(169b) The Impact of Various Feedstocks On Biomass Gasification Evaluated By Pyrolysis Molecular Beam Mass Spectrometry

Biomass gasification has been investigated with several types of lignocellulosic biomass. However, it is unclear how the chemical composition of different biomass feedstocks impacts the composition of syngas. In order to characterize the impact of biomass source on gasification operation, pyrolysis molecular-beam mass spectrometry was used to study the chemical composition and tar amount of syngas for 500 different samples from loblolly pine, eucalyptus, and switchgrass collected based on the differences in variety, location, age, harvest, and storage. The results were analyzed using multivariate analysis tools and the time-resolved vapor profiles were studied using multivariate curve resolution technique. As expected for temperatures between 400 and 650 °C, there were significant differences in the composition gas and vapors for the different biomass feedstocks, while differences between the biomass feedstocks were reduced with the increased temperature between 650 and 900 °C. However, there were still significant differences in the syngas composition. In addition, there were distinct differences in the time-resolved profiles based on the source of biomass feedstock and the initial reaction temperature. Based on the principle component analysis, large variation was identified when eucalyptus was compared to loblolly pine and switchgrass used in the study. In addition, it was found that carbon structure in switchgrass was highly resistant as 10% carbon was not released at 900 °C with steam, while all carbons in softwood were released at the same condition. The differences in the types of biomass and their impacts on the gasification operation will be discussed in detail.