20 kW Pilot scale steam‑oxygen gasification of solid recovered fuel with a focus on newly developed off-line and on-line tar measurement methods

The steam‑oxygen gasification process of solid recovered fuel (SRF) was proved as a promising approach for energy and resource sustainability through a comprehensive product analysis. A high content of syngas was produced and suitable for the downstream chemical synthesis and hydrogen energy source. However, tar is a significant hazardous mixture from waste gasification, resulting in low gasification performance and releasing toxic containments. Tar monitoring is thus important. To improve existing tar measurement methods, a flexible tar sampling system (FTSS) and a novel gas chromatography (GC) were developed for off-line and on-line tar monitoring in the pilot-scale gasification process. FTSS is an improvement compared to the standard tar sampling system (STSS) regarding robustness, operation time, and handling. It showed a consistent tar capture performance with STSS. On the other hand, the on-line GC realized real-time tar qualification and quantification. For the gasification at 850 °C, loads of benzene, toluene, and xylene examined by the on-line GC (18.7 g/m3) were highly correspondent to the result from the off-line GC (17.8 g/m3). The carbon fractions of total hydrocarbon tar were also evaluated by the on-line GC with 68 and 25 gC/m3 at the gasification temperatures of 650 and 850 °C, respectively.