Gasification of glycerol in porous reactor

Abstract

This research refers to the development of a porous bed reactor for glycerol gasification, as an effective technology for syngas production from liquid fuels. Filtration Combustion (FC) is the base technology applied to develop this porous gasifier that has its reaction chamber filled by alumina spheres, which recirculate heat in the chamber and ensures self-sustainability of the process. FC allows operation at wide equivalence ratio range, with ultra-rich or ultra-lean mixtures (impossible to conventional reactors), providing operational stability. The prototype of porous gasifier built for this investigation presents certain design peculiarities, in terms of accessory systems, for example, the flamethrower ignition system. In the experiments, internal temperatures were measured through thermocouples distributed along the combustion chamber as well as the chemical composition of reaction products by chromatography. It was possible to carry out the glycerol conversion in relatively high reaction temperatures, between 1100 and 1800 K, inhibiting the formation of a highly toxic gas, the acrolein (C3H4O). Due to the porous medium, energy storage happens in the physical limits of the reactor, which avoids the formation of cold zones in the chamber and minimizes substantially the exhaust temperatures (below 350 K). Chromatography analyses have pointed out high hydrogen concentrations on syngas, applying the partial oxidation method to glycerol conversion.