Gasification

This process converts carbonaceous materials, or biomass, into carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The resulting gas mixture is called synthesis gas or syngas and is itself a fuel. Gasification is a method for extracting energy from many different types of organic materials.

The advantage of gasification is that using the syngas is more efficient than direct combustion of the original fuel because it can be combusted at higher temperatures, or even in fuel cells. This conversion process allows the biomasses to be converted from a solid form to a gas that can be used to generate power via a turbine engine.

Gasification can also begin with materials that are not otherwise useful fuels, such as biomass or organic waste. The high-temperature combustion refines out corrosive ash elements such as chloride and potassium, allowing clean gas production from otherwise problematic fuels.