Effects of different Gasifying Agents on Syngas Production from Oil Palm Trunk

In Malaysia, the oil palm sector generates huge amounts of residues and wastes such as fruit fibres, palm kernel shells, empty fruit bunches, fronds, trunks and palm oil mill effluent. Oil palm trunk (OPT) is the most abundant biomass with high potential for energy and material source because oil palm trees are felled and replanted every 25 years. The biomass gasification was carried out in a gasifier using OPT to study its suitability as gasification feedstock. The experiment was carried out at atmospheric pressure 1 atm, constant temperature 900 °C and reaction time 60 min at different flow rates of gas into the gasifier. Effects of different gasifying agents on the producer gas composition especially syngas production ratio were studied. Various parameter conditions such as biomass feeding rate and gas supply flow rate were investigated. The syngas ratio (hydrogen content) increased when steam was used as gasifying agent compared with air due to water–gas shift reaction that occurred between carbon and steam to produce more hydrogen. The high nitrogen (N2) content in producer gas could be reduced by replacing it with carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 removal had no effect on greenhouse gases due to the recycling process of CO2 during photosynthesis.