Validation and Application of a Kinetic Model for Downdraft Biomass Gasification Simulation

Abstract Biomass gasification is widely recognized as an effective method to obtain renewable energy. To accurately predict the syngas and tar compositions is a challenge. A chemical reaction kinetics model based on comprehensive gasification kinetics is proposed to simulate downdraft biomass gasification. The kinetic model is validated by direct comparison to experimental results of two downdraft gasifiers available in the literature and is found to be more accurate than the widely used Gibbs energy‐minimizing model (GEM model). The kinetic model is then applied to investigate the effects of equivalence ratio (ER), gasification temperature, biomass moisture content, and biomass composition on syngas and tar production. Accurate water‐gas shift and CO shift reaction kinetics are found critical to achieve good agreement with experimental results.