CATALYTIC GASIFICATION WITH DOLOMITE AND OLIVINE IN FLUIDIZED BED, OF SOLID ORANGE WASTE. COMPARISON WITH NON-CATALYTIC GASIFICATION

ABSTRACT: The industry processing of the orange generates high volumes of solid waste. This waste has been used to complement animal feeding and biochemical processes, but the gasification process has not valued its energy use. Gasification studies were carried out with air in a catalytic fluidized bed (using dolomite and olivine as catalysts in a secondary reactor, also varying the temperature of the secondary reactor and the catalyst mass) of the solid waste of orange, and the results are compared with those obtained in the gasification with non-catalytic air. In the processes, we use a design of a complete factorial experiment of 2k, valuing the influence of the independent variables and their interactions in the answers, using the software Design-Expert® and a grade of the significance of 95 %. The results demonstrate the qualities of the solid waste of orange in the energy use through the gasification process for the treatment of these residuals, obtaining a gas of low heating value. The use of catalysts also diminishes the yield of tars obtained in the gasification process, making dolomite more active than olivine. The better results of fluidized bed catalytic gasification of RSNs, in terms of gas heating value, gas yield, and low tar yield, are obtained when the secondary reactor operates at a temperature of 800 ºC and using 60 g of dolomite as a catalyst. Keywords: Orange waste, catalytic gasification, fluidized bed, dolomite, olivine