Performance prediction and validation of equilibrium modeling for gasification of cashew nut shell char

• Main Authors: M. Venkata Ramanan, E. Lakshmanan, R. Sethumadhavan, S. Renganarayanan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazilian Society of Chemical Engineering 2008-09-01
• Series: Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering
• Subjects: Equilibrium modeling; Gasification; Cashew shell char; Producer gas
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-66322008000300016
• ISSN: 0104-6632; 1678-4383

Cashew nut shell, a waste product obtained during deshelling of cashew kernels, had in the past been deemed unfit as a fuel for gasification owing to its high occluded oil content. The oil, a source of natural phenol, oozes upon gasification, thereby clogging the gasifier throat, downstream equipment and associated utilities with oil, resulting in ineffective gasification and premature failure of utilities due to its corrosive characteristics. To overcome this drawback, the cashew shells were de-oiled by charring in closed chambers and were subsequently gasified in an autothermal downdraft gasifier. Equilibrium modeling was carried out to predict the producer gas composition under varying performance influencing parameters, viz., equivalence ratio (ER), reaction temperature (RT) and moisture content (MC). The results were compared with the experimental output and are presented in this paper. The model is quite satisfactory with the experimental outcome at the ER applicable to gasification systems, i.e., 0.15 to 0.30. The results show that the mole fraction of (i) H2, CO and CH4 decreases while (N2 + H2O) and CO2 increases with ER, (ii) H2 and CO increases while CH4, (N2 + H2O) and CO2 decreases with reaction temperature, (iii) H2, CH4, CO2 and (N2 + H2O) increases while CO decreases with moisture content. However at an equivalence ratio less than 0.15, the model predicts an unrealistic composition and is observed to be non valid below this ER.