Syngas production by plasma treatments of alcohols, bio-oils and wood

Exploitation of forest resources for energy production includes various methods of biomass processing. Gasification is one of the ways to recover energy from biomass. The Syngas produced from biomass can be used to power internal combustion engines, or, after purification, to supply fuel cells. The paper is summarizing results obtained through a non thermal arc plasma reactor at laboratory scale. A stationary discharge (I = 150mA) is used to perform physical diagnostics and also chemical analysis. The arc is formed between two electrodes made of graphite. We first present results on plasma-steam reforming of alcohols and bio-oils mixed in water. The outlet gas compositions are given from various alcohols andbio-oils obtained at different experimental conditions. The second part of the paper is dedicated to a direct plasma treatment of wood (beech) at laboratory scale. One of the electrodes is surrounded by wood. The final part of the paper is a general discussion about efficiencies and comparisons of plasma treatments presented. The results obtained are discussed by considering the steam reforming reactions and the water gas shift reaction.