Air gasification of palm empty fruit bunch in a fluidized bed gasifier using various bed materials

0TUse of lignocellulosic biomass as an alternative, renewable and sustainable source of energy has fulfilled part of the growing demand for energy in developed countries. Amongst various technologies applied to convert biomass wastes to biofuel and bioenergy, biomass gasification has attracted considerable attention. In this work, gasification of palm empty fruit bunch as a potential lignocellulosic waste was investigated in a pilot scale air-blown fluidized bed. Silica sand and dolomite were used as bed material. The bed temperature was varied in the range of 650 to 1050 PPC. The quality of the producer gas (HR2R, CO, COR2R and CHR4R) and gasification performance was assessed in terms of heating value, 0Tcarbon conversion efficiency, dry gas yield and cold gas efficiency. 0TIt was concluded 0Tthat high temperatures improved the quality of producer gas; 0Tmaximum heating value of 5.3 and 0T5.5 MJ/NmPP0T were achieved using silica sand and dolomite. Maximum dry gas yield of 1.84 and 1.79 (NmP Pgas/kg biomass), carbon conversion of 91 a nd 85% and cold gas efficiency 0Tof 69 a nd 65%0T were obtained for silica sand and dolomite, respectively. Although the quality of the produced gas was considerably improved at high temperatures, however formation of the bed agglomerates was the major concern at temperatures above 800 and 850 PPC for silica sand and sawdust.