Soot Concentrations in an Atmospheric Entrained Flow Gasifier with Variations in Fuel and Burner Configuration Studied Using Diode-Laser Extinction Measurements

Soot concentration measurements were performed using diode-laser extinction in an atmospheric air-blown entrained flow gasifier at two vertical levels. The gasifier was operated at different air-fuel equivalence ratios and with variations in fuel and burner configurations. Two fuels were investigated: wood powder and peat powder. These were burned using two burner configurations, one giving a rotating flow inside the gasifier (swirl), and one where the fuel and air were injected parallel with the gasifier axis (jet). The diode-laser measurements were performed at the wavelength 808 nm from which the soot concentrations were estimated, and additionally at 450 nm in order to gain insight into the spectral dependence of the extinction to estimate measurement quality. Additional diagnostic techniques were used, such as an electrical low-pressure impactor (ELPI) for soot size distributions and gas chromatography for species concentration measurements. The results show that wood powder produces higher soot concentrations than peat powder, especially at lower air-fuel equivalence ratios. Furthermore, the burner configuration had in general much less impact than the choice of fuel on the soot concentration.