Coated heat exchangers as self-cleaning producer gas condensers

Controlled cooling of the producer gas from a steam-blown gasifier is challenging because of the impending risk of tar fouling on the heat exchanger surfaces. A scrubber is typically used today to avoid this, which causes energy losses as the latent heat only becomes available in the solvent at a low temperature. A more resource and energy efficient process would be possible if the producer gas could be cooled down in a heat exchanger that could resist tar adsorption.

In this project, we will coat a heat exchanger with a strongly hydrophilic surface, so that it is well wetted by the condensing steam. As the tars are nonpolar, they will not dissolve in the water film and a self-cleaning producer gas condenser has been realized. Experiments and simulations will be combined to investigate the function closer and optimize the design. Simulations of this kind has a huge potential in the future development of energy efficient processes based on nano-engineered surfaces.