There has been renewed interest on the use of the Texas A&M (TAMU) fluidized bed gasifier (FBG) specifically for the production of cotton gin trash derived liquid fuels. Research studies in the late 80's have resulted in a patent for the TAMU FBG for heat and power production using cotton gin trash and other biomass feedstock. The relatively lower price of fossil fuels in the 90's has resulted in slow progress of advanced gasification studies. With the price of conventional fuels steadily rising in recent years, attention is focused on the use of TAMU FBG for the production of highly valuable liquid fuels from biomass particularly from cotton gin trash.

The goal of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of producing high value liquid fuels such as kerosene (JP-8), diesel and gasoline-like fuels from fluidized bed gasification of cotton gin trash. A 610 mm diameter (2 foot) laboratory scale fluidized bed gasifier was used to produce the syngas for liquid fuel production. Novel zeolite catalysts were used for the reforming process under steam reforming process under high temperature and pressure. Liquid fuels were analyzed using a portable gas chromatograph.