Designing and Performance Evaluation of Biochar Production in a Top-Lit Updraft Up-scaled Gasifier

Hussein Kisiki Nsamba^1,2,3, Sarah E. Hale⁴, Gerard Cornelissen⁴, Robert Thomas Bachmann¹

¹Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering Technology (MICET), Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
²Section of Industrial Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
³Invention Plus Limited, Kampala, Uganda.
⁴Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), Oslo, Norway.

DOI: 10.4236/jsbs.2015.52004                

Abstract

The Original Belonio Rice Husk Gasifier (OBRHG), initially of height of 0.6 m, diameter of 0.15 m and thickness of 0.025 m was tested for biochar production through air gasification of rice husk (RH) and the design was upscaled to height of 1.65 m, diameter of 0.85 m and thickness of 0.16 m. A total of 27 experiments were conducted to monitor the gasifier performance and the system can operate with the centrifugal blower operating at a power input of 155 W and a maximum flow rate of 1450 m³/hr regulated according to the air requirement. Building the UBRHG is simple and inexpensive to fabricate and with the fairly satisfactory performance and ease of construction along with the convenience of operation, the UBRHG with RH as feed would find abundant avenues of applications in a rural setting for biochar production alongside thermal, mechanical and electrical energy delivery.

Keywords

Biochar, Equivalence Ratio, Yield, Upscale Belonio, Rice Husk Gasifier

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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