Sewage and textile sludge co-gasification using a lab-scale fluidized bed gasifier

This research aims to evaluate the hydrogen production and removal ability of impurity (e.g. tar and NH3) generated from sewage and textile sludge co-gasification using lab-scale fluidized-bed gasifier with an integrated hot-gas cleaning system. The gasification temperature and equivalence ratio (ER) were controlled at 850 degrees C and 0.2, as well as the hot gas cleaning system operated at 250 degrees C with the combination of zeolite, calcined dolomite, and activated carbon. Experimental results indicated that the H-2 and CO yield in co-gasification of the tested sludge ranged from 2.12 to 2.45 mol/kg and from 2.83 to 3.98 mol/kg, respectively. The overall energy content of produced gas ranged between 2.40 and 2.63 MJ/kg, and cold gas efficiency (CGE) was nearly 15%. The impurities of produced gas were effectively mitigated by the hot-gas cleaning system, which could remove approximately 90% of the heavy fraction tar, up to 77% of total tar, and about 35% of ammonia. In summary, the combination of the fluidized-bed gasifier and the hot-gas cleaning system had been well developed for purifying the syngas produced from the tested sludge, and it could be applied to other organic wastes in the future. (c) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This research evaluates the hydrogen production and removal of impurities from the co-gasification of sewage and textile sludge using a lab-scale fluidized-bed gasifier with a hot-gas cleaning system. The experimental results indicate that the impurities were effectively mitigated by the hot-gas cleaning system, and the system can potentially be applied to other organic wastes.