Pyrolysis of wood in arc plasma for syngas production

Plasma pyrolysis and gasification for production of syngas is an alternative to convential methods of biomass treatment. Basic analysis of energy balances of plasma gasification of wood is presented in the paper. The experimental reactor equipped with the hybrid gas-water stabilized torch with arc power up to 160 kW has been used in experiments with wood gasification and pyrolysis. The hybrid torch, producing steam plasma with small amount of argon, is characterized by extremely low plasma flow rate and high plasma enthalpy, which results in high process efficiency and optimal composition of produced syngas. The experimental results proved that homogeneous heating of the volume of plasma reactor and proper mixing of plasma with treated material was ensured despite of low plasma mass flow rate and constricted form of plasma jet. The conditions within the reactor ensured complete destruction of tested substance. Depending on operation conditions, the main components of produced syngas were hydrogen (28 - 46% vol.), CO (44 - 68%), CO2 (2 - 8%) and Ar(0.2 - 8%). No presence of complex hydrocarbons or tar was detected.