GAS EVOLUTION OF CORN KERNELS AND PAPER SLUDGE FROM BIOMASS GASIFICATION AND PYROLYSIS

Gasification of biomass has become an area of key interest as it is a reasonably quick and direct way of converting the material into a fuel source that works directly in many industrial systems. The purpose of the present work is to explore gasification and pyrolysis behavior of corn kernels and paper sludge. For both corn kernels and paper sludge, low temperature gasification behavior was studied. Due to corn's low ash fusion temperature, similar to 1400 C, gasification is typically undertaken at temperatures near 1000 C, and most of the chemical mechanisms are similar down to similar to 500 C. Here, tests were performed with pyrolysis temperatures from 400 - 800 degrees C, at 1 atm and a rapid heating rate. The evolution of CO and CO2 were measured throughout the pyrolysis process. Results show a direct correlation between temperature and equivalence ratios and the composition of the gas byproduct for both biomasses. CO production increases with an increase in temperature while CO2 shows no temperature correlation. No hydrogen was observed, as would be expected for the short experimental residence time (0.2 seconds).