Preface

The manual provides information pertaining to the construction, operation and

maintenance of a manually operated 100 kWe solid bio-residue gasifier system.

The first part of the manual provides detailed information regarding the
construction and working of the gasifier system. Where as, the second part deals
with operation and maintenance aspects, which include operating the diesel engine
on dual-fuel mode using producer gas. The last part is dedicated to the system
specifications and its auxillaries.
 PART I

Solid bio-residue gasifier system

2
 Introduction
Biomass had been a major energy source, prior to the discovery of fossil fuels like coal
and petroleum. Even though its role is presently diminished in developed countries, it is
still widely used in rural communities of the developing countries, for their energy needs
in terms of cooking and limited industrial use. Biomass, besides using in solid form, can
be converted into gaseous form through gasification route. Information on the current
biomass gasifier technology and its application are given below.

1.0 Concept and Principle

Biomass is a natural substance available, which stores solar energy by the process of
photosynthesis in the presence of sunlight. It chiefly contains cellulose, hemicellulose

and lignin, with an average composition of C 6H10O5, with slight variations depending on
the nature of the biomass. Theoretically, the ratio of air-to-fuel required for the complete
combustion of the biomass, defined as stoichiometric combustion is 6:1 to 6.5:1, with
the end products being CO2 and H2O. In gasification the combustion is carried at sub-
stoichiometric conditions with air-to-fuel ratio being 1.5:1 to 1.8:1. The gas so obtained
is called producer gas,which is combustible.

This process is made possible in a device called gasifier, in a limited supply of air. A
gasifier system basically comprises of a reactor, where the gas is generated, and is
followed by a cooling and cleaning system, which cools and cleans the gas. The clean
combustible gas is thus available for power generation application.

In the reactor the biomass pieces after undergoing drying and devolatisation in the
upper zones, leave behind the char. The volatiles undergo oxidation in the combustion
zone, with air being partially supplied by the surrounding nozzles, and the remaining
drawn from the open top. The product gases of oxidation further gets reduced by a bed
of charcoal and yield a combustible gas having a calorific value of 4.5-5.0 MJ/kg,with an
average composition of CO: 20 + 1%;CH4:3 + 1%,H2:20 + 1%, CO2 : 12 + 1% and

rest,N2.

2.0 Uses of producer gas

3
The producer gas obtained by the process of gasification can have end use either for
thermal application or for mechanical/electrical power generation. Like any other
gaseous fuel, producer gas has the advantage of better and finer power control when
compared to that of solid fuel, in this case solid biomass/wood. This also paves way for
more efficient and environment friendly operation. The gas can thus be conveniently
used in number of applications, a few of which is mentioned below

2.1 Thermal
Thermal energy of the order of 4.5 to 5.0 MJ is released, by flaring 1 m 3 of wood gas in
the burner. Flame temperatures as high as 1200 C can be obtained by optimal
pre-mixing of air with gas. For processes, which require thermal energy, gasifiers can
be a good option as a gas generator, and retrofitted with existing devices. Few of the
applications where retorfit is possible are:

a) Dryers: Drying is the most essential process in beverage and spices industry like
tea and cardamom. This calls for hot gases in the temperature range of
120 - 130 oC, in the existing designs. Typically the themal energy required is
equivalent to 0.3 - 0.5 kg of biomass for 1 kg made tea. Gasifier could be an ideal
solution for the above situation, where hot gas after combustion can be diluted with
the required quantity of secondary air, so as to lower its temperature to the desired
level for operation.

b) Kilns: Baking of tiles, potteries require hot environment in the temperature range of
800 - 950 oC. Most of the current practices meet the requirement by using large
quantities of wood in an inefficient manner. Gasifiers could be suitable for such
applications, which provides a better control for regulating the thermal environment.
This can be achieved with an added advantage of smokeless and sootless
operation, thereby enhancing the product value.

c) Furnaces: In non-ferrous metallurgical and foundry industries high temperatures

(~650 - 1000 oC) are required for melting metals and alloys. Using expensive fuel
oils or electrical heaters commonly does this. Gasifiers are well suited for such
applications.

4
d) Boilers: Process industries, which require steam or hot water, use either biomass or
coal as fuel in the boilers. Biomass is used inefficiently with higher pollutants like
NOx and with little control with respect to power regulation. Therefore these devices
are appropriate to be retrofitted with gasifiers for efficient energy usage.

Apart from these, energy requirements in poultry farms, cold storage devices (vapour
compression refrigerator), rubber industry and so on could be met using biomass
gasifiers.
2.2 Power Generation
Using producer gas, it possible to operate a diesel engine on dual fuel mode with
marginal changes to the air inlet. Diesel substitution of the order of 80 to 85% can be
obtained at nominal loads. The mechanical energy thus derived can be used either for
energizing a water pump set for irrigational purpose or by coupling with an alternator for
electrical power generation, either for local consumption or for grid synchronisation.
3.0 System description and working
The overall schematic of the gasifier system (refer Part II for specs) is depicted in Fig.1.
The reactor is basically a downdraft system, where both gas and feedstock (wood
chips) move downward as the reaction proceeds. The air required for gasification is
partly drawn from the top, and the remaining from the air nozzles surrounding the
combustion zone. The required suction for this process is obtained by using either a
blower or an engine. Wood after drying and pyrolysing in the upper zone of the reactor
undergoes volatile combustion leaving fixed carbon or char by the time it reaches the
oxidation zone. In the oxidation zone the volatiles undergo oxidation with the release of
CO2 and H2O. The product gas undergoes reduction, in the presence of hot bed of
charcoal, and yields a combustible gas mixture.
The hot dust laden gas exiting from the reactor is led through a cooling and cleaning
train, where the raw gas is cooled to ambient temperature in the cooling section and
cleaned in the fabric filters and scrubbers. The gas then flows either to dual-fuel engine
or to the flare.

5
 Fig -1

The various sub-assemblies of the gasifier are as follows:

3.1 Reactor

The reactor is rolled from mild steel and has an inner lining of insulation and high
temperature ceramic. The insulation forms the major part of the thickness and is used in
two kinds, the hot face and cold face bricks. The insulation helps in retaining the heat
within the system and reduces heat loss. The schematic of the reactor is shown in Fig.
2. There are air nozzles/tuyers (provided around the combustion zone), which are kept
open during operation.

A water seal forms the top of the reactor with a removable cover. This cover is kept
open during the entire operation. There is an ash conveyor provided at the bottom to
hold the charge and also discharge ash periodically. The discharge end of ash conveyor
is dipped in a water seal, to prevent air entry.

6
 Fig – 2

3.2 Cooling and cleaning system

The sub-assembly comprises the following components:

Cooler
It is made of two sections as shown in Fig. 2. The spray is developed from an impinging
jet, which mixes with the gas and cools the gas to the ambient, and in the process
removes some contaminents from the gas. There is a small dump provided at the
bottom, which forms the exit for the cooler, for separating gas and water.

Filters
This is comprised of two filters, the first being a 10  fabric filter with water repelant
coating and second made of 5  fabric filter with water repelant treatment. The
procedure for cleaning the fabric is depicted in appendix 5.

7
Chill water scrubber
This is an ejector scrubber wherein chill water at 10 – 15 0C is used for cleaning the gas
off the particulates and saturated moisture. The chill water is filtered and reused in a
recirculating mode with chilling assistance by a chiller.

3.3 Plumbing and Venturi

The cooled and cleaned gas is piped to the engines/flare using PVC tubes. There is
also a venturi provided to measure the gas flow rate. The producer gas from the gasifier
system flows into two streams, one to the flare controlled by a gas ON/OFF valve
(CV[1]), and other two to the engine. The gas flow to the dual-fuel engine is controlled
using ON/OFF valve (CV[2]).

3.4 Water bubbler

The gas from the exit of the suction blower is bubbled through a container before it
enters the flare. This is provided as a safety device to prevent flame flash back from the
flare end in the event of air leaking into the system.

3.5 Flare

This is provided to check the initial quality of the combustible gas. The gas is flared in
the flare for a few minutes prior to change over to the engines.

3.6 Instrumentation

The system is provided water tube manometers at strategic locations like reactor, filter exit and
venturimeter for monitoring the health of the system.

8
 Safety features of the system

As the gasifier system is under suction the possibility of gas leaking into the ambient
from most of the system elements could be totally ruled out. However, there is
possibility of air leaking into the system thus diluting the gas. This could have two
effects, firstly this will be lead to lower diesel replacements, and secondly there could be
flame travel backwards in the event of start-up i.e at the time of lighting or torching the
gas in the flare. Hence water bubbler is provided upstream of flare to prevent any flame
travel backward into rest of the system elements.
The system is provided with water seals at various locations such as reactor top,
cooler bottom and bubbler to release pressure in the event of pressure build-up.

9
 OPERATION

&

MAINTENANCE MANUAL

10
 Loading the system
Installation of the gasifier system should be followed by a thorough leakage test (refer
Appendix 1). After the system qualifies the leakage test, fuel should be loaded into the
reactor.
Loading of charcoal

After ensuring that the ash conveyor is properly bolted to the reactor base, and the
motor is properly aligned with screw rotaion being smooth, the reactor should be loaded
with dry charcoal, preferably till the top or 1 m above the air nozzle level. Preferably
small sized (30 x 30 x 30 mm) charocal need to be loaded in the bottom ash coneyor
region followed by large sized charcoal pieces measuring 60 x 60 x 60 mm into the
reactor. Avoid using powdered charcoal. Ensure that no extraneous material like stones,
sand is loaded along with charcoal. The requirement of charcoal per filling may be upto
150 kgs.

Feed stock requirement

The range of biomass that could be used as the feed stock are, different spieces of
bioresidues whose density is above 250 kg/m3 and ash content less than 5%.

The biomass needs to be sized to about 60 x 25 x 25 mm, with moisture content no

more than 15% (the extent of moisture in wood has a important bearing on the quality of
gas generated). Refer to Apprendix VII for moisture estimation in biomass. Fines could
also be used (upto 15 x 10 x 10 mm), but the amount should be limited to a maximum of
50% of the total fuel mixture during each point of loading.

The first start of the gasifier requires the reactor to be completely loaded with dry
charcoal (150 - 200 kg). However, the subsequent runs do not require fresh loading of
charcoal, as it gets generated within the reactor.

11
 Start-up procedure
Gasifier start-up
 Run the ash conveor for 20 secs and clear the charcoal pieces in water seal.
 Open partially the gas valve (CV[1]) upstream of the blower and close fully the valve
(CV[2]) connected to the engine.
 Switch ON the water pump & set the cooler water flow rate to 120 LPM by opening
the appropriate gate valve.
 Ensure that water is flowing into the filter water seals.
 Ensure the bubbler water seal is filled with water to adequate level.
 Open the reactor top cover
 Top the reactor with properly sized wood chips
 Switch ON the suction blower
 Set the gas flow rate to 18-20 g/s by varying the gas control valve (CV[1]) connected
to the suction line of the blower. Refer to the venturi calibration sheet for appropriate
pressure drop across venturi for various flows.
 Open all the air nozzles
 Hold a flame in a form of a blowtorch or wick near to each of the air nozzles till the
char gets red-hot. Combustible gas gets generated within a few minutes from now.
 Light the gas in the flare after 5 mins from nozzle ignition or in a maximum of 15 min
(If the gas does not get ignited within this period, refer to the section on trouble
shooting)
 Top the wood chips in the reactor, as they keep moving downwards at regular
intervals of time. Depending upon the consumption rate fuel has to be topped up.
This has to be done manually. Check for voids or gaps by looking through the air
nozzle glass view port, if present eliminate the same by poking (using a thin steel
rod) from the reactor top.
 The system has to be operated on blower mode for about two hours (first run only) before
changing over to the engine. This is to ensure gas of reasonably good quality is made
available for engine operation. For subsequent runs operation on blower mode for about 5
-10 min to ensure that combustible gas is generated.
 When operating at part load i.e the D-G load is less than 30 kW, operate the gasifier with
only three nozzles of the reactor open (120 deg apart).

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 Operation on dual-fuel mode
1. Close the flare valve CV[1].
2. Open the gas valve (CV[2]) to the D-G set partly.
3. Now the engine runs on dual-fuel with producer gas substituting diesel.
4. The extent of diesel replacement depends upon the load of operation, and on the
quality of gas being substituted.
5. Optimum values for replacement could be achieved by tuning the gas valve (CV[2])
and air control valve (CV[3]) on the engine side. Maximum replacement upto 80 %
could be achieved at nominal loads. The engine sound becomes lower during dual
fuelling, the air valve can be controlled till the engine starts missing. Operating at
missing limits however can create damage to engine. The operator has to optimize
this carefully.
Monitoring the system
The normal and proper working of the gasifier can be ensured by visual inspection of
the air nozzles, which need to have a red-hot in and around the nozzles. Continuous flow of
wood chips in the reactor is a good sign of normal gasification process with the generation of
good quality gas. Improper and non-uniform material movement implies that there could be
large air gaps or voids in the reactor, affecting the normal gasification process. This could be
from one or a combination of the following reasons: using moist feed (moisture > 20%); low
density feed; large sized wood chips- resulting in fuel bridging. Another indicator of normal
gasifier operation is the pressure drop (refer Appendix III), across the reactor, for a given flow
rate of gas. This is a good indicator representing the health of the system. For a given flow
rate, sudden or abnormal increase in pressure drop indicates there could be ash build up in
the system, thus affecting the gas flow. This situation is purely temporary and can be
eliminated by rotating the ash conveyor screw by 1 turn till the pressure drop returns to
normal.

Keep topping wood chips into the reactor at regular time intervals,
depending on consumption rate. Don’t operate the system with large volume
of reactor empty or with voids. Refer Appendix II for a trouble free
operation. Poke from the reactor top to eliminate voids using a thin steel rod.
Take adequate care so as not to damage the ceramic reactor walls.

13
 Malfunctioning and trouble shooting

It is important for an operator to differentiate between the malfunctioning of a

gasifier and that of the engines. The troubles that could likely occur are as follows
Dual-fuel operation
1) If there is low diesel replacement, even after tuning the air control valve (CV[3]) and
the gas control valve (CV[2]), the problem is likely to be related to the gasifier, and
this could be due to either of the following reasons:
a) There could be air leakage into the gasifier, resulting in diluting the wood gas.
This leakage could be occurring either at the reactor or in the cooling and
cleaning section or in gas line to the engines. For further action refer to
Appendix 1.

b) There could be blockage in the reactor or in the cooling and filtering section,
causing resistance to the gas flow. To determine this, the pressure drops
across various sub systems should be checked. The total pressure drop
across the system must not exceed 300 - 325 mm at full load operation. If
it exceeds, it could be due to blockage occurring as a consequence of
continuous accumulation of dust and tar in sand bed filter. The only solution to
this problem is to clean the filtering system, which requires shut down of the
gasifier system. In case there is large pressure drop across the reactor bed
only, then it could due to ash accumulation in the system. To overcome this
problem, the screw has to be rotated 1 or 2 turns till pressure drop gets back
to normal.

2) If there is any trouble in the dual-fuel engine, then the problem could be rectified by
referring to the diesel engine manual.

The total pressure drop i.e at final fabric filter exit must not exceed 300 - 325 mm
at full load operation.

14
 Shut down procedure
 Top the wood chips in the reactor.
 Close the air nozzles of the reactor.
 Disconnect the gas supply to the engines by closing the gas valve (CV[2]) and fully
open the air valve (CV[3]) and partly open flare valve (CV[1]). Allow the D-G set to
run on diesel mode.
 If the gasifier is working in flare mode, close the gas valve (CV[1]) and
simultaneously switch OFF the suction blower.
 Allow the fumes to come out from the reactor top
 Fill water into the reactor top cover water seal and put the top cover such that no gas
puffs out.
 Open the control valve CV[1] with blower OFF and allow the gas to flow into the
flare. Light the gas in the flare.
 After a time gap of about 5 minutes switch off the water pump and close CV[1].

15
 Maintenance of the system
Check the bolts and nuts randomly once everyday in the first 10 days
of assembly. Tighten bolts & nuts of all the components every 100 hrs
of operation

Gasifier section
Reactor
1) Rotate ash conveying screw one turn before start-up for ash removal.
2) Unload the reactor once the pressure drop across the reactor shoots beyond
250 mm of water at the desired flow rate. Otherwise unload the same once every
1000 + 200 hrs of operation.
3) Inspect the screw and the ceramic lining whenever the reactor is unloaded.
4) Extract the solid residues from the screw exit water seal after each screw rotation
5) Tighten all bolts and nuts after the first 25 hrs of run (after any dismantling and
reassembly).
Cooling and cleaning system
Cooler
1. Clean the cooler sprays and also check the spray pattern once every 500 hrs of run
or when reduction in water flow is suspected (by measurement).
2. Clean the water dump seal off the solid residues once every 500 + 200 hrs of run.
3. Tighten all bolts and nuts after 25 hrs of run (after any dismantling and reassembly).
Filter
1) Clean the fabric of fabric filter, once the pressure drop exceeds 75 - 80 mm of water
or 1500 - 2000 hrs of run.
Venturi & Valves
1) Clean the control valves every 200 hrs of run
2) Clean the venturi every 100 hrs of run. Ensure that no water traces are left in the
ductings prior to reassembly.
Blower
1) Lubricate the bearings of the blower once every 500 hrs of operation; Use Lithium
soap based grease.

16
Water pump
1) Check the foot valve strainer every 250 hrs of operation, clear off any dust collected on it.
The time intervals indicated for maintenance may be modified,
particularly for the long mean time between maintenance actions.

Engine section
Other than the regular maintenance, as specified by the manufacturer, the following are
the additional care to be taken
1) Check the viscosity of the engine oil and change it once every 200 hrs of operation
along with the lub oil filters
2) Clean the pipe leading to the engine, gas valve and inlet manifold of the engine once
every 250 hrs of operation.
3) Maintain the battery leads in good condition by applying petrolleum jelly.

17
 Appendix I
Leak test after assembly
The entire gasifier has to qualify a leak test, which is one of the critical event in
the erection. Critical sub-assemblies like the reactor have to qualify leak test, prior to
insulation and cladding. The reactor components like the top shell and recirculating
duct has been leak tested and subsequently insulated and cladded. However, the
entire system has to undergo a leak test at all the flange joints after the erection at site.
This has to be done in order to ensure that air doesn’t leak into the system and
dilute the producer gas. To conduct this test, connect a pressure line which supplies air
at a pressure of 100 -150 mm of water to the exit ducting from the blower i.e. prior to the
ducting connecting to the flare. Fill the water seals of reactor top cover and cooler water
dump with adequate water upto overflow level. Further, cover the top of the reactor with
cover and put a weight on it so that it is not thrown off. Next, open the pressure line and
apply soap water at all possible flange joints. In case there is a leak, bubbles form at all
these points. Ensure that all possible leaks are plugged properly. In a similar manner
conduct leakage test at all the ductings that leads to the burner and engine. The leak
test is to be conducted every time when ever the system is dismantled for any form of
maintenance.
Check for air leakage during system functioning (if leakage is suspected)
1) Run the engine on diesel mode
2) Light a wick. Blow off the flame and hold the extinguished wick (with fumes coming
out) near to all possible points for leakage, like the flanged joints, and pipe joints. In
case there is leak, then their will is tendency for the fumes to be drawn inwards or
sucked, indicating the leaking point.
3) Mend all leaks found
4) The leakage of air could also be due to insufficient water in the water seals under
coolers. Ensure that water is flowing into the water seals and water is being retained
till the overflow level.

18
 Appendix II
DOs AND DON’Ts
Dos
Ensure that
1) The charcoal/wood chips does not have any extraneous materials like stones, metal
etc.
2) Adequate water level is maintained in all the water seals.
3) Water is being sprayed continuously in the coolers, prior to and during the run.
4) Coolant water temperature does not exceed + 5 0C above ambient during run.
5) Correctly sized wood is being loaded into the reactor and level maintained.
6) There is water in the top cover water seal when the top cover is shut.
7) Reactor is loaded with wood chips, preferably in a cone shape at the top.
8) Wood is loaded at regular intervals depending upon the consumption rate.
9) There are no voids or gaps in the reactor by observing through the air nozzle view
port (with glasses on).
DON’Ts
Do not
1) Pour water into the reactor under any circumstance, to shut off the reactor.
2) Use larger sized wood chips other than specified.
3) Expose the bottom of the reactor to atmosphere when the reactor is hot.
4) Operate the gasifier at higher load/flow rate immediately after fresh start. If done,
there is a possibility of wood chips not totally converting into char by the time it
reaches the air nozzle. Hence follow start up procedure meticulously.
5) Overload the D-G set beyond the rated load.

19
 Appendix III

Table - I

Typical pressure drop (dp) across various sections of the system

Gas flow D-G load dp in mm of water

rate, g/s kW Reactor Cooler Filter
14 20 6 - 40 2-5 3 - 10
25 35 25 - 60 4 - 15 3 - 10
35 50 30 - 80 10 - 25 6 – 20
42 60 45-100 20 - 35 10 -35
52 75 60-150 25 - 45 25 -55

Table - II

Wood consumption rate at various power levels

D-G load Wood *

kW consumption
rate, kg/hr
25 28
50 55
75 75

* could be +10% depending upon the moisture content in the wood

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 Appendix IV

Troble Shooting:

Note: Before any maintenance action, ensure the system is shutdown according
to the procedure.

1. Reactor Pressure drop > 150 mm at rated load, leads to reduced gas flow,
activate ash extraction system for 20 secs. If pressure drop does not
reduce for long time, stop the system and unload the reactor.
2. After cooler pressure drop > 75 mm at rated load may be blockage in the
duct between reactor exit and coolr exit. Clear the same.
3. Filter pressure drop > 100 mm at rated load, may be due to blockage.
Open the filter, clean the fabric, dry it and refit it.

Appendix V
Cleaning the Fabric filter

One of the reasons for reduction in the gas flow is the excess pressure drop across the
filter (say more than 90 –100 mm of water). This could be due to continuous
accumulation of contaminents in the filter, which lead to reduction in the gas flow. In
such circumstances the fabric in the filter has to be removed, cleaned and replaced.
This maintenance requires shutting down of the system and opening the filter. The
fabric should be removed from the filter, cleaned by rinsing it in soap water for 2 hours
and drying it (the fabrics should not be beaten). After the filter are cleaned and
reassembled the entire system has to qualify leakage test as explained in Appendix I.

Don’t mix the fabrics of both the filters

Appendix VI

21
 Unloading the reactor & procedure for reactor repair
The reactor has to be unloaded once the pressure drop across the reactor shoots
beyond 150 mmwg of water or else as mentioned in the maintenance schedule. It is
better to leave the system unoperated for sufficiently long time, say a day so that the
reactor bed cools down and make the process of unloading easier. Additional care has
to be exercised while handling as the reactor bed could be hot and may cause
injury/burns. Firstly the ash extraction system support bolts has to be lowered till it
touches the ground and then should be secured tightly. The bolts have to be removed
and the support bolt loosened until the wheels touch the ground. The ash extraction
system can be moved away on the wheels so that further the material from the reactor
falls down. Use water to cool the unloaded hot charcoal pieces, if this is not done
then there might be chances of fire hazard. The screw once removed needs to be
closely examined for any erosion/damages. If found right, the same could be refitted
back after cleaning ash/dust. Check the metallic braided graphite gland rope before
refitting; if it is too compressed then it has to be changed. The new gland rope has to be
continuously laid in the groove till the initial end is reached. Here the ends have to be
chamfered at 450 so that the rope becomes endless. The screw can be raised and
properly bolted.
Also inspect the inside of the reactor (ceramic walls) for any erosion or damages
using a battery light or torch. In case the tiles have fallen off, the same could be
repaired as follows:
1. Moist the fresh tiles by dipping it in water for about an hour
2. Mix the mortar with small amount of water so as to form a thick paste
3. Clean the reactor surface using a brush
4. Moisten the reactor surface by sprinkling water
5. Apply the mortar paste on the moist fresh tile and press it on the reactor surface.
Excercise care such that no excess protrusion occurs which hampers the material
movement.
6. Allow it to dry for 2 hrs. Sprinkle few drops of water on the repaired surface.
7. Allow it to cure for another 3 hrs. Total curing time is 5 hrs.

22
 Appendix – VII
Moisture content in wood
The procedure to find moisture content in wood is as follows:
1. Take a representative sample of wood about 25 gms, cut to small pieces
roughly measuring 1 cm x 1 cm x 1 cm.
2. Weigh the samples using a balance - the balance should have least
sensitivity of 0.1gm
3. Keep the sample in an oven (a domestic oven would suffice), with temperatue
set to 100 C for about an hour.
4. Switch off the oven, allow the sample to cool with in it, without exposing the
hot sample to ambient.
5. When the sample attains room temperature, weigh the same in the balance.
6. Check the moisture content as given below, for example
Initial sample wt : 25 gm
Final sample wt: 22.0 gm
Moisture evaporated : 25 – 22.0 = 3.0 gm
Moistue content (on dry basis) = Moisture evaporated = 3.0 = 14%
Final weight 22.0

7. Repeat the above procedure by keeping the sample in the oven for another
hour until consistent results are obtained.

23
 Appendix – VIII
Gasifier specifications
Parameter Specification
Type Open top down draft solid bio-
residue gasifier
Rating 100 kWe or 250 m3/hr gas
generation capacity
Feed stock Any solid biomass with bulk
density over 250 kg/m3, moisture
content less than 15%, ash less
than 2% cut to a maximum size of
60 mm x 40 mm x 40 mm
Typical gas composition CO : 20 + 1%; CH4 : 3 + 1%, H2 : 20 +
1%, CO2 : 12 + 1% and rest, N2.

Turn down ratio (max/min load) 4:1

Lower calorific value of gas 4.5 MJ/kg
Application Diesel substitution upto 80 –85% could
be achieved in dual-fuel mode of
operation on standard diesel engines
with any modification. The tune to which
diesel substitution could be achieved is
sensitive to the moisture content in the
biomass
System Elements
Reactor High temperature ceramic & stainless
steel
Coolers Direct impinging type co-current coolers.
Water flow rate ~ 100 LPM for cooling
the gas to ambient
Filters Fabric filters of 10 and 5  pores
Venturi Flow rate (g/s)
= K(dp in mm of water)
Flare Stainless steel
Tubings & Valves Corrosion resistant PVC tubes, PVC
valves & Polyproplene valve

24