Hydrogen-Rich Syngas Production from Gasification and Pyrolysis of Solar Dried Sewage Sludge: Experimental and Modeling Investigations

Solar dried sewage sludge (SS) conversion by pyrolysis and gasification processes has been performed, separately, using two laboratory-scale reactors, a fixed-bed pyrolyzer and a downdraft gasifier, to produce mainly hydrogen-rich syngas. Prior to SS conversion, solar drying has been conducted in or...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aïda Ben Hassen Trabelsi, Amina Ghrib, Kaouther Zaafouri, Athar Friaa, Aymen Ouerghi, Slim Naoui, Habib Belayouni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2017-01-01
Series:BioMed Research International
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/7831470
Description
Summary:Solar dried sewage sludge (SS) conversion by pyrolysis and gasification processes has been performed, separately, using two laboratory-scale reactors, a fixed-bed pyrolyzer and a downdraft gasifier, to produce mainly hydrogen-rich syngas. Prior to SS conversion, solar drying has been conducted in order to reduce moisture content (up to 10%). SS characterization reveals that these biosolids could be appropriate materials for gaseous products production. The released gases from SS pyrolysis and gasification present relatively high heating values (up to 9.96 MJ/kg for pyrolysis and 8.02  9.96 MJ/kg for gasification) due to their high contents of H2 (up to 11 and 7 wt%, resp.) and CH4 (up to 17 and 5 wt%, resp.). The yields of combustible gases (H2 and CH4) show further increase with pyrolysis. Stoichiometric models of both pyrolysis and gasification reactions were determined based on the global biomass formula, CαHβOγNδSε, in order to assist in the products yields optimization.
ISSN:2314-6133
2314-6141