Energy Fuels 2010, 24, 5181–5189 Published on Web 08/23/2010
: DOI:10.1021/ef100604z
Steam Gasification of Bio-Oil and Bio-Oil/Char Slurry in a Fluidized Bed Reactor Masakazu Sakaguchi, A. Paul Watkinson, and Naoko Ellis* Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T1Z3 Received May 14, 2010. Revised Manuscript Received July 26, 2010
Bio-oil/char mixtures and whole bio-oil from rapid pyrolysis of woody biomass are potential feeds for synthesis gas production via steam gasification. A 7.8 cm diameter, atmospheric pressure, fluid bed gasifier was constructed and operated with either a nickel-containing steam reforming catalyst or silica sand as bed material. Both bio-oil and a slurry of 80 wt % bio-oil and 20 wt % char were tested as feedstocks. Effects of bed temperature, steam to carbon molar ratio, and space velocity on gaseous component yields and carbon conversion are reported for both feedstocks using catalytic and noncatalytic bed material. At the moderate temperatures (
