SUITABLE SYNGAS FOR FISCHER TROPSCH PRODUCED FROM BAMBOO CULMS IN A NEWLY DESIGNED DOUBLE OPPOSITE PIPE FLUIDIZED BED GASIFIER

C. B. Ugwuodo; C. N. Owabor; S. E. Ogbeide

C. B. Ugwuodo Department of Chemical Engineeering Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Umuahia, Abia State
C. N. Owabor Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun, Delta State, Nigeria
S. E. Ogbeide Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria

Keywords: Bamboo Culms, Biomass, Bubbling Fluidized Bed, Design, Gasification, Synthesis Gas

Abstract

The spread of biomass in each nation makes it the world’s largest and most sustainable renewable energy resources. The bamboo culms (BC) are abundantly available in Nigeria, but untapped. However, adequate preparation and transformation of biomass into synthesis gas in a suitably designed biomass gasifers was vigorously pursued. A bubbling fluidized bed gasifier (BFBG) was designed using fluidization dynamic principle and standard procedure in the literature. The gasifier was attached with two opposite extended torispherical heads inclined at angle of 60 oC to the reactor to ensure high carbon conversion of raw material by inducing high degree of turbulence and perfect mixing, The bamboo gasification results shows that operating with an equivalence ratio of 0.36 and bed temperature of 870℃ gives a corresponding syngas volumetric composition of H2, CO2, CO and CH4 as 28.14%, 14.61%, 8.43% and 1.12% respectively, with syngas yield of 3.19 m3/kg. The H2/CO ratio of 1.93 implies that it is suitable for Fischer Tropsch technology. The obtained results however showed that the BC (bamboo culms) should be utilized as an alternative energy source in the energy diversification plan in Nigeria through gasification