Characterization of Particulate Matter in the Hot Product Gas from Indirect Steam Bubbling Fluidized Bed Gasification of Wood Pellets

Journal article, 2011

This study characterized the particulate matter (PM) formed during indirect steam bubbling fluidized bed gasification of wood pellets at atmospheric pressure. A system including a dilution probe, a bed of granular activated carbon, and a thermodenuder was used to sample the PM at high temperature with the aim of separating it from condensing inorganic vapors and tars. The particle mass size distribution was bimodal with a fine mode in the <0.5-μm size range and a dominating coarse mode in the > 0.5-μm size range. The coarse mode was representatively characterized, but condensing inorganic vapors and tars complicated the evaluation of the results for the fine-mode PM. Morphological analysis of the PM indicated that the char content was low. The inorganic fraction was dominated by potassium and chlorine for fine-mode PM and calcium and silicon for coarse-mode PM.