EUBCE 2026 - Keng-Tung WU - Gasification Characteristics of Sorghum Distillery Residue and Spent Tea Leaves in a 30 kWth Fluidized Bed Gasifier

Gasification Characteristics of Sorghum Distillery Residue and Spent Tea Leaves in a 30 kWth Fluidized Bed Gasifier

Short Introductive summary

This study investigates the air gasification performance of pellets made from sorghum distillery residue (SDR) and spent tea leaves in a 30 kWth bubbling fluidized bed gasifier. The effects of operating temperature and air equivalence ratio (ER) on the composition of gasification products were systematically examined. Experimental results revealed that, under a constant ER, increasing temperature led to higher concentrations of CO, H2, CH4, and hydrocarbons from sorghum residue gasification, accompanied by reduced tar content and negligible change in CO2 concentration. A similar trend was observed for spent tea leaves, except that hydrocarbon content decreased at an ER of 0.4. Moreover, due to the presence of alkali and alkaline earth metals in both feedstocks, sintering was observed under certain conditions. Sorghum distillery residue exhibited no sintering at 800°C with ER = 0.4, whereas spent tea leaves showed sintering at 800°C with ER = 0.2. These findings provide insights into optimizing operating conditions for the effective gasification of biomass residues rich in mineral content.

K. Wu, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, TAIWAN
Z. Lin, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, TAIWAN
C. Tsai, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, TAIWAN