Gasification

Gasification is the conversion of carbonaceous feedstock by air, oxygen or steam into a gas mixture, called synthesis gas (syngas), consisting of calorific value which can further be used for downstream applications. Gasification  differs from combustion in a sense that the syngas contain calorific value.

At RISE ETC there are multiple test beds for gasification:

• FOX (Fixed Bed Oxygen Blown Gasifier Pilot Plant) is an atmospheric fixed bed gasifier that can be used to produce a syngas mixture that is comparable to that of generated in entrained gasifiers. This is achieved by introduction of pure oxygen which leads to high process temperatures. Possible feedstock can be any solid feed in pellet form such as  biomass or plastic waste. The FOX pilot has a capacity of 4 kg of fuel per hour,  equivalent to about 20 kW.

• VAFF (Vertical Atmospheric Flexifuel Furnace), is an atmospheric gasifier for pulverised feed stock. VAFF has a  capacity of 20-40 kg fuel per hour, equivalent to about 100-200 kW.  
   
• DTF (Drop Tube Furnace) is a drop tube reactor in which the pulverised/liquid feed stock  is fed from the top of the pre-heated oven and then falls to the bottom. The DTF is used on lab scale for generating fundamental data under well controlled conditions.  

The syngas from the gasifier can be used for electricity production, upgraded to biofuels and/or chemicals or produce synthetic natural gas. Alternatively, it can be used in the cement or paper industry for various drying or heating applications, as well as a reaction gas when making steel. 

Current research projects are mostly focused on the characterisation of syngas produced from biomass and chemical recycling of plastic waste.

The gasification test bed enables scientific research on an industrial relevant scale.