Catalytic gasification of biomass (Miscanthus) enhanced by CO2 sorption.

The main objective of this work concerns the coupling of biomass gasification reaction and CO2 sorption. The study shows the feasibility to promote biomass steam gasification in a dense fluidized bed reactor with CO2 sorption to enhance tar removal and hydrogen production. It also proves the efficiency of CaO-Ca12Al14O33/olivine bi-functional materials to reduce heavy tar production. Experiments have been carried out in a fluidized bed gasifier using steam as the fluidizing medium to improve hydrogen production. Bed materials consisting of CaO-based oxide for CO2 sorption (CaO-Ca12Al14O33) deposited on olivine for tar reduction were synthesized, their structural and textural properties were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) methods, and the determination of their sorption capacity and stability analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It appears that this CaO-Ca12Al14O33/olivine sorbent/catalyst presents a good CO2 sorption stability (for seven cycles of carbonation/decarbonation). Compared to olivine and Fe/olivine in a fixed bed reactor for steam reforming of toluene chosen as tar model compound, it shows a better hydrogen production rate and a lower CO2 selectivity due to its sorption on the CaO phase. In the biomass steam gasification, the use of CaO-Ca12Al14O33/olivine as bed material at 700 °C leads to a higher H2 production than olivine at 800 °C thanks to CO2 sorption. Similar tar concentration and lighter tar production (analyzed by HPLC/UV) are observed. At 700 °C, sorbent addition allows to halve tar content and to eliminate the heaviest tars.

Activated carbons prepared from wood particleboard wastes: characterisation and phenol adsorption capacities.

The problems of valorisation of particleboard wastes on one hand, and contamination of aqueous effluents by phenolic compounds on the other hand, are simultaneously considered in this work. Preparation of activated carbons from a two steps thermo-chemical process, formerly designed for generating combustible gases, is suggested. The resultant carbonaceous residue is activated with steam at 800 degrees C. Depending on the preparation conditions, surface areas within the range 800-1300 m(2)/g are obtained, close to that of a commercial activated carbon (CAC) specially designed for water treatment and used as a reference material. The present work shows that particleboard waste-derived activated carbons (WAC) are efficient adsorbents for the removal of phenol from aqueous solutions, with maximum measured capacities close to 500 mg/g. However, most of times, the adsorption capacities are slightly lower than that of the commercial material in the same conditions, i.e., at equilibrium phenol concentrations below 300 ppm. Given the extremely low cost of activated carbons prepared from particleboard waste, it should not be a problem to use it in somewhat higher amounts than what is required with a more expensive commercial material. Phenol adsorption isotherms at 298 K were correctly fitted by various equations modelling type I and type II isotherms for CAC and WAC, respectively. Phenol adsorption isotherms of type II were justified by a 3-stages adsorption mechanism.

Thermal removal of nitrogen species from wood waste containing urea formaldehyde and melamine formaldehyde resins.

The removal of nitrogen from wood board waste through a low temperature pyrolysis (523-573 K) is investigated with two analytical methods. The kinetic study of the thermal behaviour of wood board and of its components (wood, UF and MF resins) shows the feasibility of removing thermally nitrogen from wood board waste. Indeed, the range of temperatures associated with the degradation of wood is different from the one obtained for the degradation of UF and MF resin. Isothermal conditions enable the determination of a kinetic model for degradation of wood board and of its components and demonstrate that the thermal behaviour of wood board is not the reflection of the sum of its components' behaviour. FTIR analysis of gas products confirms the feasibility removing nitrogen thermally and enables the evaluation of the optimum treatment conditions (temperature/duration). Elementary analysis of the treated samples and study of their low heating value (LHV) enable to quantify the efficiency of the thermal treatment in terms of nitrogen removal and of energy recovery. Results show that around 70% of the initial nitrogen can be removed from the waste, and that the temperature of treatment (between 523 K and 573 K) does not influence the efficiency in terms of nitrogen removal. Nevertheless, the ratio Residual energy/Initial energy (between 76% and 90%) is improved with the lowest temperature of treatment.

Comparison of two methods of measuring wood pyrolysis tar.

Two methods for the sampling and analysis of tar produced from wood pyrolysis were compared. The first method used a conventional cold-trapping technique in solvent-filled impingers followed by liquid injection. The second one is a new application of multibed solid-phase adsorbent (SPA) tubes followed by thermal desorption (TD). Both methods are based on gas chromatography (GC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS). Quantification was performed with a well reproducible GC-MS method with three internal deuterated standards. The SPA/TD method offers several advantages. No solvent is required, the detection levels are improved, and gas chromatography separation is easier. Moreover, sampling time is reduced from about 1h (for the conventional cold-trapping technique in impingers) to a few seconds. No discrimination was observed between the two sampling methods for the 10 quantified compounds (aromatic compounds from benzene to phenanthrene and phenols) except for benzene.