This study investigated the enhancement of synthesis gas quality and energy yield efficiency in catalytic gasification of paper-reject derived fuel, and agricultural waste (rice straw) using an integration of in-furnace tar reduction and a hot syngas cleaning technology. To assess the in-furnace tar reduction efficiency in gasification of targeted biomass, the various mineral catalysts; such as zeolite, calcined dolomite, clay and calcium oxide were conducted in this research for the promotion of catalytic transformation of tar. To further enhance the syngas quality, the hot syngas cleaning system was used in a subsequent experimental procedure. The hot syngas cleaning system was a packed adsorption column containing various mineral adsorbents that was applied, in order to separate and adsorb the impurities of the syngas, and to enhance the syngas quality. The experimental results indicated that in-furnace tar reduction rates ranged from 20% to 53% by various targeted catalysts within the gasification of the tested biomass. In the case of in-furnace tar reduction in gasification of agricultural waste, it was found that calcined dolomite would be a better catalyst for tar reduction than other targeted catalysts, and the tar reduction rate was approximately 37%. However, it has been found that mineral zeolite is a better catalytic performer for in-furnace tar reduction in gasification of paper-rejected derived fuel. The in-furnace tar reduction rate could increased to 53%. To further assess the overall tar elimination rate in gasification of tested biomass, coupled with the integrated hot syngas cleaning system, the overall tar elimination rates of all tested biomass derived tar were approximately above 96%. In summary, the integration of in-furnace tar reduction and the hot syngas cleaning system represents a potential technology to enhance the adsorption/separation efficiency of tar containing high-rings hydrocarbon. It not only reduces the risk of syngas utilization in the future, but it also enhances the efficiency of syngas cleaning and energy yield.

Gasification, tar, syngas, catalyst