A Preliminary Investigation of Compressed Producer Gas from Downdraft Biomass Gasifier

Producer gas generated from the downdraft gasification process is basically a combustible gas which can be used for heating purposes and as an alternative fuel to generate power in an internal combustion (IC) engine. In the current practice, the producer is used directly from downdraft gasifier mixed with air through a carburetor, mixer or simple T-joint before entering the cylinder of an IC engine. The producer gas has to be consistently generated and supplied to the engine, and any shortcomings or unstable gas from the gasifier will affect the quantity and quality of the gas required. This paper is an effort to provide a description of the research work done on the developmental stage of a compressed producer gas from a downdraft gasifier using a single stage normal air compressor. The air compressor induces the producer gas from the gasifier at 670 L/min, compressed it to 7.6 bar gauge pressure and discharged it to a specified flow rate. The discharged flowrate of the producer gas was regulated at 130 L/min, 150 L/min, and 170 L/min consistently at an output pressure of 2.0 bar, 2.5 bar and 3.0 bar respectively. It was found that the producer gas was able flare continuously through two outlets of producer gas ports after the gasifier and one outlet of producer gas port after the air compressor. Since the output pressure was regulated higher than the atmospheric, the density of the producer gas proportionally increased with the increase in pressure and the gas flow rate supplied can be controlled to the desired consumption particularly in the IC engines.