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Syngas: burning trash and creating energy

Sunday,
Jan 29
Synthetic Gas

Our world population creates massive amounts of waste materials. Some are dumped, some are buried and some are floating in our oceans. Syngas may be a method to eliminate this major polluting problem while giving us an alternative energy source. What is syngas and how is it made?

What is Syngas? Syngas is created via a thermochemical conversion. Biomass is converted to a synthetic gas called Syngas, which can be used in place of natural gas or changed to make biofuel. It can also be used with turbines to produce electricity. Syngas is a synthetic gas mixture that is made up of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide. It is produced in a process called gasification, usually. Gasification can be conducted using coal and it can convert waste into energy source, which is Syngas. It can also be done using steam reforming to create hydrogen.

The process of gasification can be used to change any matter that contains carbon into a synthetic gas. This gas can then be used to manufacture electricity or steam, or used as a building block to manufacture more complex products in refining and petrochemical industries. Materials used for gasification are materials that would be considered waste and would otherwise be discarded. Waste feedstock materials are put into the gasifier. This is an oxygen-starved environment, so when the feedstock is added, the end result is steam and oxygen at an elevated temperature and oxygen level. This process creates Syngas, which is an 85 percent mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It also contains carbon dioxide and methane in smaller amounts. Producing Syngas usually means turning up the heat from 1,200 to more than 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit.

If the Syngas is going to be used to produce electricity, steam reforming would be the thermochemical reaction used. This may also be called high temperature pyrolysis. In this process, the biomass is heated to temperatures that reach between 750 to more than 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. This is done in an oxygen-starved reactor. In a method called fast pyrolysis, the time the biomass is heated is limited and the temperature is kept close to a 1,000 to 1,100 degree range.

There are two different ways that heating can be done; through indirect heating and direct heating. With indirect heating, a number of methods are used that result in indirect heat transfer and can include alloy heat exchangers and hot sand circulation, among others. Direct heating is done by adding a small amount of oxygen to the reactor. If a gas is composed of more than 90 percent oxygen, the Syngas produced will be extremely rich with hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
Syngas

Syngas is a synthetic gas that is more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels. These gases burn cleaner and have much fewer harmful emissions than greenhouse gases and particulates. Syngas has the ability to replace natural gas and to provide basic building blocks for all the chemicals and products the petrochemical industry generates currently. Syngas is just one of the many alternative renewable energy sources that are being looked at with regard to many of the energy and fossil fuel issues of today. This fuel burns much cleaner and reduces air pollution, it is renewable and does not depend on fossil fuels, and Syngas may be one of the alternative energy sources that will end U.S. dependence on foreign oil and other resources. Syngas can be produced domestically and the production of plants to produce these alternative energy sources would help local economies. They would generate jobs, revenue, and growth for the areas where the plants are built. By providing cleaner, more efficient energy sources, Syngas can be one component in a combination of energy sources that cause fossil fuels like oil and natural gas to become obsolete.

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