13. Development and Performance Analysis of Pine Needle Based Downdraft Gasifier System

Today's Indian situation is facing an unprecedented energy crisis as India's mainstream sources of energy continue to deteriorate with the limited stock of natural minerals posing a serious threat to the Indian economy. Out of available renewable sources of energy, biomass proves to be in satisfactory position for compensating voids for these natural resources. The present study deals with the performance analysis of throat less downdraft gasifier using pine needle as a feedstock material. The study investigates the various design modifications to allow efficient gasification of low-density fuel such as pine needle to eliminate the problem of agglomeration and channeling associated with it. In the present study, a comparison has been made between the performances of two type of grate design, i.e., flat plate and conical grate coupled with agitator rod and their combined effect on the flow rate of gases. The experiments and characterization of pine needle have been carried out at TERI Gram, New Delhi. It has been experimentally observed that by replacing flat grate with conical grate combined with agitator rod, the results got significantly improved. The results show 99.18% and 154.64% reduction in tar and dust, respectively. On the other hand, the gas flow rate and overall combustion efficiency improved by 59.07% and 62.5%, respectively.