Progress in biomass gasification technique – With focus on Malaysian palm biomass for syngas production

Abstract

Synthesis gas,alsoknownassyngas,producedfrombiomassmaterialshasbeenidentified asapotential source ofrenewableenergy.SyngasismainlyconsistsofCOandH2, whichcanbeuseddirectlyasfuel source forpowergenerationandtransportfuel,aswellasfeedstockforchemicalproduction.Syngasis produced throughbiomassgasification processthatconvertssolidstogasphaseviathermochemical conversionreactions.Thispapercriticallyreviewsthetypeofgasifiers thathavebeenusedforbiomass gasification, including fixedbed, fluidized bed,entrained flow andtransportreactortypes.Theadvan- tages andlimitationsofthesegasifiers arecompared,followedbydiscussiononthekeyparametersthat are criticalfortheoptimumproductionofsyngas.Dependingonthebiomassfeedstock,theproperties and characteristicsofsyngasproducedcanbevaried.Itisthusessentialtothoroughlycharacterisethe properties ofbiomasstounderstandthelimitationsinordertoidentifythesuitablemethodsforgasi- fication. Thispaperlaterfocusesonaspecific biomass – oil palm-basedforsyngasproductioninthe contextofMalaysia,wherepalmbiomassisreadilyavailableinabundance.Thepropertiesandsuitability for gasification ofthemajorpalmbiomass,includingemptyfruitbunch,oilpalmfrondsandpalmkernel shells arereviewed.Optimizationofthegasification process can significantly improvetheprospectof commercial syngasproduction.