Title: Air gasification of Malaysia agricultural waste in a fluidised bed gasifier

Authors: Wan Ab Karim Ghani Wan Azlina; Reza A. Moghadam; Mohamad Amran Mohd Salleh; Azil Bahari Alias

Addresses: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. ' Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. ' Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia ' Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University Technology MARA Malaysia, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: Hydrogen production from agricultural waste has been investigated experimentally using a bench-scale fluidised bed gasifier with 60 mm diameter and 425 mm height. During the experiments, the fuel properties and the effects of operating parameters such as gasification temperatures (800–900°C), fluidisation ratio (2.0–3.33 m/s), static bed height (10–30 mm) and equivalence ratio (0.16–0.46) were analysed. Increasing temperatures favoured hydrogen yield and composition (up to 67 mol %) but only minor effects for other parameters. As conclusion, agricultural wastes are potential candidates as an alternative renewable energy source to fossil fuels.

Keywords: hydrogen production; air gasification; Malaysia; agricultural waste; fluidised bed gasifiers; renewable energy.

DOI: 10.1504/WRSTSD.2011.044210

World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, 2011 Vol.8 No.2/3/4, pp.100 - 113

Published online: 13 Dec 2011 *

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