PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF SYNTHESIS GAS FROM BLACK LIQUOR

A process for the adjustment of a synthesis gas produced in a high temperature downflow black liquor gasifier, comprising (a) generating a gasifier effluent stream from black liquor by means of a blast; (b) quenching the gasifier effluent of (a) with a water stream to form a raw synthesis gas; (c) further cooling, cleaning and separating the raw synthesis gas to form a purified unprocessed synthesis gas with an appropriate H2/CO ratio; (d) partly converting the purified synthesis gas to dimethyl ether in a synthesis section, producing a product stream of DME and a hydrogen rich purge stream of processed synthesis gas;(e) splitting and recycling split streams of the processed or the unprocessed synthesis gas to (a); and recycling a by-product stream of CO2 being generated in step (d) in part or completely to step (a).