Abstract
Purpose Actually, one of the main challenges to be achieved in biomass gasification is the minimization of tar concentration in combination with optimization of the gas composition. An extensive examination has been performed in order to expose the effect of several Chinese dolomites as a catalyst for tar cracking and gas composition enhancement. In this paper, the experimental data collected are presented. Methods Thebiomass gasification tests have been performed in a laboratory small-scale atmosphericfluidized bed gasifier that uses nitrogen as a fluidizing media and pure oxygen as gasifying agent. The system is equipped with a ceramic filter and a catalytic bed. Different types of dolomites have been used as catalyst. Results The main results are that thedolomite reduces the tar concentration and at the same time increases the permanent gas yield. A gasification equilibrium model, written in Matlab environment, has been developed to predict the synthesis gas composition. Main conclusions Several biomassgasification tests have been performed to assess the dolomite effect on the syngas and tar composition. The results have been used to tune an equilibrium model up. The model has been modified with some experimental data and it seems to predict with good accuracy the syngas composition.