Study of the steam gasification of organic wastes
Chemical kinetic data describing the pyrolysis/gasification characteristics of organic waste (biomass) materials is needed for the design of improved conversion reactors. Unfortunately, little data is available in the literature on the pyrolysis kinetics of waste materials, and essentially no data have been published on the rates and products of the secondary, gas phase reactions. The objective of this research was to determine the effects of various reactor conditions (residence time, temperature, and heating rate) on the rates of the primary pyrolysis reactions, and the rates and products of the secondary gas phase reactions. Because steam was known to be a good gasification/fuel conversion media for various liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, coal and peat, the experimental studies described here focused on the steam gasification of organic waste (biomass) materials. However, no attempt was made to study the water gas or Boudouard reactions, which require higher temperatures than used in this research. As discussed in Section II, the chemistry of biomass gasification differs considerably from that of coal or peat. The most important result of this research was the discovery that pyrolytic volatile matter cracks very rapidly in the gas phase at temperatures above 650/sup 0/C to yield a hydrocarbon rich synthesis gas. At temperatures above 700/sup 0/C, rates of ethylene formation are second only to carbon monoxide in magnitude. Consequently, organic waste materials appear to be excellent, low priced cracking feedstocks for olefin production. More research is recommended to detail reaction mechanisms and improve product slates.
- Research Organization:
- Princeton Univ., NJ (USA). Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- OSTI ID:
- 5901746
- Report Number(s):
- NP-2901485; ON: DE82901485
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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ALKANES
ALKENES
CALORIFIC VALUE
CARBOHYDRATES
CELLULOSE
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
CHEMICAL REACTION YIELD
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION PROPERTIES
DATA
DECOMPOSITION
ETHYLENE
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLUIDS
GAS ANALYSIS
GASES
HIGH TEMPERATURE
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
INFORMATION
KINETICS
METHANE
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC WASTES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLYSACCHARIDES
PRESSURE DEPENDENCE
PYROLYSIS
PYROLYSIS PRODUCTS
PYROLYTIC GASES
REACTION KINETICS
SACCHARIDES
SOLID WASTES
STEAM
SYNTHESIS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTES
WATER
WOOD WASTES
YIELDS