Gasification of corn and clover grass in supercritical water

The influence of pressure, temperature, residence time, and alkali addition on the gasification of corn starch, clover grass and corn silage in supercritical water was investigated. Changing the pressure did not alter the gasification yield. An increase in the temperature notably improved the conversion of biomass. Residence time variations revealed that with longer residence time, gasification yield was improved until a maximum was reached. Gas composition changed with residence time and temperature. Potassium addition affected the gasification yield of corn starch, but did not influence the gasification yield of the potassium-containing natural products of clover grass and corn silage. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.