A two-reactor catalytic system including a catalytic membrane gasification reactor and a catalytic membrane water gas shift reactor. The catalytic system, for converting biomass to hydrogen gas, features a novel gasification reactor containing both hollow fiber membranes that selectively allow O.sub.2 to permeate therethrough and a catalyst that facilitates tar reformation. Also disclosed is a process of converting biomass to H2. The process includes the steps of, among others, introducing air into a hollow fiber membrane; mixing the O.sub.2 permeating through the hollow fiber membrane and steam to react with biomass to produce syngas and tar; and reforming the tar in the presence of a catalyst to produce more syngas.

A process and apparatus are provided for gasification of a carbonaceous material. The process produces a raw syngas that can be further processed in a tar destruction zone to provide a hot syngas. The process includes contacting said carbonaceous material with molecular oxygen-containing gas in a gasification zone to gasify a portion of said carbonaceous material and to produce a first gaseous product. A remaining portion of the carbonaceous material is contacted with molecular oxygen-containing gas in a burn-up zone to gasify additional portion of the carbonaceous material and to produce a second gaseous product and a solid ash. The first gaseous product and said second gaseous product are combined to produce a raw syngas that includes carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) and tar. The raw syngas is contacted with molecular oxygen containing gas in a tar destruction zone to produce said hot syngas.

A method and system for continuous production of contaminant free and size specific biochar using downdraft gasification of variable quality feedstock. The system and process of the present invention includes the transfer of biochar from a gasifier after gasification to a temperature-controlled cooling screw conveyor, into a drum magnet for ferrous metal removal into multiple diverters to separate and remove ungasified materials and non-ferrous metal contaminants, then transferred into a granulator for grinding and screening the biochar to a pre-selected size. By directly attaching a novel and continuous product treatment process to the biochar stream as it exits the gasifier, the particle size, moisture content, carbon content and yield of a contaminant free biochar product can be narrowly controlled and improved to meet strict product quality specifications required by specialty applications.

A gasified gas production system of the present disclosure includes a gasification furnace which produces a gasified gas by gasifying a gasification raw material, a flow passage through which the gasified gas produced in the gasification furnace flows, a catalyst-holding unit which holds a catalyst which promotes reforming of tar included in the gasified gas inside the flow passage, and an oxidation agent supply unit which supplies an oxidation agent with a temperature of 200° C. to 900° C. to the catalyst.

Disclosed herein are integrated preparation and detection devices for studying biomass-burning aerosols, where the devices include a micro-fluidized bed reactor (MFBR), a transmission line, and an on-line detection unit that are connected in sequence. The MFBR may include a pyrolysis reactor and a pyrolysis furnace; the pyrolysis reactor may include a thermocouple, an introduction tube, and quartz sands; the on-line detection unit may be an on-line photoionization mass spectrometer; and the photoionization mass spectrometer may include a laser desorption system, a laser ionizer and a light energy ionizer. Devices of the present disclosure are beneficial to retain the original state of aerosol particles, and the fixed MFBR can realize rapid pyrolysis of a biomass due to its high and stable heat conduction efficiency, which is beneficial to studying the formation mechanism of aerosol particles.

Combining multiple subsystems involving biomass processing, biomass gasification of the processed biomass where a synthesis gas is produced then converted to hydrogen fuels or other transportation fuels for use in coupled transportation systems sized to consume all the transportation fuel produced. Carbon in the biomass is converted to CO.sub.2 in the conversion process and a portion of that CO.sub.2 is captured and sequestrated for long term storage.

A feedstock conversion system including an integrated two-stage fluid bed thermochemical reaction apparatus (50) has first and second reaction chambers (110, 120) side-by-side and physically separated from one another in one vessel (100) by a partition (130). One or more clusters of heat pipes (400) pass through the partition (130) between the first and second chambers (110, 120) for efficient indirect heat transfer between first and second fluid bed reaction stages (200, 300) and materials therein. The system includes devices for solids transfer between the two reaction chambers (110, 120) to enhance feedstock conversion.

A solid and liquid waste gasifier has a reactor that includes a fixed chamber and an alumina (aluminium oxide) refractory coating, provided with an automatic energy cell feeder and having, inside the fixed chamber, a rotary steel tube which is coupled to one of the ends of the fixed chamber, said rotary tube having a surface containing holes, a screw on its inside surface and a second screw on its outside surface, which rotates juxtaposed to the inside tubular body wall, ensuring the ashes are moved to be released in an automatic device, said gasifier being provided with sensors, the data from which is sent to a programmable logic controller for activation of the mechanical elements.

A feedstock delivery system transfers a carbonaceous material, such as municipal solid waste, into a product gas generation system. The feedstock delivery system includes a splitter for splitting bulk carbonaceous material into a plurality of carbonaceous material streams. Each stream is processed using a weighing system for gauging the quantity of carbonaceous material, a densification system for forming plugs of carbonaceous material, a de-densification system for breaking up the plugs of carbonaceous material, and a gas and carbonaceous material mixing system for forming a carbonaceous material and gas mixture. A pressure of the mixing gas is reduced prior to mixing with the carbonaceous material, and the carbonaceous material to gas weight ratio is monitored. A transport assembly conveys the carbonaceous material and gas mixture to a first reactor where at least the carbonaceous material within the mixture is subject to thermochemical reactions to form the product gas.

Exemplary apparatus or method implementations for a universal feeder system configured with a transfer screw feeder within a multi-section clamshell pipe permitting access to the feed screw and pipe interior for inspection, maintenance and/or cleaning during production, without disassembly or screw removal. The clamshell screw feeder pipe provides access to the screw by opening or removing the multi-section top portion of the clamshell pipe. The top pipe section is bolted and or hinges to the bottom portion of the clamshell pipe. The number of segmented multiple clamshell top sections depends on the length of the screw. One or more clamshell top sections may be configured with an inspection port. The universal feeder system configured with a transfer screw feeder within a multi-section clamshell pipe transfers feedstock feed from one or more feed vessels to one or more reactor vessel.