Evaluating Tube Cyclone Performance for Biochar Capture

Evaluating Cyclone Performance Simulating Gasification

                Fluidized bed gasification using cotton gin trash as the biomass fuel has the potential to supply a gin’s power requirement. Gin trash is a byproduct of the ginning process that accumulates on the order of thousands of tons per season. The gasification process converts the gin trash into two main products, syngas and biochar. Syngas is a combustible gas that can be injected into an internal combustion engine to power a generator to generate electricity. The biochar is a carbon residue of the biomass which is not converted to syngas. Before the syngas is combusted in the engine, the concentration of the biochar needs to be reduced to prevent clogging. Typically, conical cyclones have been used to separate particulates from airstreams with high efficiencies. The gasification process operates at high temperatures ranging from 1000 to 1400 °F. The high temperature affects the density and flow rate of the gases to the cyclone, reducing the efficiency of the cyclone. Past research using a tube cyclone at simulated high temperatures with a vortex inverter has shown collection efficiencies greater than 90%. For this research, a tube cyclone will be evaluated simulating the high temperature air flow during the gasification process. Biochar will be fed through the gasification reaction chamber and conveyed to the cyclone, first at standard conditions, and then at normal operating conditions (1000 °F). The vortex inverter will be varied at different positions within the cyclone to develop an empirical relationship between the flow rate of gases and collection efficiency. These results will determine the optimum cyclone design for high temperature gases resulting from gasification.