Corrosion of silicon carbide hot gas filter candles in gasification environment

Reliable cleaning of the fuel gas is required to meet the environmental regulations and to prevent corrosion and erosion of downstream components. The aggressive process environment in biomass-gasification power generation systems or in biofuels production systems can cause corrosion in ceramic hot gas filter candles used to clean the fuel gas. Therefore, to improve the reliability and durability of filters, the influence of steam, ash, and alkaline (earth) metals on the corrosion processes was studied for silicon carbide filter candles fabricated by Pall Schumacher. Exposures with biomass and lignite ashes caused a macroscopically expansion as well as microstructural effects that were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. All effects are discussed and it is shown that the employment of silicon carbide filter candles in water vapour containing, alkali-rich gasification environment at high temperature is problematic.