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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Energy and Mineral Engineering AN INVESTIGATION OF SYNERGISTIC EFFECT DURING CO-PYROLYSIS OF COAL AND PINE SAWDUST AT MODERATE TEMPERATURES A Thesis in Energy and Geo Environmental Engineering by Robert E. Snow III © 2012 Robert E. Snow III Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science May 2012 The Thesis of Robert E Snow III was reviewed and approved* by the following: Sarma V. Pisupati Associate Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering Thesis Advisor Dinesh K. Agrawal Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics Director of Microwave Processing and Engineering at The Materials Research Institute Yaw D. Yeboah Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering Head of the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering Larry Grayson Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering Graduate Program Office of Energy and Mineral Engineering *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ii Abstract An increasing population growth and the improvements made to the lifestyles of developing countries are leading to an ever increasing need for energy of all kinds. This increase in energy demand will also lead to an increase in the emissions generated by the current energy production methods. These facts combined with the depletion of the world’s available fossil fuels have led to a movement towards the increased use of renewable energy sources. This work focuses on the conversion of both a renewable fuel, Silver Maple sawdust, and a fossil fuel, Dietz subbituminous coal, into gaseous fuel. It is important to utilize a locally available biomass sample. Silver maple is a common woody biomass readily available in the northeastern United States. This study investigates the effects of co-utilization on the gaseous products of the pyrolysis process. Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of organic matter in an oxygen-free environment. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential synergistic effect of adding biomass to coal during pyrolysis on the gaseous products. The objective was met by carrying out lab scale pyrolysis experiments in an electrical tube furnace. The feedstock consisted of 0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 100% biomass. All feedstock blending combinations were heated to 700˚ C and 900˚ C in order to observe any effects of temperature on the synergistic effect of blending. It was observed that higher biomass concentration increase the quantity of syngas produced. The addition of this biomass species to this coal did not have a synergistic effect on the gaseous production of this process. While promoting hydrogen producing reactions such as methane reforming all effects observed were linear. There was no synergistic effect observed for the co- pyrolyzing of silver maple sawdust and Dietz subbituminous coal. iii Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. ix Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Motivation ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Literature Review.................................................................................................................. 4 1.2.1 Coal and Biomass Gasification and Pyrolysis ............................................................... 4 1.2.2 Effect of Temperature .................................................................................................... 6 1.2.2.1 Effect of Temperature on Gas Composition ........................................................... 6 1.2.2.2 Effect of Temperature on Gas Yield/Heating Value............................................. 11 1.2.2.3 Effect of Temperature on Char/Tar Yield ............................................................. 13 1.2.3 Effect of Feedstock ...................................................................................................... 13 1.2.3.1 Effect of Feedstock on Gas Composition ............................................................. 15 1.2.3.2 Effect of Feedstock on Gas Yield ......................................................................... 18 1.2.3.3 Effect of Feedstock on Tar/Char Yield ................................................................. 18 1.2.4 Effect of Moisture Content .......................................................................................... 19 1.2.5 Effect of H/C Ratio ...................................................................................................... 20 1.3 Hypothesis and Problem Statement .................................................................................... 22 iv 1.4 Research Objectives ............................................................................................................ 24 Chapter 2 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 25 2.1 Silver Maple Preparation .................................................................................................... 25 2.2 Coal Preparation.................................................................................................................. 26 2.3 Experimental Setup ............................................................................................................. 27 2.3.1 Pyrolysis Conditions .................................................................................................... 29 2.3.2 Pyrolysis Temperatures ................................................................................................ 30 2.4 Methods for Products .......................................................................................................... 33 2.4.1 Product Fractions ......................................................................................................... 33 2.4.2 Char Methods ............................................................................................................... 34 2.4.3 Gas Methods ................................................................................................................ 34 Chapter 3 Experimental Results and Discussion .......................................................................... 36 3.1 Product Fractions ................................................................................................................ 36 3.1.1 Effect of Feedstock ...................................................................................................... 36 3.1.2 Effect of Temperature .................................................................................................. 38 3.1.3 Effect of Time .............................................................................................................. 40 3.2 Char Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 42 3.2.1 Effect of Feedstock ...................................................................................................... 42 3.2.2 Effect of Temperature .................................................................................................. 44 3.3 Gas Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 46 v 3.3.1 Effect of Feedstock ...................................................................................................... 46 3.3.2 Effect of Temperature .................................................................................................. 47 3.3.3 Effect of Time .............................................................................................................. 48 Chapter 4 Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................. 56 4.1 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 56 4.2 Recommendations for Future Work.................................................................................... 59 References ..................................................................................................................................... 61 vi List of Figures Figure 1.1 Effect of Pyrolysis temperature on yields of (a) CO2 and (b) CO [48] ......................... 7 Figure 1.2 Effect of Pyrolysis temperature on yields of (a) CH4 and (b) H2 [48] .......................... 7 Figure 1.3 Variation of gas product compositions with reaction temperatures [34]. ..................... 8 Figure 1.4 H2 yield from coal B pyrolysis at different temperatures. Bars represent average measured value at each temperature [35] ........................................................................................ 8 Figure 1.5 Plots for yield of hydrogen from pyrolysis and steam gasification of beech wood at different temperatures. [18] ............................................................................................................ 8 Figure