In bed and downstream hot gas desulphurization during solid fuel gasification: A review

Syngas produced by gasification process of biomass fuels is an environmental friendly alternative to conventional petrochemical fuels for the production of electricity, hydrogen, synthetic transportation biofuels and other chemicals. However, the advanced utilization of syngas is significantly limited due to the contaminants which can seriously deactivate the catalysts used for downstream reaction such as steam reforming methane, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and corrosion of downstream equipments such as a gas turbine. Among the contaminants, sulphur compounds produced in the gasification process, which are mainly H2S with small amounts of COS, CS2 and thiophenes depending on process conditions, must be removed. For biomass feedstock advances are required in the cleanup technologies and processes to upgrade the raw product gas with minimal impact on the overall process efficiency. Hot gas desulphurization (HGD) can improve the overall thermal efficiency due to the elimination of fuel gas cooling and associated heat exchangers. With this aim, the present review paper highlights currently developed methods used for desulphurization of hot gas produced from gasification process of solid fuels. The methods presented here are for both in situ and downstream sulphur capture. Also, the attention is paid to the regeneration of the used materials. In situ sulphur capture is mainly done by using calcium-based sorbents such as limestone and dolomite, whereas downstream sulphur capture is mainly focused on the use of regenerable single, mixed, and supported metal oxides. A comparison is indicated at the end to show the sulphur loading of various materials. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.