SOLAR GASIFICATION OF BIOMASS USING OIL-SHALE AND COAL AS CANDIDATE MATERIALS

Gasification of German oil shale and coal using concentrated solar ene rgy as a heat source is studied in a fixed bed reactor under an argon atmosphere. The reactor allows direct absorption of irradiation result ing in high rates of temperature increase and hence in simultaneous de composition of organic matter and carbonates present in the shale. Syn thesis gases are produced consisting of H-2, CO, CH4, and CO2. Basic c onsiderations on stoichiometrics of shale gasification are presented. A macrokinetic modeling of the shale reaction rate based on conversion is established and verified experimentally. Further experiments are c arried out with different irradiation times, shale-particle sizes, gas ification temperatures and water contents of the raw shale and coal.