The purpose of the project was to develop and demonstrate an autothermal-gasification pilot-scale process to convert forest biomass, through a series of steps, into ultra-clean, pipeline-quality renewable gas. The project team incorporated innovative pulse-detonation-derived acoustic power to intensify the gasification process, using Taylor Energy’s Pilot-Scale Biomass Gasification Test-Facility, located at the University of California, Riverside, Center for Environ-mental and Research Technology. A forest biomass-to-syngas process was developed for economic production of pipeline-quality renewable gas, and the project team demonstrated key subsystems to advance the state of the art for gasification/reforming technology to produce syngas (synthesis gas) intended for upgrading to renewable gas.
Key Results:
Biomass Gasification: Thermo-catalytic intensification methods employing pulse-detonation-derived acoustic power resulted in increased specific throughput and improved energy conversion efficiency, and they are expected to reduce the installed capital cost.
Gas Shift Reactor: The project team identified a catalyst made of perovskite microfibers with oxide structures of the perovskite type as the most promising catalyst for advancing the state of the art for converting biogas-derived syngas.
Syngas Methanation: An 80 percent methane yield was achievable by reacting the shifted syngas slipstream in an adiabatic 3-stage nickel-based catalytic methanation process.
Author(s)
Donald Gene Taylor, Taylor Energy; Deila Taylor, Taylor Energy; Arun Raju, University of California, Riverside
