Combining autothermal and plasma-assisted tar reforming

通过生物质和废物气化产生的粗产品气体通常包括焦油（分子量高于78 g/mol的可冷凝烃）和其他较轻的烃，在产生合成气（CO和H2）之前必须将其去除以进一步升级，例如避免下游催化剂结垢。这种焦油重整过程可以通过几种不同的方式实现，但通常涉及能量和氧化物质的输入。蒸汽和/或氧气的加入旨在通过部分氧化来提高粗产物气体中的温度，以引发焦油的热分解，而且还提高在第二催化区中将所有烃转化为所需合成气分子所需的气体温度。Aplas有限公司正在开发用于各种热化学转化过程的等离子体技术，包括生物质气化和固体废物处理。焦油类的出现是一个问题，在几个这些应用和Aplas有限公司认识到需要进行基础研究，如建议在这里，调查之间的耦合流体力学和化学现象发生在practicalreformer几何形状。

The raw product gas produced through gasification of biomass and waste often includes tars (condensablehydrocarbons with molecular weight above 78 g/mol) and other lighter hydrocarbons that must be removedprior to producing a syngas (CO and H2) for further upgrading, for instance to avoid fouling of downstreamcatalysts. This tar reforming process can be achieved through several different ways, but an input of energy andof oxidizing species is generally involved. The addition of steam and/or oxygen aims at increasing thetemperature in raw product gas by partial oxidation to initiate thermal decomposition of tars but also to achievea gas temperature needed for converting all hydrocarbons to the desired syngas molecules in the secondarycatalytic zone. In this project, the potential benefit of using a combination of autothermal reforming andplasma-assisted processes will be investigated.Aplas Ltd. is developing plasma technologies for a wide range of thermochemical conversion processes,including biomass gasification and solid waste treatment. The occurrence of tar species is a problem in severalof these applications and Aplas Ltd. recognizes the need for fundamental research such as that proposed herethat investigates the coupling between fluid mechanics and chemical phenomena taking place in practicalreformer geometries.