Abstract
This study aims to clarify basic properties of thermochemical reactions, such as pyrolysis and steam gasification conditions, of food mixtures that are discarded as food wastes (kitchen garbage). We also conducted experiments on wood chips for comparison. We found that the reactivity of food mixture in pyrolysis conditions was slightly inferior to that of wood chips. However, in steam gasification conditions, the reactivity of both samples was almost equal. Moreover, for the food mixtures in steam gasification conditions, the ratio of carbon conversion into gas was 0.89. To evaluate gas heat quantities for each process, almost 44% was for tar reformation and almost 56% was for pyrolysis gas and char gasification. Therefore, steam gasification was effective for the thermochemical reaction of food mixtures and this reaction could produce hydrogen rich fuel gases. In particular, by reforming tar effectively, the amount of fuel gas product increased significantly. These results suggest the possibility that food mixtures could be used as a fuel that is as valuable as wood chips.
