Experimental results of gasification of waste tire with air in a bubbling fluidized bed gasifier

► Lower ER values result in higher CH4 concentration and LHV. ► Four bed materials are tested to verify the change of LHV with ER. ► Bed temperature significantly changes the LHV. ► The LHV–ER relation is different for various ER regions. ► Three correlations are produced to find LHV in the ER range of 0.15–0.60. Waste tire can be thermochemically disposed to solve environmental problems and to produce energy. Gasification is one of the methods to obtain a product gas with a high calorific value. The product gas is a potential resource for electrical energy production. This paper presents the experimental results of gasification of waste tire in a fluidized bed under air atmosphere. The effects of equivalence ratio (ER), gasification temperature and bed material particle size on the composition of the product gas are investigated. The equivalence ratio is varied in the range of 0.15–0.45. The composition of the product gas is determined with an online gas analyzer which measures CO, CO2, CH4, H2 and O2 components. The lower heating value (LHV) of the product gas is calculated by using the gas composition measurements. Lower ER values result in lower CO2 concentrations, higher CH4 and H2 concentrations and higher LHVs. This study shows the importance of gasification temperature at low ER values, produces data points for four bed material particle sizes to verify the relation between LHV and ER, and proposes generalized correlations for different ER ranges.