Thermal cracking of tar generated from steam gasification of petroleum residue using dolomite particles.

Gasification is a thermochemical process that converts carbon-based fuels into a clean synthesis gas (so-called syngas). The produced syngas can be used directly as a fuel to produce electricity in gas engines or an intermediate chemical for production of Dimethyl ether (DME), methanol (MeOH), and/or ethanol. In this work, an unsteady-state, kinetic model that is used to predict the gas composition and performance indicators in presence of dolomite was developed. Results showed a good performance for biomass gasification in presence of dolomite as a catalyst. It is also concluded that the tar destruction ratio (TDR) exhibits an increasing trend with increasing [CaMg (CO3)2]/[C] from 0.1 to 0.9 (mg/mg), while after that, the increase levels off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]