Demonstration plant
The demonstration plant designed and built in 2008 allows the development of a gasification process capable of processing various types of coals and woody biomasses.
The demonstration plant of the Sotacarbo platform was designed and build in 2008 for the main purpose of developing a gasification process capable of processing various types of coals, including low-rank coals, and woody biomasses.
The main component of the plant is an up-draft (in counter-current) fixed bed gasifier with an internal diameter of 1.3 m, which converts solid fuel in synthetic gas (syngas) through a series of thermochemical reactions promoted by specific operating conditions and by the introduction of gasifying agents (in particular air and steam) into the reactor.
The fuel is introduced from the top of the reactor and rests on a grid through which the gasifying agents are fed.
These come into contact with the fuel itself, causing it to gasify. The produced syngas travels up the reactor, heating up the upper coal layers and causing them to dry out and devolatilize.
The raw syngas escapes from the top of the reactor and is sent to the scrubber system, a scrubber that removes trapped dust and tar, which consists of different heavy hydrocarbons released from the fuel, both from coal and the biomass, during gasification reactions. Once purified, the gas is sent to the torch and burned.
The inert material present in the fuel (ash) is collected near the bed support grid, at the bottom of the gasifier, and through a rotation of the same grid is discharged and sent to landfill.
Lastly, the reactor is equipped with an internal mechanical stirrer, which is inter-cooled and has the purpose of levelling the fuel bed to improve process performance, and a cooling sleeve to control the temperature of the reactor metal walls.