composi­
tion. In terms of sensitivity with respect to fuel mixture proportion, re­
sults show higher differences between the velocity of each length section
(Δx, Fig. 8) as the biomass fraction in mixture increase, registering the
highest absolute value in the case of 60/40 PWM.
On the other hand, average results of the vw of PWM, and the com­
parison with the baseline case (-0.017 cm s− 1) are presented in Fig. 9.
The combustion wave moves upstream in all the cases. For 100/0 PWM,
the propagation rate remained in an upstream direction but had a
magnitude 37% slower than the baseline. This phenomenon could be
attributed to an increment in the local equivalence ratio due to the
incorporation of the volatiles from the thermal degradation of HDPE
(mainly C2H4 and CH4) into the natural gas and air mixture. As stated in
section 3.1, higher equivalence ratios resulted in slower combustion
wave propagation rates, being the behaviour of an equivalence ratio of
1.0 similar to the observed for a 100/0 PWM at φ = 0.8. However, as
wood content in mixtures increase, absolute values of vw showed a
growing trend reaching values close to the baseline. The maximum ab­
solute value reported was − 0.026 ± 0.023 cm s− 1 for the case with 60/
40 PWM. With respect to the work of Gonzalez et al. [42], the present
results for 100/0 PWM yielded a higher propagation rate which could be
related to the differences in gaseous fuel for co-gasification (biogas
instead of NG).
The increment in vw along with wood fraction in solid fuel mixtures,
M.P. Orihuela et al. Energy Conversion and Management 233 (2021) 113901

Fig. 10. Concentration of product gases for PWM tests, with respect to the
baseline results: (A) syngas related gases, and (B) nitrogen oxides and unburned
hydrocarbons emissions.

suggest a reduction in the speed at which chemical conversion occur,

mainly due to the lower reaction kinetics associated with thermal
degradation of biomass when compared to polymeric materials. Thus, Fig. 11. Syngas production and characterization according to each HDPE/
Wood proportion: (A) Syngas composition at M1, (B) syngas composition at M2,
filtration velocity of NG-air mixture had a greater influence on com­
and (C) Average syngas composition for the experiment and corresponding
bustion wave displacement inside the reactor. Consequently, although
[H2]/[CO] ratio.
the upstream direction of combustion wave displacement was not
mainly affected by the variation of PWM and results remained close to
syngas related species. Also, because 60/40 PWM registered the shortest
baseline, a positive relation was observed between the absolute
testing time (higher vw ), the reduction in residence time of flue gases
magnitude of propagation rate and the wood fraction in the mixture.
could influence the occurrence of POX reactions and reduction
pathways.
3.2.3. Product gases
When compared with the CO and CO2 concentrations from the
The average product gas compositions for each PWM tested are
baseline, all tests presented a higher CO production, while in the case of
presented in Fig. 10-A. Results showed that samples from 100/0 PWM
CO2, the concentrations were higher than baseline except for 100%
yielded the highest H2 and CO concentrations, reaching 8.13 and 9.54
HDPE mixtures. Particularly, in the case of a 100/0 PWM, CO2 con­
vol% respectively. Increments in the biomass presence in tested mix­
centrations were lower than the baseline and therefore, gasification
tures had a negative impact in the syngas production, reaching a mini­
reaction paths, such as the exothermic water gas shift reaction, could be
mum at a 60/40 PWM, with an increment for a 40/60 PWM. Similarly,
favored over complete combustion reactions, which is consistent with
CH4 concentrations reported the same tendency as H2 and CO, with a
the higher yield of CO over H2, as well as a higher syngas production
maximum concentration of 6.86 vol% at 40/60 PWM. Consequently, it
reported at 100/0 PWM.
can be inferred that CH4 concentrations in the product gases came
The exhaust gases presented different nitrogen oxides contents
mainly from the thermo-oxidative degradation of solid fuels rather than
depending on the fuel composition and the temperature levels during
the fraction of NG that might have remained unreacted.
the combustion reaction. Fig. 10-B shows results for nitrogen oxides and
Minimum O2 and CO2 concentrations were detected at a 100/0 PWM
unburned hydrocarbons fraction in the exhaust gases for each HDPE/
(2.34 vol% and 5.87 vol% respectively), showing both an increasing
Wood ratio. Results showed a similar trend for both NOx and UHC
trend as biomass presence increased in fuel mixtures. The highest con­
concentrations, reporting a minimum of 20 ± 1 ppmv and 1,863 ± 48
centrations of O2 and CO2 were detected as 6.03 and 11.66 vol%
ppmv respectively for a fuel proportion of 80/20 PWM. Overall, when
respectively at a 60/40 PWM, while under the same conditions, mini­
compared to the baseline, higher concentrations of UHC and NOx were
mum H2, CO and CH4 concentrations were obtained. This suggests that
observed for all tested PWM.
at the sampling time for 60/40 PWM’s complete combustion reactions
In this study the nitrogen content of the solid fuels was low, so most
could have been favored, leaving to a reduction in the generation of

9
M.P. Orihuela et al.
of the NOx in the exhaust gases should form from the atmospheric ni­
trogen. Nitrogen fraction in inlet air flow could produce nitrogen oxides
based on thermal-NOx mechanism (promoted by the high temperatures
achieved along the solid matrix), or by prompt-NOx that could be
enhanced across fuel rich areas that may be formed in solid fuel cavities
[61].
3.2.4. Comparison between M1 and M2 samples
At the first stage of the tests (M1), when the combustion wave is in
TC1, the reactor could be considered to be in a transition stage where the
PWM in cabin “B” is warm enough to start gasifying, but thermal
equilibrium has not been achieved. The syngas production at this point
is directly related with the temperature levels in the right zone of the
reactor (TC1 and TC2); the temperature at TC5 is still ambient tem­
perature in this moment. For an increasing presence of biomass two
phenomena could be identified along thermal profiles depicted in Fig. 6
and syngas compositions from Fig. 11: (i) lower temperatures of the
gasification cabin were directly related to the presence of biomass; and
(ii) O2 and CO2 concentrations grew alongside the increasing biomass
fraction. The first could be linked to the overall lower activation energy
required for the thermal degradation of biomass, with the highest being
lignin at less than 250 kJ/mol [62], in comparison to the over 400 kJ/
mol from recycled HDPE [63], therefore providing a clear reason for the
faster reaction wave propagation rate which in turn results in a lower
heat recirculation through the porous matrix and thus lower overall
temperatures. The latter has a similar correlation where the oxygen
content intrinsic to the biomass would facilitate the occurrence of
oxidation reactions and thus favoring the formation of CO2, whose
presence at the high temperature reaction wave of natural gas, air and
volatilization products would participate via the exothermic water gas
shift reaction consuming H2 with CO2 and releasing CO and H2O. For
almost all tested PWM this reaction mechanism could be linked to
producing a [H2]/[CO] ratio lower than 1.0, but a 60/40 PWM yielded a
[H2]/[CO] ratio of 1.4 which could be attributed to the fact that sam­
pling at M1 of this PWM occurred at the lowest reaction wave temper­
ature (less than 900 K) of all experimental runs. This fact could be
connected to a high release of volatiles from the biomass fraction thus
effectively lowering the reaction wave temperature and limiting re­
actions involving H2. At this stage, the methane concentrations in the
exhaust gas are relatively high (6.2%, 4.7%, 2.0%, and 6.7% for 100/0,
80/20, 60/40 and 40/60 respectively). In addition, this stage registers
the lowest CO2 concentrations (4.22%, 7.1%, 12.75%, and 9.87% for
100/0, 80/20, 60/40 and 40/60 respectively). Regarding the syngas
concentration in the product gases, an analysis of Fig. 6 shows that the
temperature gap between TC1 (reaction wave temperature at the sam­
pling instant) and TC2 (solid feed temperature at the same time) widens
systematically with a greater biomass fraction. This operational aspect
of the reactor could be directly linked to the higher reaction wave
propagation rate and its main significance would be that the high
operational temperature provided by the NG/air combustion was not
capable of sustaining a stable high temperature around 1,200 K as
achieved in the second half of the reactor.
At the last measuring point, the complete right half of the reactor is
hot (above 800 K) which would resemble a steady state operational
condition for this reactor, thus enabling a hot enough temperature at the
solid feed cabin “A” to start gasifying. At this point, the relative pro­
duction of syngas is dependent on the temperature of the reaction wave
travelling through the middle zone of the reactor (TC3 and TC4). Since
this second cabin is located at a deeper position than the first, volatiles
released will experience a longer residence time at higher temperatures
and the product gas composition should be more representative of a
steady state process. Consequently, at this stage, the amount of syngas
that reaches the right end of the reactor is lower than in M1 since the
reactants were exposed a longer time at high temperatures and almost
all O2 was consumed. O2 concentrations at the time M2 was sampled
were as follow 1.91%, 2.06%, 0.73%, and 2.56% for 100/0, 80/20, 60/
10
Energy Conversion and Management 233 (2021) 113901
Fig. 12. Hydrogen yield from the gasification of solid fuel mixtures at two
sampling times (M1 and M2).
40 and 40/60 respectively. This stage yields the highest methane con­
centrations in the exhaust gas (6.2%, 4.5%, 4.4%, and 7.1% for 100/0,
80/20, 60/40 and 40/60 respectively). At this stage, the reaction
pathways for the conversion of the solid fuel into syngas are dominant,
and due to the early presence of other combustible species (H2 and CO),
a larger amount of natural gas remains unreacted. M2 register high CO2
concentrations compared to M1. CO2 at these stages (9.17–7.52%,
10.1–8.02%, 9.76–10.56%, and 12.96–11.86% for 100/0, 80/20, 60/40
and 40/60 respectively) may come from the oxidation of any species
along the reactor, given the general system warming.
3.2.5. Syngas production
Syngas composition is of great interest for industrial applications,
where a widespread and mature process for synthetic fuels production is
the Fischer-Tropsch process, which require [H2]/[CO] ratios above 2.0
to feed its synthetic alcohols reactors, and above 3.0 to produce syn­
thetic natural gas. In this context, Fig. 11-C shows the [H2]/[CO] ratio
and average syngas concentration for all tested PWM, whereas the
presented syngas composition considers only the fraction of H2, CO and
CH4 detected in the product gases. The solid fuel combination that yields
the largest syngas production was the one with 100% HDPE. This result
is comparable to that of Liu et al. in the chemical looping co-gasification
of pine wood and polyethylene in a fixed bed reactor, the maximum
syngas production is achieved with 100% polyethylene [25].The
maximum syngas concentration measured for this case was 23.86 ±
0.23 vol%, followed by 22.30 ± 0.35 vol% in the case of 40/60 PWM.
The lowest syngas production was registered for 60/40 PWM (11.76 ±
0.10 vol%), less than half of the maximum syngas production reported.
Furthermore, [H2]/[CO] ratios showed a positive relationship with
respect to the increase in biomass content in mixtures, up to 40% wood
fraction. However, for a greater biomass content, a reduction in H2
relative to CO concentrations was observed. In general, higher CO
concentrations were reported under the operations conditions that lea­
ded to the higher syngas production (i.e. 100/0 and 40/60 PWM).
However, from a downstream application perspective, the present re­
sults showed low variation in [H2]/[CO] ratios based on the change in
solid fuel mixtures (ratios ranged from 0.85 ± 0.02 to 1.11 ± 0.02). This
indicates that under these operational conditions, the process was no
able to adjust the [H2]/[CO] ratio to suit a greater range of potential
applications such as chemical syntheses processes (i.g. Fischer-Tropsch,
[H2]/[CO] 2.0, and synthetic-NG production, [H2]/[CO] 3.0). Conse­
quently, a syngas conditioning stage should be evaluated for certain
applications.
M.P. Orihuela et al.
Table 3
Energy return on investment EROI for each HDPE/Wood ratio.
Energy content of the fuel1
PWM HDPE Wood NG LHVfuel
% mass % mass % mass MJ kg− 1
100/0 61.13 0.00 38.87 86.92
80/20 49.43 13.11 37.46 76.40
60/40 36.69 27.04 36.27 65.21
40/60 22.61 41.27 36.12 54.05
1
: sum of cabins A and B.
Fig. 12 presents the computed hydrogen yield for each tested PWM
and at each sampling time. As stated before, the transient operation
mode observed while the reaction wave travels through the first half of
the reactor was represented by samples obtained at M1 and the corre­
sponding temperature measurements. From this first stage, it is possible
to observe a direct correlation between the increasing biomass fraction,
a faster reaction wave propagation rate and lower temperatures, with a
lower hydrogen conversion rate. However, when the reaction wave
travels deeper into the reactor, and a thermal steady state is achieved,
the hydrogen conversion tendency reverse itself and favors a higher
biomass presence in the PWM.
Compared to previous gasification studies with pure polyethylene,
the results obtained in this work are promising. Mastellone and Zac­
cariello studied the gasification of polyethylene with air in a bubbling
fluidized bed reactor, and obtained hydrogen concentrations between
8.6% and 16.3% [64]. With a complex three-stages gasification process
composed of auger, fluidized bed, and tar-cracking reactors, Jeong et al.
reached hydrogen concentrations of up to 27% in volume [65]. Different
studies about biomass gasification have reported to produce syngas with
hydrogen concentrations between 20 and 30% [66]. In the best condi­
tions, the gasification of woody biomass in a fixed bed downdraft
gasifier may yield hydrogen concentrations up to 43% [67].
3.2.6. Energy return on investment
In order to estimate the mass fraction of each component of the fuel
(base on Eq.2), a full cabin load was considered, and the amount of NG
was obtained from the time needed by the reaction wave to travel across
the 25 mm width cabin. Therefore, for each PWM, their corresponding
vw and NG mass flows, yielded a NG mass. This, along the mass of HDPE
and wood, were presented in Table 3. The syngas composition was
provided by chromatographic analysis, and only H2, CO and CH4 were
considered.
A sustained increase in the energy return of the proposed configu­
ration, is observed for mixtures with a higher fraction of biomass,
reaching a maximum of 49% in the case of 40/60 PWM.
Despite the fact that the syngas concentration did not present a trend
of sustained increase for higher biomass fractions in the mixtures
(Fig. 11), it is observed that the amount of energy obtained from the
product gases was not affected by the reduction in the energy density of
fuel blends as the biomass fraction in mixture increases (LHVout had a C.
V of 5%). This could be attributed to synergistic effects between the solid
fuels for mixtures with high biomass content [68]. In this way, the
proposed reactor design would allow the valorisation of low-energy
fuels, being interesting in this sense, expanding the range of studies to
mixtures with a higher proportion of biomass (given the upward trend of
the EROI results).
4. Conclusions
This paper demonstrates the feasibility of gasifying polyethylene and
wood pellets mixtures in a semicontinuous hybrid filtration combustion
mode. In terms of operation temperatures, low sensitivity relative to
changes in solid fuel mixture proportions was observed. Regardless of
the mixing ratio (100/0, 80/20, 60/40 or 40/60 HDPE/Wood), the
11
Energy Conversion and Management 233 (2021) 113901
Energy content of the syngas
H2 CO CH4 LHVsyngas EROI
% mass % mass % mass MJ kg− 1 %
3.72 70.12 26.16 24.63 28
4.49 71.01 24.50 24.81 32
4.55 65.73 29.72 26.96 41
3.55 65.21 31.24 26.47 49
thermal behaviour of the porous matrix remained stable reaching an
average value of 1,105 ± 62 K. Also, temperatures were above 800 K
across all the co-gasification tests. Regarding the combustion wave
stability and propagation though the reactor, results showed that be­
sides the variations in gas permeability produced as consequence of
thermal degradation of solid fuel in the feed cabins, the reactor design
allowed to sustain a stable flame front that propagates throughout the
entire axial length, while the solid fuel loads will flow in a direction
transverse to the combustion wave displacement. Additionally, higher
fractions of biomass in the mixture resulted in increasing the magnitude
of combustion wave propagation rate, which could enable the optimi­
zation of the reactor processing time cycles. Therefore, although the
mixtures with higher biomass content have lower energy input (due to
their lower heat of combustion), they also registered higher energy
returns compared with the case of 100% HDPE. It is also worth noticing
that syngas production reached similar values for 40/60 PWM with
respect to 100/0 PWM. In sum, the stable operating temperatures ach­
ieved together with the greater magnitude of combustion wave propa­
gation rate for mixtures with higher biomass content, promotes suitable
conditions for the co-gasification of low-energy feedstocks, with shorter
processing times than pure HDPE samples. Finally, this experimental
work shows promising results in the search for solutions to gasify solid
wastes in continuous mode.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
M. Pilar Orihuela: Writing - original draft, Formal analysis. Lorena
Espinoza: Formal analysis, Writing - review & editing, Visualization.
Nicolás Ripoll: Data curation, Formal analysis. Ricardo Chacartegui:
Supervision. Mario Toledo: Conceptualization, Methodology.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This project was supported by the National Research and Develop­
ment Agency (ANID) Chile [FONDECYT 1190654 and FONDAP
15110019/SERC-Chile], and by the project Bioceramboil [grant
MAT2016-76526-R]. M. Pilar Orihuela is grateful to the MINECO for her
predoctoral contract [grant BES-2014-069023], and for the mobility
scholarship that allowed her to make the research stay at the Uni­
versidad Técnica Federico Santa María [grant EST2019-013120-I].
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