(570e) Microwave-Assisted Moving-Bed Gasifier Design for Solid Fuel Conversion

Microwave irradiation is an efficient means of heating used for a number of applications in chemical engineering. Driven by the specific characteristics of electromagnetic waves, microwave reactor design leads to an energy-efficient paradigm for energy-intensive processes such as gasification and natural gas conversion. Today, most of the microwave-incorporated reactor designs are either in fixed-bed or batch modes. To address the increasing demand of expanding the capabilities of microwave reactors, this presentation introduces a single-mode flow-type microwave-assisted gasifier system with a co-current moving-bed operation for continuous processing of solid feed such as lignite and plastic wastes. The result from the shakedown using devolatilized lignite shows the system is capable of continuous syngas production for more than five hours. Compared with reactor design using conventional reactors, microwave irradiation improves the overall H₂/CO ratio and produces less carbon dioxide. This study also illustrates the capability of applying this design to plastics upcycling through gasification, and hydrogen-rich syngas production was also observed. The cold gas efficiency was also calculated and compared in this study. In conclusion, this research provides a novel gasifier design which integrates system elements of microwave irradiation and moving-bed operation for continuous solid fuel conversion. These processes can lead to a significant reduction in capital and operating costs. This research also provides new insights into the development of microwave-incorporated reactors and the application of microwave irradiation in modern industry.