Bhoopendra Pandey
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Uttarakhand, Srinagar-Garhwal, Uttarakhand-246174, India
Pratik N. Sheth
Department of Chemical Engineering, BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, Pilani, Rajasthan-333031, India
Yogesh Kumar Prajapati
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Uttarakhand, Srinagar (Garhwal) - 246174, India
Biomass gasification is used to convert solid biomass to combustible gases. These gases are called product gas or syngas. In addition to product gas, tar is also generated during gasification, which is an undesirable substance and a significant concern for further utilization. Hence, product gas cleaning is essentially required before its application. The tar analysis is an essential input for designing the gas cleaning system. However, the reduction of tar by improving the gasification performance is desirable. To quantify the design modification for tar minimization in the gasifier and study the effects of gas cleaning unit operation, tar analysis is required. In the present study, a non-isokinetic method for tar sampling is presented in which product gas is sampled and passes through the solvent at a constant flow rate. The solvent dissolves the tar and moisture present in the product gas. Different types of solvents such as hexane, acetone, methanol, and isopropanol alcohol are used in this study. Isopropyl alcohol is found to be the most effective solvent for tar dissolution compared to other types. The tar is separated from the solvent and water using rotavapor. The detailed estimation of tar concentration present in the product gas has been accomplished after thermogravimetric analysis.