HYDROGEN-RICH SYNGAS PRODUCTION FROM CATALYTIC GASIFICATION OF PINEWOOD IN A FLUIDIZED-BED GASIFIER USING TAGUCHI OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUE

Experimental approaches based on traditional methods succeed in their goals, but they require extensive investments in time, resources, and labor. Therefore, this study investigated the process of catalytic gasification of pinewood biomass in a lab-scale fluidized-bed gasifier, taking dolomite as a nature-based catalyst and air as the gasification medium to enhance the concentration of H<sub>2</sub> in the composition of the syngas. A Taguchi L<sub>16</sub> experimental design was selected, with three key factors each with four levels: temperature (700°, 750°, 800°, 850°), equivalence ratio (0.20, 0.25, 0.30, 0.35), and catalyst blend percentage (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%). The experimental data show that dolomite improves tar cracking and reforming processes, ultimately increasing hydrogen generation. In experiment 13 (temperature = 850°, equivalence ratio = 0.20, catalyst blend percentage = 40%), the highest concentration of H<sub>2</sub> recorded was 11.18%. The experimental model’s stability was confirmed through ANOVA analysis, revealing R<sup>2</sup> values of 98.96% for H<sub>2</sub>, 99.58% for cold gas efficiency, and 99.38% for lower heating value. The algorithms developed can reliably predict H<sub>2</sub> concentration, lower heating values for syngas, and cold gas efficiency. The contributions of the experimental components, based on the mean hydrogen content in the syngas, were ranked as follows: catalyst blend percentage followed by ER and then temperature.