Among the latest achievements in gasification technology, one may list the development of a method to preheat gasification agents using switched ceramic honey combs. The best output from this technology is achieved with use of water steam as a gasification agent, which is heated up to 1600 °C. The application of these temperatures with steam as a gasification agent provides a cleaner syngas (no nitrogen from air, cracked tars) and the ash melts into easily utilised glass-like sludge. High hydrogen content in output gas is also favourable for end-user applications.Among the other advantages of this technology is the presumable application of fixed-bed-type reactors fed by separately produced and preheated steam. This construction assumes relatively high steam flow rates to deliver the heat needed for endothermic reactions involving biomass. The biomass is to be heated uniformly and evenly in the volume of the whole reactor, providing easier and simpler control and operation in comparison to other types of reactors. To provide potential constructors and exploiters of these reactors with the kinetic data needed for the calculations of vital parameters for both reactor construction and exploitation, basic experimental research of high-temperature steam gasification of four types of industrially produced biomass has been conducted.Kinetic data have been obtained for straw and wood pellets, wood-chip charcoal and compressed charcoal of mixed origin. Experiments were conducted using two experimental facilities at the Energy and Furnace Division of the Department of Material Science and Engineering (MSE) at the School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM) of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and at the Combustion Laboratory of the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Maryland (UMD), USA. The experimental facility at the Energy and Furnace Division has been improved with the addition of several constructive elements, providing better possibilities for thermo-gravimetric measurements.The obtained thermo-gravimetric data were analysed and approximated using several models described in the literature. In addition, appropriate software based on the Scilab package was developed. The implementation of the isothermal method based on optimisation algorithms has been developed and tested on the data obtained under the conditions of a slow decrease of temperature in experiments with the char gasification in small-scale experimental facilities in the Energy and Furnace Division.The composition of the gases generated during the gasification of straw and wood pellets by high-temperature steam has been recorded and analysed for different experimental conditions. / <p>QC 20101124</p> / Study of ignition and kinetics of biomass/solid waste thermal conversion with high-temperature air/steam

With increasing energy demand globally and, in particular, in South Africa coupled with depletion of the earth’s fossil energy resources and growing problem of disposal of nonbiodegradable waste such as waste tyres, there is a need and effort globally to find alternative energy from waste material including waste tyres. One possible way of exploiting waste tyre for energy or chemicals recovery is through gasification for the production of syngas, and this is what was investigated in this study. The possibility of gasification of waste tyre blended with coal after pyrolysis was investigated and two Bituminous coals were selected for blending with the waste tyre in co-gasification. A sample of ground waste tyre / waste tire, WT, a high vitrinite coal from the Waterberg coalfield (GG coal) and a high inertinite coal from the Highveld coalfield (SF coal) were used in this investigation. The waste tyre sample had the highest volatile matter content of 63.8%, followed by GG coal with 27% and SF coal with 23.8%. SF coal had the highest ash content of 21.6%, GG coal had 12.6% and waste tyre had the lowest of 6.6%. For the chars, SF char still had the highest ash of 24.8%, but WT char had higher ash, 14.7%, when compared to GG char with 13.9% ash. The vitrinite content in GG coal was 86.3%, whilst in SF coal it was 25% and SF coal had a higher inertinite content of 71% when compared to GG coal with 7.7%. SF char had the highest BET surface area of 126m2/g, followed by GG char with 113m2/g, and WT had the lowest value of 35.09m2/g. The alkali indices of the SF, WT and GG chars were calculated to be 8.2, 4.2 and 1.7 respectively. Coal samples were prepared by crushing and milling to particle sizes less than 75μm before charring in a packed bed balance reactor at temperatures up to 1000oC.Waste tyre samples were charred at the same conditions before milling to < 75μm particle size. Coal and WT chars were blended in ratios of 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75 before gasification experimentation. Carbon dioxide gasification was conducted on the blends and the pure coal and WT chars in a Thermogravimetric analyser (TGA) at 900oC, 925oC, 950oC and 975oC and ambient pressure. 100% CO2 was used at a flow rate of 2L/min. Reactivity of the pure char samples was found to be in the order SF > GG > WT, and the relationship between the coal chars’ reactivities could be explained by the high ash content of the SF char and low reactivity of the WT char corresponds to its low BET surface area. In general, the coal/WT char mixtures were less reactive than the respective coal, but more reactive than the pure WT char, the only exception being the 75% GG char blend which was initially more reactive than the GG char, and reactivity decreased with increasing WT content. For all samples reactivity increased with increasing temperature. The relationship between the reactivities of the GG char and its blends and that of the SF char and its blends was found to be affected by the amount of WT char added, especially at the lower temperatures 900oC and 925oC. SF coal is more reactive than GG coal, but at 900oC and 925oC, the reactivity of GG/WT blends improves in relation to the SF/WT blends with an increase in the ratio of WT in the blends, i.e. the 25% GG char blend is more reactive than the 25% SF char blend. The reactivity of the coal/WT blends was also checked against predicted conversion rates based on the conversion rates of the pure WT and coal samples. At 900oC and 925oC, the reactivities of the blends of both coal chars with WT char were found to be greater than the predicted conversion rates, and for the GG/WT blends the deviation increased with increasing WT ratios, while for the SF/WT blends the deviation increased with increasing SF ratios. These findings suggest the presence of synergism or enhancement between the coal chars and WT char in gasification reactions. The random pore model (RPM) was used to model the gasification results and it was found to adequately describe the experimental data. Activation energies determined with the RPM were found to be 205.4kJ/mol, 189.9kJ/mol and 173.9kJ/mol for SF char, WT char and GG char respectively. The activation energies of the coal/WT blends were found to be lower than those of both the pure coal and the pure WT chars. For the GG/WT blends the activation energy decreased with increasing WT char ratio, while for the SF/WT blends the activation energy decreased with increasing SF char ratio. The trends of the activation energies and conversion rates of the blends point to synergism or enhancement between the coal and WT chars in CO2 gasification reactions, and in the GG/WT blends this enhancement is driven more by the WT char, while in SF/WT blends it is driven by SF chars. It is possible that enhancement of the reactions is caused by mineral matter catalysis of the gasification reactions. The ash contents and alkali indices of the pure samples follow the order SF > WT > GG. / MIng (Chemical Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

With increasing energy demand globally and, in particular, in South Africa coupled with depletion of the earth’s fossil energy resources and growing problem of disposal of nonbiodegradable waste such as waste tyres, there is a need and effort globally to find alternative energy from waste material including waste tyres. One possible way of exploiting waste tyre for energy or chemicals recovery is through gasification for the production of syngas, and this is what was investigated in this study. The possibility of gasification of waste tyre blended with coal after pyrolysis was investigated and two Bituminous coals were selected for blending with the waste tyre in co-gasification. A sample of ground waste tyre / waste tire, WT, a high vitrinite coal from the Waterberg coalfield (GG coal) and a high inertinite coal from the Highveld coalfield (SF coal) were used in this investigation. The waste tyre sample had the highest volatile matter content of 63.8%, followed by GG coal with 27% and SF coal with 23.8%. SF coal had the highest ash content of 21.6%, GG coal had 12.6% and waste tyre had the lowest of 6.6%. For the chars, SF char still had the highest ash of 24.8%, but WT char had higher ash, 14.7%, when compared to GG char with 13.9% ash. The vitrinite content in GG coal was 86.3%, whilst in SF coal it was 25% and SF coal had a higher inertinite content of 71% when compared to GG coal with 7.7%. SF char had the highest BET surface area of 126m2/g, followed by GG char with 113m2/g, and WT had the lowest value of 35.09m2/g. The alkali indices of the SF, WT and GG chars were calculated to be 8.2, 4.2 and 1.7 respectively. Coal samples were prepared by crushing and milling to particle sizes less than 75μm before charring in a packed bed balance reactor at temperatures up to 1000oC.Waste tyre samples were charred at the same conditions before milling to < 75μm particle size. Coal and WT chars were blended in ratios of 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75 before gasification experimentation. Carbon dioxide gasification was conducted on the blends and the pure coal and WT chars in a Thermogravimetric analyser (TGA) at 900oC, 925oC, 950oC and 975oC and ambient pressure. 100% CO2 was used at a flow rate of 2L/min. Reactivity of the pure char samples was found to be in the order SF > GG > WT, and the relationship between the coal chars’ reactivities could be explained by the high ash content of the SF char and low reactivity of the WT char corresponds to its low BET surface area. In general, the coal/WT char mixtures were less reactive than the respective coal, but more reactive than the pure WT char, the only exception being the 75% GG char blend which was initially more reactive than the GG char, and reactivity decreased with increasing WT content. For all samples reactivity increased with increasing temperature. The relationship between the reactivities of the GG char and its blends and that of the SF char and its blends was found to be affected by the amount of WT char added, especially at the lower temperatures 900oC and 925oC. SF coal is more reactive than GG coal, but at 900oC and 925oC, the reactivity of GG/WT blends improves in relation to the SF/WT blends with an increase in the ratio of WT in the blends, i.e. the 25% GG char blend is more reactive than the 25% SF char blend. The reactivity of the coal/WT blends was also checked against predicted conversion rates based on the conversion rates of the pure WT and coal samples. At 900oC and 925oC, the reactivities of the blends of both coal chars with WT char were found to be greater than the predicted conversion rates, and for the GG/WT blends the deviation increased with increasing WT ratios, while for the SF/WT blends the deviation increased with increasing SF ratios. These findings suggest the presence of synergism or enhancement between the coal chars and WT char in gasification reactions. The random pore model (RPM) was used to model the gasification results and it was found to adequately describe the experimental data. Activation energies determined with the RPM were found to be 205.4kJ/mol, 189.9kJ/mol and 173.9kJ/mol for SF char, WT char and GG char respectively. The activation energies of the coal/WT blends were found to be lower than those of both the pure coal and the pure WT chars. For the GG/WT blends the activation energy decreased with increasing WT char ratio, while for the SF/WT blends the activation energy decreased with increasing SF char ratio. The trends of the activation energies and conversion rates of the blends point to synergism or enhancement between the coal and WT chars in CO2 gasification reactions, and in the GG/WT blends this enhancement is driven more by the WT char, while in SF/WT blends it is driven by SF chars. It is possible that enhancement of the reactions is caused by mineral matter catalysis of the gasification reactions. The ash contents and alkali indices of the pure samples follow the order SF > WT > GG. / MIng (Chemical Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In the iron production processes, sinters and pellets are mostly used as raw materials due to their consistency with respect to physical and chemical properties. However, natural iron ores, as mined, are rarely used directly as a feed material for iron processing. This is mainly due to the fact that they have small contents of iron and high concentration of impurities. Moreover, they swell and disintegrate during the descent in the furnace as well as due to low melting and softening temperatures. This work involves an investigation of the parameters that influence the use of natural iron ores as a direct feed material for iron production. Furthermore, it points out ways in which these can be mitigated so as to increase their direct use in iron production. Natural iron ore from Muko deposits in south-western Uganda was used in this study. Initially, characterisation of the physical and chemical properties was performed, to understand the natural composition of the ore. In addition, investigations were done to study the low temperature strength of the ore and its behaviour in the direct reduction zone. Also, simulations were performed with three models using the experimental data from the direct reduction experiments in order to determine the best model for predicting the direct reduction kinetics of natural iron ores. Chemical analyses showed that the Muko ore represents a high grade of hematite with an Fe content of 68% on average. The gangue content (SiO2+Al2O3) in 5 of the 6 investigated iron ore samples was &lt; 4%, which is within the tolerable limits for the dominant iron production processes. The S and P contents were 0001-0.006% and 0.02-0.05% respectively. These can be reduced in the furnace without presenting major processing difficulties. With respect to the mechanical properties, the Muko ore was found to have a Tumble Index value of 88-93 wt%, an Abrasion Index value of 0.5-3.8 wt% and a Shatter Index value of 0.6-2.0 wt%. Therefore, the ore holds its form during the handling and charging processes. Under low temperature investigations, new parameters were discovered that influence the low temperature strength of iron oxides. It was discovered that the positioning of the samples in the reduction furnace together with the original weight (W0) of the samples, have a big influence on the low temperature strength of iron oxide. Higher mechanical degradation (MD) values were obtained in the top furnace reaction zone samples (3-25% at 500oC and 10-21% at 600oC). These were the samples that had the first contact with the reducing gas, as it was flowing through the furnace from top to bottom. Then, the MD values decreased till 5-16% at a 500oC temperature and 6-20% at a 600oC temperature in the middle and bottom reaction zones samples. It was found that the obtained difference between the MD values in the top and other zones can be more than 2 times, particularly at 500oC temperature. Furthermore, the MD values for samples with W0 &lt; 5 g varied from 7-21% well as they decreased to 5-10% on average for samples with W0 ≥ 5 g. Moreover, the MD values for samples taken from the top reaction zone were larger than those from the middle and bottom zones. During direct reduction of the ores in a H2 and CO gas mixture with a ratio of 1.5 and a constant temperature, the reduction degree (RD) increased with a decreased flow rate until an optimum value was established. The RD also increased when the flow rate was kept constant and the temperature increased. An optimum range of 3-4g was found for natural iron ores, within which the highest RD values that are realised for all reduction conditions. In addition, the mechanical stability is greatly enhanced at RD values &gt; 0.7. In the case of microstructure, it was observed that the original microstructure of the samples had no significant impact on the final RD value (only 2-4%). However, it significantly influenced the reduction rate and time of the DR process. The thermo-gravimetric data obtained from the reduction experiments was used to calculate the solid conversion rate. Three models: the Grain Model (GM), the Volumetric Model (VM) and the Random Pore Model (RPM), were used to estimate the reduction kinetics of natural iron ores. The random pore model (RPM) provided the best agreement with the obtained experimental results (r2 = 0.993-0.998). Furthermore, it gave a better prediction of the natural iron oxide conversion and thereby the reduction kinetics. The RPM model was used for the estimation of the effect of original microstructure and porosity of iron ore lumps on the parameters of the reduction process. / <p>QC 20130531</p> / Sustainable Technology Development in the Lake Victoria Region