Experimental Investigation on Chemical Looping Co-Gasification of Water Hyacinth and Solid Wastes

Chemical looping gasification (CLG) is a promising method to realize the resource utilization of solid waste. Chemical looping co-gasification (CLCG) attracts much attention as it can fully utilize the synergistic effects between different types of fuels to improve the quality of gasification products. The CLCG characteristics of water hyacinth and different solid wastes, including straw, polypropylene, and sludge, are studied using lean iron ore as oxygen carriers (OCs). It is shown in the results that these solid wastes have synergistic effects on the CLG of water hyacinth to some extent. The addition of straw has a positive impact on gas production and H-2/CO ratio, while the introduction of polypropylene and sludge focuses on improving gas production and H-2/CO ratio, respectively. In addition, the optimal mixing ratios between water hyacinth and different solid waste are water hyacinth: straw = 50:50; water hyacinth: polypropylene 25:75; and water hyacinth: sludge = 75:25, respectively. The mixing of water hyacinth with polypropylene exhibits better gasification performance, in terms of the total gas yield of 1.27 Nm(3) kg(-1) and the H-2/CO ratio of 1.76 at the mixing ratio of 25:75. This implies that the CLCG of biomass and polypropylene has better application prospect.