Understanding and improving the gasification of mixed feeds including woody biomass, waste and non bio-mass feedstocks

气化是一种可以有效利用来自加拿大丰富自然资源的废物，以可持续的方式提供能源的过程。这些废物包括从松甲虫尸体中提取的木质生物质、建筑垃圾和石油焦（石油工业的副产品）。其中一些废物含有天然催化剂（影响反应速度的物质），可以增强其他废物的气化。例如，木材中含有钾，这是一种众所周知的煤气化催化剂。在这个项目中，来自不列颠哥伦比亚大学、卡尔加里大学和多伦多大学的三个研究小组将共同努力，更好地了解在气化过程中将木质生物质原料与其他原料（石油焦、建筑垃圾和低烟煤）共投的好处和挑战。更具体地说，该项目将包括完整的原料特性，并结合实验来阐明物种转移的速度，与外部供水相比，原料中所含水的有效性，以及高压热重分析（TGA）装置和实验规模气化炉中单一和混合原料的气化性能。从这些研究中获得的知识将被结合起来，以优化中试规模气化装置的操作，然后将用动力学修改的吉布斯反应器模型对其进行建模。这个项目为这些研究人员提供了一个独特的机会，将他们的专业知识与气化公司Nexterra能源公司以及建模公司Process Simulations Limited结合起来

Gasification is one process in which the wastes from the vast natural resources of Canada can be effectively utilized to provide energy in a sustainable fashion. These wastes include woody biomass derived from pine-beetle kill, construction waste, and petroleum coke (a byproduct of the oil industry). Some of these wastes contain natural catalysts (substances that affect the rate of a reaction) that can enhance the gasification of the other wastes. For example, wood contains potassium that is a well known catalyst for the gasification of coal. In this project, three research groups from the Universities of British Columbia, Calgary and Toronto will work together to better understand the benefits and challenges of co-feeding woody biomass feedstocks with other feedstocks (petroleum coke, construction waste, and low-bituminous coal) in gasification processes. More specifically, the project will involve complete feedstock characterization combined with experiments to elucidate the rate of species transfer, the effectiveness of water contained in the feedstocks compared to externally-supplied water, and the gasification performance of single and mixed feedstocks in high-pressure thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) units and a bench-scale gasifier. The knowledge gained from these studies will be combined to optimize the operation of a pilot-scale gasification unit, which will then be modeled with a kinetically-modified Gibbs Reactor Model. This project provides a unique opportunity for these researchers to combine their expertise and work with a gasification company, Nexterra Energy Corporation, as well as a modeling company, Process Simulations Limited