Development of an Indirectly Heated Biomass Pyrolysis Reactor. Final Report

摘要

The goal of the research and development program described in this document is the introduction of a significantly different reactor design concept for the pyrolysis and gasification of biomass materials. The key feature of this new concept is the use of indirect heating based upon infra-red emitting fire-tubes internal to the reactor. Placement of the combustion flame within the reactor volume adds a significant radiant energy contribution to the heating process while maintaining the traditional convective/conductive components. The fire-tube reactor concept takes advantage of the high heating rates possible with radiant heating with the expected result that the rate of pyrolysis may be improved and the relative composition of the products may be controlled. The eventual fire tube-reactor will be a shell containing an array of fire-tube heaters. The heaters will be surrounded by a fluidized bed of biomass particles. However, before a true design for the fire-tube reactor is possible, a number of fundamental questions must be addressed. The kinetics and mechanisms of pyrolysis with radiant heating have not been studied previously. Heat transfer properties in a fluidized bed with an immersed, high temperature heat source are not currently available. A suitable design for the heater array or for the heaters themselves is yet to be developed. Because of the number of different unknowns involved in developing the fire-tube reactor technology, an overall program of applied research was organized to schedule and integrate the results. This report summarizes the results of these studies under the following headings: operational history of fire-tube reactor, biomass pyrolysis with radiant heating; and radiant heat transfer in fluidized beds. 40 references, 47 figures, 22 tables. (ERA citation 10:015833)