Numerical Simulation of Biomass Gasification in an Entrained Flow Cyclone Gasifier

A transient, two-way coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian computational fluid dynamics model has been developed for numerically investigating the gasification process of wood powder inside a cyclone-shaped reactor. The suggested model has considered heat and mass transfer, drying, devolatilization, and homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions. The model is validated using the experimental data from a commercial entrained-flow cyclone gasifier. The changes in gas composition as a function of equivalence ratio and the behavior of gasification process agreed well with the experimental measurement. Trajectories of individual particles were captured, and the behavior, mass fraction, and temperature distribution of several representative particles in different sizes were studied. Moreover, the model was successful in prediction of produced gas lower heating value, cold gas efficiency, and carbon conversion.