Selection of the Second Adsorbent for Sampling Volatile Organic Compounds in the Biomass Gasification Tar Using Solid-Phase Adsorption

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a solid-phase adsorption method for measuring the concentrations of tar compounds in biomass. This method involves collecting tars on a column with an amino-phase sorbent. However, because biomass tar has a high concentration of volatile organic compounds, not all of them can be collected with just one column. Therefore, the researchers decided to add a second column with a different adsorbent to improve the accuracy of the measurement. They also chose to test three different sorbents (Carbopack B, Carbotrap, and activated coconut charcoal) in order to determine which one is the most effective for determining the concentration of volatile organic compounds. The desorption efficiency from various sorbents, the adsorption efficiency of the studied compounds on each sorbent depending on the sampled gas temperature, and the maximal amounts of compounds adsorbed on activated coconut charcoal were evaluated. The best results were obtained using activated coconut charcoal. A modified sampling device consisting of 500 mg of the amino-phase adsorbent and 100 mg of activated coconut charcoal was selected as the optimal choice for collecting tar, including its volatile organic compounds, from the synthesis gas generated during biomass gasification.