Abstract
A downdraft gasifier was made of stainless steel for biomass gasification. Internal reactor had a 300 mm diameter and 8 air intakes. Three thermocouples were installed to measure the temperature inside the reactor. Three different biomass fuels were provided in the experiments to find out the effects of fuel conditions on gasification processes; charcoals, woodchips, and mixture of woodchip and charcoals. Two different experiments were conducted fer charcoal experiments, small and larger sizes of charcoal fuels. It took about 10 minutes after ignition to generate combustible producer gas when charcoal was f9d, but 20 or more minutes for woodchips. When the gasification was stabilized, the highest temperature was observed just below the combustion zone. The air flow rate for woodchip experiment was provided at 25% of a stoichiometric requirement of combustion, which was within the range of typical air flow rate fer woody biomass gasification. Carbon monoxide concentrations were also within the values reported in the previous studies, ranging 20 to 30% depending on fuel types. It could be seen that fuel size and heating value were very important parameters in biomass gasification. These parameters should be taken into account in operating and designing biomass gasifiers.
