Energy & Fuels, Vol.29, No.6, 3725-3731, 2015
Syngas Production by Combined Biomass Gasification and in Situ Biogas Reforming
For small- to medium-sized streams of biogas (methane) produced at a biorefinery site where cost-efficient reforming by traditional methods are unavailable, combined biomass gasification and methane reforming could facilitate co-conversion and increase the H-2/CO ratio in the syngas from the gasification plant. In the present work, co-gasification of biomass with CH4 was evaluated by means of a parametric chemical equilibrium study for both wood/CH4 and black liquor/CH4 feedstocks and bench-scale fluidized-bed gasification experiments for a wood/peat/CH4 fuel mixture. The parametric study indicated that high-temperature, and steam and oxygen addition all facilitate a high conversion rate, i.e., methane reforming. Evaluating the influence of the gasification temperature on CH4 reforming and increasing the H-2/CO ratio experimentally demonstrated that high temperatures are required for efficient co-conversion.