Cuantificación del gas pobre producido por el gasificador downdraft de la Facultad de Mecánica

Abstract

The Downdraft Gasifier at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at ESPOCH needs an appropriate method for quantifying the amount of lean gas produced. As a result, it is not possible to measure the production quantity of this gas for potential utilization in other industrial processes. Consequently, this study aims to quantify the production of lean gas from this equipment by utilizing varying proportions of biomass materials such as wood chips and rice husks. Therefore, a Vortex flow meter was selected and installed, considering its compatibility with the parameters pertinent to the operation of the Downdraft gasifier. Following the installation of the quantification equipment, four gasification processes were conducted. In each cycle, 30 kg of biomass was employed alongside a consistent gasifying agent (air) flow rate of 60.66 m3/h. The biomass was managed in the following ratios: 50% wood chips and 50% rice husks, 75% rice husks and 25% wood chips, 100% rice husks and 100% wood chips. The resulting flow rate data for each gasification process were as follows: 75.97 m3/h, 87.19 m3/h, 87.24 m3/h, and 91.41 m3/h, respectively. Upon analyzing the laboratory samples, the lower heating value of the lean gas was obtained, which was subsequently employed to calculate the energy data produced by the gas for each process. The energy values were as follows: 144.049 kWh for the first gasification, 137.990 kWh for the second, 122.564 kWh for the third, and 179.992 kWh for the fourth. Among all the gasification processes analyzed in the laboratory, the highest lower heating value was obtained from the sample with a 100% wood chip proportion, yielding a gas output power of 179.992 kW/h. It leads to the conclusion that wood residues generate lean gas of superior quality.