Effect of biomass feed size and air flow rate on the pressure drop of gasification reactor

Abstract

The present work investigates feed size characteristics of the biomass on pressure drop for prediction of gasification reactor performance. Bed of biomass in the reactor resulted pressure drop causes the increase of energy for supplying gasifying agent, thereby reducing the net energy gain. Biomass used in this study are sawdust, rice husk, wood charcoal, coconut shells, peanut shells, corn cobs and leaf litter. Pressure drop test were performed under turbulent condition (Reynolds: 63000; 78000, and 88000) and five bed height variations (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 m). It had been found that the higher Reynolds and bed of biomass as well as the smaller particle size of the biomass resulted greater pressure drop. Moreover, the shape characteristic of biomass also affected pressure drop. The study yield correlations of pressure drop, fluid velocity and height of bed for each biomass. The obtained pressure drops are analyzed by Bernoulli equations for investigation of power prediction. The highest power requirement was achieved for saw dust (P= 47.84 W) with Reynolds 88000 and height of 0.5 m. In contrast, the lowest power requirement was achieved for corn cobs (P=11.257 W) with Reynolds 63000 and height of 0.1 m. © 2014 Penerbit UTM Press. All rights reserved.