TUTORIAL 2

Question 1 (2015)
A project has been initiated to investigate the possibility of gasifying biomass containing high
volatiles using a circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) gasifier. The ultimate analysis of the biomass on
a moisture-ash-free basis is as follows: C: 75%, H: 5.0%, S: 4.0%, N: 2.0% and O: 14.0%. The CFB
gasifier, circular in shape, having a diameter of 5m, operates at 30 bar of pressure and consumes
800 kg/min (dry-ash-free basis) of biomass, 2000 kg/min of steam, and 300 N m3/min of oxygen
to produce a product gas that contains 1200 N m3/min of syngas (a mixture of H2 and CO). The
mean gasifier temperature is 950oC. The volumetric composition of the product gas is as follows:
CO2: 30%, H2S: 0.4%, CO: 16.0%, H2: 42.1%, CH4: 10.0%, C2H4: 0.9%, N2: 0.6%. Determine the
following design elements of the CFB:
i. Steam/oxygen ratio
ii. Oxygen/carbon ratio
iii. Equivalence ratio
iv. Energy produced per unit grate area (annex the high heating values (HHV) of the
product gas) [pi = 3.14] at standard temperature and pressure (1 atm, 0oC) and the
space velocity
Given:

T  P1 
Q2 = Q1  2  
 T1  P2 
Where

Q1 = standard volumetric flow rate (N m3/min)

Q2 = actual volumetric flow rate (m3/min)

T1 = standard operating temperature (K)

T2 = actual temperature (K)

P1 = standard pressure (bar)

P2 = actual operating pressure (bar)

Question 2 (2017)
a) Describe using the ternary diagram what would happen under the following conditions:
i. Oxygen is used as the gasifying agent
ii. Steam is used as the gasifying agent
iii. Air is used as the gasifying agent
b) In an updraft gasifier, the water-gas gasification reaction is to be carried out. It is to be
assumed that drying and other losses in the system need 50% additional heat. Describe
how you would adjust the extent of the combustion reaction by controlling the supply of
oxygen and carbon by using the information in the table below.
 c) The ultimate analysis of the biomass on a moisture-ash-free basis is as follows: C: 75%, H:
5.0%, S: 4.0%, N: 2.0% and O: 14.0%. A circulating fluidized bed (CFB) gasifier, circular in
shape, having a diameter of 5m, operates at 30 bar of pressure and consumes 800 kg/min
(dry-ash-free basis) of biomass, 2000 kg/min of steam, and 300 N m3/min of oxygen to
produce a product gas that contains 1200 N m3/min of syngas (a mixture of H2 and CO).
Determine the following design elements of the CFB:
i. Steam/oxygen ratio
ii. Oxygen/carbon ratio
iii. Equivalence ratio

Question 3 (2018)
a) Describe the general sequence of steps that take place during a gasification process.
b) A bubbling fluidized-bed gasifier (BFBG) pilot plant was used to investigate the effect of
using oxygen-enriched air on the gasification of two high-ash coals, namely Coal A and
Coal AA. The gasifier operated under the following conditions for a coal feed rate of 35
kg/h:
• Oxygen flow rate = 16 kg/h
• Steam flow rate = 35 kg/h
• Bed temperature = 980oC
• Absolute pressure = 95 kPa
The ultimate analysis of the two high-ash coals are shown in Table 1.
 Table 1

On moisture-ash-free Coal A Coal AA

%C 79.25 72.93

%H 3.45 4.11

%N 0.90 1.19

%S 0.84 1.17

%O 15.56 20.60

The volumetric composition (%) of the product gas is given in Table 2.

Table 2

Coal A (%) Coal AA (%)

CO 16.60 17.00

H2 24.00 20.90

CH4 1.30 1.50

CO2 20.70 22.50

N2 37.4 38.10

If the product gas contains 1500 N m3/min of syngas, calculate:

i. the equivalence ratio for the gasification of Coal A and Coal AA.
ii. the total heating value (HHV) of the gas and total energy produced (MW) produced from
the gasification of Coal A and Coal AA.
iii. the standard volumetric flow-rate of product gas for Coal A and Coal AA.

Given:

T  P1 
Q2 = Q1  2  
 T1  P2 
Where

Q1 = actual volumetric flow rate (N m3/min)

T1 = standard operating temperature (K)

T2 = actual temperature (K)

P1 = standard pressure (bar)

P2 = actual operating pressure (bar)

Question 4 (2019)
a) The use of catalysts in the thermochemical conversion of biomass can be helpful under
two circumstances. Discuss these two circumstances for using catalysts and support your answer
with relevant reaction equations.

[8 marks]

b) An updraft gasifier is designed for the gasification of biomass containing high volatiles.
The ultimate analysis of the biomass on a moisture-ash-free basis is as follows: C: 80%, H: 6.0%,
S: 5.0%, N: 1.0% and O: 8.0%. The updraft gasifier operates at 35 bar of pressure and consumes
850 kg/min (dry-ash-free basis) of biomass, 1500 kg/min of steam, and 250 N m3/min of oxygen
to produce a product gas that contains 1100 N m3/min of syngas (a mixture of H2 and CO). The
mean gasifier temperature is 900oC. The volumetric composition of the product gas is as follows:
CO2: 30%, H2S: 0.4%, CO: 16.0%, H2: 42.1%, CH4: 10.0%, C2H4: 0.9%, N2: 0.6%. Determine the
following design elements of the updraft gasifier (EE 2015):

i. Steam/oxygen ratio

ii. Oxygen/carbon ratio

iii. Equivalence ratio

iv. Energy produced using Annex 1 (high heating values (HHV) of the product gas) at
standard temperature and pressure (1 atm, 0oC).

c) Water-gas gasification reaction is to be carried out in the updraft gasifier. It is assumed