Microwave Plasma Gasification of a Variety of Fuel for Syngas Production

In this paper, the microwave plasma gasification of a variety of solid fuels is experimentally investigated. The produced syngas is analyzed by thermochemical methods and gasification performance is evaluated. The solid fuel, air, and electrical power are the inputs while the syngas and ash are the outputs of the system in the process. The solid fuels are examined by proximate and ultimate analysis. The air is supplied to the reactor at 100 sL/min steadily and the supplied amount is determined regarding to gasification duration. Microwave power is adjusted between 3 and 6 kW. The syngas temperature is measured by B type thermocouples and the syngas temperature varies between 621 and 1204 °C. The produced syngas is examined by MRU gas analyzer. The syngas production rate is between 2.31 and 2.57 g/s. Process energy efficiency, system energy efficiency and hot gas energy efficiency of the microwave plasma gasification are estimated for each operation by using these measured parameters. The process and system energy efficiency are between 36 and 86% and between 27 and 61% respectively. The hot gas energy efficiency is between 34 and 68%.