Biomass Gasification for Synthesis Gas Production and Applications of the Syngas

Synthesis gas is one important intermediate to produce fuels for transportation and chemicals. The product gas from thermal biomass gasification processes is an outstanding energy carrier. The energy density of synthesis gas is only about 30% that of natural gas and is therefore not suitable for distribution as-is, unless converted to transportation fuels and other chemical products such as synthetic natural gas, methanol, and synthetic petroleum fuel. This chapter discusses different biomass-based synthesis gas applications. In a purified state, the hydrogen component of synthesis gas can also be used directly for industrial applications (e.g., oil refineries) or to power hydrogen fuel cells for electricity generation. Special gasification systems to convert biomass to synthesis gas can be divided into several groups. Producing and transport of the heat into the gasification reactor: allothermal-autothermal; type of reactor: fixed bed-fluidized bed-entrained flow; and type of gasification agent: oxygen-steam-mixtures of steam and oxygen.