Combustible gas production from sewage sludge with a downdraft gasifier

Recently, sewage sludge has particularly become an important problem all ov er the world because of its harmful impacts on the environment and living b eings. It should be converted to combustible gas or useful energy in order to remove all its negative effects and to contribute to a significant porti on of the power generation. In this study, combustible gas production from sewage sludge was experimentally investigated using a gasification techniqu e by a downdraft gasifier. The amount of combustible gases, which are H-2, CO, CH4, C2H2 and C2H6, was found to be 19-23% of the total produced gases in the operating conditions. The average calorific value of the product gas was obtained between 2.55 and 3.2 MJ (N m(3))(-1). However, its average en ergy quantity was estimated between 12.19 and 28.97 MJ h(-1). Consequently, combustible gases were produced from sewage sludge by utilizing as a feeds tock in a downdraft gasifier. Henceforth, sewage sludge can be considered a renewable energy source for gasifiers in order to produce thermal energy t o help get rid of sewerage all over the world. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Lt d. All rights reserved.