Exploration of the effect of process variables on the production of high-value fuel gas from glucose via supercritical water gasification

A new continuous supercritical water gasification reactor was designed to investigate glucose gasification in supercritical water at high temperatures and low residence times. A 23 full factorial experiment was performed to determine the effects of feed concentration, temperature, and residence time on glucose gasification. The temperature levels (750 °C and 800 °C) were higher than ever used, while the residence times (4 and 6.5 s) were shorter than ever used in previous supercritical water gasification studies. The reactor proved capable of attaining higher gasification rates than previously shown with high efficiencies and yields. In addition, the glucose gasification reaction was modeled by estimating activation energy and reaction order of glucose gasification in supercritical water.