Open AccessCharacterization of tar formation during high temperature gasification of different chemical compositions in biomass
Author(s) -
Ahmad Zubair Yahaya,
Mahendra Rao Somalu,
Andanastuti Muchtar,
Shaharin Anwar Sulaiman,
Wan Ramli Wan Daud
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/268/1/012142
Subject(s) - tar (computing) , lignin , chemistry , hemicellulose , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , palm kernel , biomass (ecology) , mass spectrometry , raw material , cellulose , chemical composition , gas chromatography , organic chemistry , chemical engineering , chromatography , food science , engineering , oceanography , geology , palm oil , computer science , programming language
The characteristics of tar generated from tropical-plant-based biomass with different chemical compositions during high temperature gasification are crucial to understand the tar formation. In this paper, lignin-rich palm kernel shell (PKS) and hemicellulose and cellulose-rich coconut shell (CS) were gasified in a downdraft fixed-bed reactor at 900 °C. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to examine the functional groups and tar compounds. The results of FT-IR indicate that the PKS tar has a lower intensity peak in the fingerprint region than that of CS. The GC-MS results exhibits that the higher molecular weight of tar compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are higher in CS tar compared to that in PKS tar. PKS tar is susceptible to create a lighter molecular weight of tar compounds, such as phenolics. Both of the materials have a great potential to be used for renewable energy feedstock.