Tar and inorganic contaminant removal from syngas: Modeling and simulation

Biomass gasification is a very interesting solution to obtain secondary fuels or heat and power, providing significant benefits with respect to fossil fuels. A considerable issue in the utilization of produced gas is the elimination of dangerous contaminants from the rawsyngas. The main gas contaminants are tar, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen sulfide, and alkali metals. Tar is an organic contaminant responsible for fouling and plugging of the equipmemtns and that is also dangerous due to its carcinogenic nature. Hydrogen chloride, hydrogen sulfide, and alkali metals are inorganic contaminants. Hydrogen chloride is characterized by a corrosive behavior, so it could provoke the corrosion of metal equipment and also damages to health and environment. Hydrogen sulfides are catalyst poisons and are responsible for environmental pollution. Alkali metals can combine with chlorine and may cause corrosion. The inclusion of those organic and inorganic compounds into simulation models is very important to achieve scenarios closer to the real plant; for this reason, the scope of this chapter is the investigation of the most recent literature about modeling and simulation for biomass-derived syngas cleanup.