Determination of Kinetic Parameters for the Gasification of Biomass Char Using a Bubbling Fluidised Bed Reactor

A laboratory scale bubbling fluidised bed is used to investigate the gasification kinetics of char from wood pellets. As expected, the experiments show that the char gasification rate increases with temperature, but also that it does not significantly depend on the steam concentration for the conditions investigated. The kinetic parameters are determined and three models accounting for changes in the char structure during char conversion are tested: the grain model, the random pore model and an empirical model. The empirical model is the only one which gives a satisfactory agreement with the experimental data obtained in the lab unit.