Effects of Secondary Chamber on Gas Yield by Pre-Vacuum Chamber Pyrolysis of Rubber Wood

Abstract

Global warming awareness criticizes further usage of fossil fuels and insists promotion of renewable energy usage. Additionally, many people in rural areas of developing countries cannot access electricity. To solve this sort of energy crisis including global warming, current authors developed a proto-type of a pyrolysis plant equipped with a prevacuum chamber, which can be used to produce combustible gases for an engine generator in rural areas where people cannot access electricity. The plant is simple and easily maintained in consideration of special conditions that a rural area can receive very few maintenance service, technical assistance, and supply of spare parts. However, gas yield obtained by the proto-type of plant was around 20 wt% of feedstock. One way to enhance gas yield from this proto-type of plant is to utilize reaction of secondary tar cracking. This research work aims to examine possibility of gas yield enhancement keeping a simple structure of the proto-type of plant and using a simple technique of secondary tar cracking. Two tar cracking methods are examined: one is homogeneous tar cracking and the other is heterogeneous tar cracking using catalysis. In the homogeneous tar cracking, pyrolysis gases must be heated up to 650 o C to 700 o C and in the heterogeneous tar cracking, wood char is used as catalysis, because wood char is byproduct of pyrolysis. It is concluded that the homogeneous tar cracking is quite unlikely in the secondary chamber, but on the other hand, heterogeneous tar cracking using wood char can produce 30 wt% of gas yield from 1 kg of feedstock.