Producer Gas Characteristics from Gasification of Biomass and Plastic in Fluidized Bed Reactor

Gasification and co-gasification of plastic wastes and biomass represent an attractive strategy in the context of alternative fuel production, energy recovery and waste valorization and management. The present study compares the characteristics of the producer gas obtained from the gasification of pine chips derived from residual biomass (PC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Experiments were carried out in a bench-scale bubbling fluidized bed reactor (2 kWth), using air as the gasifying agent, an equivalence ratio of 0.25, and varying the temperature (800 and 850 °C) as well as the type and proportion of feedstock. The composition of the resulting producer gas varied significantly depending on the feedstock type and process conditions. In general, increasing temperature enhanced the production of H2 and CO while reducing the concentrations of light hydrocarbons and CO2. The use of plastic as feedstock promoted higher H2 concentration, reaching up to 39.0 vol.% for LDPE at 850 °C. Co-gasification led to the production of a gas with intermediate properties, highlighting the potential of combining residues of different origins to simultaneously optimize process performance and gas quality, thereby promoting an efficient and sustainable conversion of residual materials into useful energy.