Experimental Studies on the Gasification of the Residues from Prune of Apple Trees with a Spouted Bed Reactor

Agricultural residues offer a widespread availability and a suitable potential energy content. For this reason, the residues from the prune of apple trees, which are agricultural residues, were evaluated for their use as feedstock in thermochemical processes in order to obtain energy. The main objective of this study was to investigate the characteristics of the residues from the prune of apple trees when converted to syngas by gasification in a 20kW Spouted Bed pilot reactor. The obtained gases were studied in a quantitative and qualitative way through the evaluation of the key operating parameters for the gasifier: gasification temperature, the biomass feeding rate, air equivalent ratio and the steam-to-biomass ratio. Based on the results, an optimal range for the key operating parameters for the Spouted Bed reactor is recommended.