Recent Advances in Biomass Gasification to Improve the Quality of Syngas: A Comprehensive Review
R.P. Mohanty, Pinakeswar Mahanta, Ram Prakash Sharma
Abstract
Energy is a necessity in today’s world for a better quality of life, and with the growing population of the world, energy consumption is increasing globally. Fossil fuels are the most widely used energy source, which is a nonrenewable source of energy, and the emission from the combustion of fossil fuels leads to problems like global warming, climate change, air pollution, and an impact on the health of living beings. Biomass represents an appealing alternative to fossil fuels and provides many possibilities for application across several energy sectors, in the form of syngas, bio-oil, and biochar. Syngas is an end product released during biomass gasification, mostly consisting of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and methane. Recent research advances are going on to improve the quality of syngas by enhancing the hydrogen content of syngas and reducing impurities such as tar, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and sulfur contents. This review of the literature examines recent ongoing studies focused on the biomass gasification process, which includes different kinds of biomass, gasifiers, gasifying agents, temperature, pressure, equivalence ratio, and catalysts. The reviewed literature indicates that catalytic gasification of biomass enhances syngas quality through superior tar reduction, while employing steam as a gasifying agent increases hydrogen concentration. Also, high-temperature and low-pressure conditions enhance hydrogen production.