Producer Gas is a generic term referring to:

Wood gas: produced in a gasifier to power cars with ordinary internal combustion engines.

Town gas: manufactured gas, originally produced from coal, for sale to consumers and
municipalities.

Syngas: used as a fuel source or as an intermediate for the production of other chemicals.
producer gas, also called suction gas, specifically means a fuel gas made
from coke, anthracite or other carbonaceousmaterial. Air is passed over the red-hot
carbonaceous fuel and carbon monoxide is produced. The reaction is exothermic and
proceeds as follows:
2C + O2 + 3.73 N2 2CO+ 3.73 N2
The nitrogen in the air remains unchanged and dilutes the gas, giving it a very low calorific
value. The concentration of carbon monoxide in the "ideal" producer gas was considered to
be 34.7% carbon monoxide (carbonic oxide) and 65.3% nitrogen.[1] After "scrubbing", to
remove tar, the gas may be used to power gas turbines (which are well-suited to fuels of low
calorific value), spark ignited engines (where 100% petrol fuel replacement is possible) or
diesel internal combustion engines (where 40% - 15% of the original diesel fuel is still used
to ignite the gas [2]). During the Second World War in Britain, plants were built in the form of
trailers for towing behind commercial vehicles, especially buses, to supply gas as a
replacement for petrol (gasoline) fuel.[3] A range of about 80 miles for every charge of
anthracite was achieved\

Wood gas is a syngas fuel which can be used as a fuel for furnaces, stoves and vehicles in
place ofgasoline, diesel or other fuels. During the production process biomass or other carboncontaining materials are gasified within the oxygen-limited environment of a wood gas generator to
producehydrogen and carbon monoxide. These gases can then be burnt as a fuel within an oxygen
rich environment to produce carbon dioxide, water and heat. In some gasifiers this process is
preceded by pyrolysis, where the biomass or coal is first converted to char,
releasing methane and tar rich inpolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Production[edit]

Fluidized bed gasifier in Gssing, Austria, operated on wood chips

A wood gasifier takes wood chips, sawdust, charcoal, coal, rubber or similar materials as fuel and
burns these incompletely in a fire box, producing solid ashes and soot (which have to be removed
periodically from the gasifier) and wood gas. The wood gas can then be filtered for tars and soot/ash
particles, cooled and directed to an engine or fuel cell.[11] Most of these engines have severe purity
requirements of the wood gas, so the gas often has to pass through extensive gas cleaning in order
to remove or convert (i.e. to "crack") tars and particles. The removal of tar is often accomplished by
using a water scrubber. Running wood gas in an unmodified gasoline-burning internal combustion
engine may lead to problematic build-up of unburned compounds.
The quality of the gas from different gasifiers varies a great deal. Staged gasifiers, where pyrolysis
and gasification occur separately (instead of in the same reaction zone as was the case in e.g. the
WWII gasifiers), can be engineered to produce essentially tar-free gas (less than 1 mg/m), while
single-reactor fluid-bed gasifiers may exceed 50,000 mg/m tar. The fluid bed reactors have the
advantage of being much more compact (more capacity per volume and price). Depending on the
intended use of the gas, tar can be beneficial as well by increasing the heating value of the gas.
The heat of combustion of producer gas (a term used in the U.S. meaning wood gas produced for
use in a combustion engine) is rather low compared to other fuels. Taylor [12]reports that "producer
gas" has a lower heating value of 5.7 MJ/kg versus 55.9 MJ/kg for natural gas and 44.1 MJ/kg for
gasoline. The heating value of wood is typically 15-18 MJ/kg. Presumably, these values can vary
somewhat from sample to sample. The same source reports the following chemical composition by
volume which most likely is also variable:

A charcoal gas producer at theNambassa alternative festival in New Zealand in 1981

Nitrogen N2: 50.9%

Carbon monoxide CO: 27.0%

Hydrogen H2: 14.0%

Carbon dioxide CO2: 4.5%

Methane CH4: 3.0%

Oxygen O2: 0.6%.

It is pointed out, that the gas composition is strongly dependent on the gasification process, the
gasification medium (air, oxygen or steam) and the fuel moisture. Steam-gasification processes
typically yield high hydrogen contents, downdraft fixed bed gasifiers yield high nitrogen
concentrations and low tar loads, while updraft fixed bed gasifiers yield high tar loads.

Usage[edit]
Internal combustion engine[edit]

Wood gasifier on a Ford truck converted into a tractor

Wood gasifier system

Wood gasifiers can power either spark ignition engines, where 100% of the normal petrol can be
replaced with little change to the carburation, or in a diesel engine, feeding the gas into the air inlet
that is modified to have a throttle valve, if it didn't have it already. On diesel engines the diesel fuel is
still needed to ignite the gas mixture, so a mechanically regulated diesel engine's "stop" linkage and
probably "throttle" linkage must be modified to always give the engine a little bit of injected fuel
(Often under the standard idle per-injection volume). Wood can be used to power cars with
ordinary internal combustion engines if a wood gasifieris attached. This was quite popular
during World War II in several European, African and Asian countries because the war prevented
easy and cost-effective access to oil. In more recent times, wood gas has been suggested as a
clean and efficient method to heat and cook in developing countries, or even to produce electricity
when combined with an internal combustion engine. Compared to WWII technology, gasifiers have
become less dependent on constant attention due to the use of sophisticated electronic control
systems, but it remains difficult to get clean gas from them. Purification of the gas and feeding it into
natural gas pipelines is one variant to link it to the existing refueling infrastructure. Liquefaction by
the FischerTropsch process is another possibility.
Efficiency of the gasifier system is relatively high. The gasification stage converts about 75% of fuel
energy content into a combustible gas that can be used as a fuel for internal combustion engines.
Based on long-term practical experiments and over 100,000 km drive with a wood gas-powered car,
the energy consumption has been 1.54 times higher compared to the energy demand of the same
car on petrol (not including the energy needed to extract, transport and refine the oil from which
petrol is derived, and not including the energy to harvest, process, and transport the wood to feed
the gasifier). This means that 1000 kg of wood combustible matter has been found to substitute 365
litres of petrol during real transportation in similar driving conditions and with the same otherwise
unmodified vehicle.[4] This can be considered to be a good result, because no other refining of the
fuel is required. This study also considers all possible losses of the wood gas system, like preheating
of the system and carrying of the extra weight of the gas-generating system. In power generation
reported demand of fuel is 1.1 kg wood combustible matter / kWh electricity.[5]
Gasifiers have been built for remote Asian communities using rice husk, which in many cases has no
other use. One installation in Burma uses an 80 kW modified diesel for about 500 people who are
otherwise without power.[6] The ash can be used as Biocharfertilizer, so this can be considered a
renewable fuel.
Exhaust gas emission from an internal combustion engine is significantly lower on wood gas than on
petrol.[7] Especially the HC emissions are low on wood gas.[8] A normal catalytic converter works well
with wood gas, but even without it, emission levels less than 20 ppm HC and 0.2% CO can be easily
achieved by most automobile engines. Combustion of wood gas generates no particulates, and the
gas renders thus very little carbon black amongst motor oil.[9]

Stoves, cooking and furnaces[edit]

Certain stove designs are in effect a gasifier working on the updraft principlethe air passes up
through the fuel, which can be a column of rice husks, and is combusted, then reduced to carbon
monoxide by the residual char on the surface. The resulting gas is then burnt by heated secondary

air coming up a concentric tube. Such a device behaves very much like a gas stove. This
arrangement is also known as a Chinese burner.

Coaxial downdraft gasification stove

An alternative stove based on the downdraft principle and typically built with nested cylinders also
provides high efficiency. Combustion from the top creates a gasification zone with the gas escaping
downwards through ports located at the base of the burner chamber. The gas mixes with additional
incoming air to provide a secondary burn. Most of the CO produced by gasification is oxidized to
CO2 in the secondary combustion cycle; therefore, gasification stoves carry lower health risks than
conventional cooking fires.
Another application is the use of producer gas to displace LDO (light density fuel oil) in industrial
furnaces.[10]

Water gas is a synthesis gas, containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It is a useful
product but requires careful handling because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. The gas is
made by passing steam over a red-hot carbon fuel such as coke:
H2O + C H2 + CO (H = +131 kJ/mol)
The reaction is endothermic so the fuel must be continually re-heated to keep the reaction going.
In order to do this, an air stream, which alternates with the vapor stream, is introduced for the
combustion of carbon to take place.
O2 + C CO2 (H = 393.5 kJ/mol)
Theoretically to make 6 L of water gas, 5 L of air is required.
Or alternatively to prevent contamination with nitrogen, energy can be provided by using
pure oxygen to burn carbon into carbon monoxide.
O2 + 2 C 2 CO (H = 221 kJ/mol)

In this case 1 L of oxygen will create 5.3 L of pure water gas

Lowe's gas process[edit]

In 1873, Thaddeus S. C. Lowe developed and patented the water gas process by which large
amounts of hydrogen gas could be generated for residential and commercial use in heating and
lighting. This gas provided a more efficient heating fuel than the commoncoal gas, or coke gas,
which was used in municipal service. The process used the water gas shift reaction:
CO + H2O CO2 + H2
The process was discovered by passing high-pressure steam over hot coal, the major source of
coke gas. Lowe's process improved upon the chimney systems by which the coal could remain
superheated thereby maintaining a consistently high supply of the gas. The reaction produced
carbon dioxide and hydrogen which after a process of cooling and "scrubbing" produced
hydrogen gas.
The process spurred on the industry of gas manufacturing, and gasification plants were
established quickly along the Eastern seaboard of the United States. Similar processes, like
the Haber Process, led to the manufacture of ammonia (NH3) by the combining of nitrogen,
found in air, with hydrogen. This spurred on the refrigeration industry which long used ammonia
as its refrigerant. Prof. Lowe also held several patents on artificial ice making machines, and
was able to run successful businesses in cold storage as well as products which operated on
hydrogen gas.

Variations[edit]
Carburetted water gas[edit]
Water gas had a lower calorific value than coal gas so the calorific value was often boosted by
passing the gas through a heated retortinto which oil was sprayed. The resulting mixed gas was
called carburetted water gas.

Semi-water gas[edit]
Semi-water gas is a mixture of water gas and producer gas made by passing a mixture of air
and steam through heated coke. The heat generated when producer gas is formed keeps the
temperature of the coke high enough to allow water gas to be formed.

Water gas shift reaction[edit]

Pure hydrogen can be obtained from water gas by using the water gas shift reaction, after
subsequent removal of the carbon dioxide formed when carbon monoxide reacts with water.

Mond gas is a cheap coal gas that was used for industrial heating purposes.
Coal gases are made by decomposing coal through heating it to a high temperature.
Coal gases were the primary source of gas fuel during the 1940s and 1950's until the
adoption ofnatural gas. They were used for lighting, heating, and cooking, typically
[1]

being supplied to households through pipe distribution systems. The gas was named
after its founder, Ludwig Mond

Gas Production[edit]
The Mond gas process was designed to convert cheap coal into flammable gas, which was made up
of mainly hydrogen, while recovering ammonium sulfate. The gas produced was rich in hydrogen
and poor in carbon monoxide. Although it could be used for some industrial purposes and power
generation, the gas was limited for heating or lighting.[4]
In 1902, the first Mond gas plant began at the Brunner Mond & Company in Northwich, Cheshire.
Mond plants required a large amount of land in order to be profitable, using around 182 tons of coal
per week.[4][5]

Reaction[edit]
Predominant reaction in Mond Gas Process: C + 2H2O = CO2+ 2H2[4]
The Mond gas was composed of roughly:

12% CO (Carbon Monoxide)

28% H2 (Hydrogen)

2.2% CH4 (Methane)

16% CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)

42% N2 (Nitrogen)[3]

Uses[edit]
Mond gas could be produced and used more efficiently than other gases in the late 19th and early
20th century. The gas was used as fuel for street lighting and basic residential uses that required gas
such as ovens, kilns, furnaces, and boilers.[

Pintsch gas was a compressed fuel gas derived from distilled naphtha used for
illumination purposes during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
It was invented in 1851 by German inventor and manufacturer Julius Pintsch (1815-1884). Its
primary use in the latter half of the 19th century was for illumination of railroad cars. In
several railway accidents Pintsch gas lamps added fuel to any fire which started, for example, in
the Thirsk rail crash (1892), Quintinshill rail disaster (1915), and the Dugald rail accident (1947).
Lamps using Pintsch gas burned brighter and longer than the existing oil lamps they replaced. These
lamps could also withstand vibration and rough usage without extinguishing the light. These features
made Pintsch gas a popular solution for illumination of buoys, beacons and unmannedlighthouses,
which allowed these devices to have the capability to remain lit for several months without servicing.

Electricity and other artificial means of lighting eventually replaced Pintsch illumination. However, it
was still used in lighthouses and beacons long after it was replaced elsewhere.

Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a fuel gas mixture consisting primarily of hydrogen, carbon
monoxide, and very often some carbon dioxide. The name comes from its use as intermediates in
creating synthetic natural gas (SNG)[1] and for producing ammonia ormethanol. Syngas is also used
as an intermediate in producing synthetic petroleum for use as a fuel or lubricant via the Fischer
Tropsch process and previously the Mobil methanol to gasoline process. Syngas is combustible and
often used as a fuel of internal combustion engines.[2][3][4] It has less than half the energy density
of natural gas.
Production methods include steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to
produce hydrogen, the gasification of coal,[5]biomass, and in some types of waste-toenergy gasification facilities.

Production chemistry[edit]
The main reaction that produces syngas, steam reforming, is endothermic with 206 kJ/mol methane
needed for conversion.
The first reaction, between incandescent coke and steam, is strongly endothermic, producing carbon
monoxide (CO), and hydrogen H
2(water gas in older terminology). When the coke bed has cooled to a temperature at which the
endothermic reaction can no longer proceed, the steam is then replaced by a blast of air.
The second and third reactions then take place, producing an exothermic reaction - forming initially
carbon dioxide - raising the temperature of the coke bed - followed by the second endothermic
reaction, in which the latter is converted to carbon monoxide, CO. The overall reaction is exothermic,
forming "producer gas" (older terminology). Steam can then be re-injected, then air etc., to give an
endless series of cycles until the coke is finally consumed. Producer gas has a much lower energy
value, relative to water gas, due primarily to dilution with atmospheric nitrogen. Pure oxygen can be
substituted for air to avoid the dilution effect, producing gas of much higher calorific value.
When used as an intermediate in the large-scale, industrial synthesis of hydrogen (principally used
in the production of ammonia), it is also produced from natural gas (via the steam
reforming reaction) as follows:
CH4 + H2O CO + 3 H2
In order to produce more hydrogen from this mixture, more steam is added and the water gas
shift reaction is carried out:
CO + H2O CO2 + H2
The hydrogen must be separated from the CO2 to be able to use it. This is primarily done
by pressure swing adsorption (PSA), amine scrubbing, and membrane reactors.

Blau gas (German: Blaugas) was an artificial illuminating gas similar to propane, named
after its inventor, Dr. Hermann Blau[1][2] of Augsburg, Germany. It was manufactured by
decomposing mineral oils in retorts by heat and compressing the resulting naphtha until it liquefied. It
was transported in this condition, and like LPG, upon release it assumed the gaseous state again.
Chemically, it is similar to coal gas.[3][4]
Blau gas is not blue, but has a rather water-like color. It was stored in steel cylinders for shipment
and had the advantage that it possessed the highest specific energy of all artificially produced
gases, but unlike coal gas, it was free from carbon monoxide.
Blau gas was burned for lighting and heating; a less-pure form known as Pintsch gas fueledrailroad
car lights and stoves in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Blau gas was most famous, however,
as the buoyancy compensating fuel for the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin.[5] It had several advantages over
liquid fuels such as gasoline. It was non-explosive, and because it weighed approximately the same
as air, burning it and replacing its volume with air did not lighten the airship, eliminating the need to
adjust buoyancy or ballast in-flight.[6]
Blaugas contains about 50% olefins (alkenes), 37% methane and other alkanes, 6%hydrogen and
the rest is air. The heat of combustion is 122 MJ/m3 with a candle power of 3000 Hefner
candles [3] (about 2710 candelas).

Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the breakdown of organic matter in the
absence of oxygen. It is a renewable energy source, like solar and wind energy. Furthermore, biogas
can be produced from regionally available raw materials such as recycled waste and is
environmentally friendly.
Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic bacteria or fermentation of biodegradable
materials such as manure, sewage, municipal waste, green waste, plant material, and crops.[1] It is
primarily methane (CH
4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and may have small amounts of hydrogen sulphide (H
2S), moisture and siloxanes.
The gases methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide (CO) can be combusted or oxidized with
oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel; it can be used for any heating
purpose, such as cooking. It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas into
electricity and heat.[2]
Biogas can be compressed, the same way natural gas is compressed to CNG, and used to
powermotor vehicles. In the UK, for example, biogas is estimated to have the potential to replace
around 17% of vehicle fuel.[3] It qualifies for renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world.
Biogas can be cleaned and upgraded to natural gas standards when it becomes bio methane.

Production[edit]
Main article: Anaerobic digestion

Biogas production in rural Germany

Biogas is practically produced as landfill gas (LFG) or digested gas. A biogas plant is the name often
given to an anaerobic digester that treats farm wastes or energy crops. It can be produced using
anaerobic digesters. These plants can be fed with energy crops such as maize silage
or biodegradable wastes including sewage sludge and food waste. During the process, an air-tight
tank transforms biomass waste into methane producing renewable energy that can be used for
heating, electricity, and many other operations that use an internal combustion engine, such as GE
Jenbacher gas engines.[4]
There are two key processes: mesophilic and thermophilic digestion.[5] In experimental work
at University of Alaska Fairbanks, a 1000-litre digester using psychrophiles harvested from "mud
from a frozen lake in Alaska" has produced 200300 liters of methane per day, about 20%30% of
the output from digesters in warmer climates.[6] Landfill gas is produced by wet organic waste
decomposing under anaerobic conditions in a landfill.[7][8]
The waste is covered and mechanically compressed by the weight of the material that is deposited
above. This material prevents oxygen exposure thus allowing anaerobic microbes to thrive. This gas
builds up and is slowly released into the atmosphere if the site has not been engineered to capture
the gas. Landfill gas is hazardous for three key reasons:[which?] It becomes explosive when it escapes
from the landfill and mixes with oxygen. The lower explosive limit is 5% methane and the upper is
15% methane.[9]
The methane in biogas is 20 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Therefore,
uncontained landfill gas, which escapes into the atmosphere may significantly contribute to the
effects of global warming. In addition, volatile organic compounds(VOCs) in landfill gas contribute to
the formation of photochemical smog.

Applications[edit]

A biogas bus in Linkping, Sweden

Biogas can be used for electricity production on sewage works,[17] in a CHP gas engine, where the
waste heat from the engine is conveniently used for heating the digester; cooking; space
heating; water heating; and process heating. If compressed, it can replace compressed natural
gas for use in vehicles, where it can fuel an internal combustion engine or fuel cells and is a much
more effective displacer of carbon dioxide than the normal use in on-site CHP plants. [18]
Methane in biogas can be concentrated via a biogas upgrader to the same standards as
fossil natural gas, which itself has had to go through a cleaning process, and becomes biomethane.
If the local gas network allows, the producer of the biogas may use their distribution networks. Gas
must be very clean to reach pipeline quality and must be of the correct composition for the
distribution network to accept. Carbon dioxide, water, hydrogen sulfide, and particulates must be
removed if present.

Biogas upgrading[edit]
Raw biogas produced from digestion is roughly 60% methane and 29% CO
2 with trace elements of H
2S; it is not high quality enough to be used as fuel gas for machinery. The corrosive nature of H
2S alone is enough to destroy the internals of a plant. The solution is the use of biogas upgrading or
purification processes whereby contaminants in the raw biogas stream are absorbed or scrubbed,
leaving more methane per unit volume of gas. There are four main methods of upgrading: water
washing, pressure swing absorption, selexol absorption, and amine gas treating.[19]
The most prevalent method is water washing where high pressure gas flows into a column where the
carbon dioxide and other trace elements are scrubbed by cascading water running counter-flow to
the gas. This arrangement could deliver 98% methane with manufacturers guaranteeing maximum
2% methane loss in the system. It takes roughly between 3% and 6% of the total energy output in
gas to run a biogas upgrading system.

Biogas gas-grid injection[edit]

Gas-grid injection is the injection of biogas into the methane grid (natural gas grid). Injections
includes biogas[20] until the breakthrough of micro combined heat and power two-thirds of all the
energy produced by biogas power plants was lost (the heat), using the grid to transport the gas to
customers, the electricity and the heat can be used for on-site generation[21] resulting in a reduction
of losses in the transportation of energy. Typical energy losses in natural gas transmission systems

range from 1% to 2%. The current energy losses on a large electrical system range from 5% to 8%.
[22]

Biogas in transport[edit]

"Biogastget Amanda" train near Linkpingstation, Sweden

If concentrated and compressed, it can be used in vehicle transportation. Compressed biogas is

becoming widely used in Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany. A biogas-powered train, named
Biogastget Amanda, has been in service in Sweden since 2005. [23][24] Biogas powers automobiles. In
1974, a British documentary film titledSweet as a Nut detailed the biogas production process from
pig manure and showed how it fueled a custom-adapted combustion engine. [25][26] In 2007, an
estimated 12,000 vehicles were being fueled with upgraded biogas worldwide, mostly in Europe. [27]

Measuring in biogas environments[edit]

Biogas is part of the wet gas and condensing gas (or air) category that includes mist or fog in the
gas stream. The mist or fog is predominately water vapor that condenses on the sides of pipes or
stacks throughout the gas flow. Biogas environments include wastewater digesters, landfills, and
animal feeding operations (covered livestock lagoons).
Ultrasonic flow meters are one of the few devices capable of measuring in a biogas atmosphere.
Most thermal flow meters are unable to provide reliable data because the moisture causes steady
high flow readings and continuous flow spiking, although there are single-point insertion thermal
mass flow meters capable of accurately monitoring biogas flows with minimal pressure drop. They
can handle moisture variations that occur in the flow stream because of daily and seasonal
temperature fluctuations, and account for the moisture in the flow stream to produce a dry gas value.

Gasification is a process that converts organic or fossil based carbonaceous materials

intocarbon monoxide, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. This is achieved by reacting the material at high
temperatures (>700 C), without combustion, with a controlled amount of oxygen and/or steam. The
resulting gas mixture is called syngas (from synthesis gas or synthetic gas) or producer gasand is
itself a fuel. The power derived from gasification and combustion of the resultant gas is considered
to be a source of renewable energy if the gasified compounds were obtained from biomass.[1][2][3][4]

The advantage of gasification is that using the syngas is potentially more efficient than direct
combustion of the original fuel because it can be combusted at higher temperatures or even in fuel
cells, so that the thermodynamic upper limit to the efficiency defined by Carnot's rule is higher or not
applicable. Syngas may be burned directly in gas engines, used to produce methanol and hydrogen,
or converted via the FischerTropsch process into synthetic fuel. Gasification can also begin with
material which would otherwise have been disposed of such as biodegradable waste. In addition, the
high-temperature process refines out corrosive ash elements such as chloride andpotassium,
allowing clean gas production from otherwise problematic fuels. Gasification of fossil fuels is
currently widely used on industrial scales to generate electricity.[5]

Gasification processes[edit]
Several types of gasifiers are currently available for commercial use: counter-current fixed bed, cocurrent fixed bed, fluidized bed, entrained flow, plasma, and free radical.[1][7]

Current applications[edit]
Syngas can be used for heat production and for generation of mechanical and electrical power. Like
other gaseous fuels, producer gas gives greater control over power levels when compared to solid
fuels, leading to more efficient and cleaner operation.
Syngas can also be used for further processing to liquid fuels or chemicals.

Landfill gas is a complex mix of different gases created by the action

of microorganisms within a landfill.

Production[edit]
Landfill gas production results from chemical reactions and microbes acting upon the waste as
the putrescible materials begins to break down[1] in the landfill. The rate of production is affected by
waste composition and landfill geometry, which in turn influence themicrobial populations within it,
chemical make-up of waste, thermal range of physical conditions, and the biological ecosystems coexisting simultaneously within most sites. This heterogeneity, together with the frequently unclear
nature of the contents, makes landfill gas production more difficult to predict and control than
standard industrial bioreactors for sewage treatment.
Due to the continual production of landfill gas, the increase in pressure within the landfill (together
with differential diffusion) causes the gases release into the atmosphere. Such emissions lead to
important environmental, hygiene and security problems in the landfill.[2][3]Several accidents have
occurred, for example at Loscoe, England in 1986,[4] where migrating landfill gas, which was allowed
to build up, partially destroyed the property. An accident causing two deaths occurred from an
explosion in a house adjacent to Skellingsted landfill in Denmark in 1991. [5] Due to the risk presented
by landfill gas there is a clear need to monitor gas produced by landfills. In addition to the risk of fire
and explosion, gas migration in the subsurface can result in contact of landfill gas with groundwater.

This, in turn, can result in contamination of groundwater by organic compounds present in nearly all
landfill gas.[6]
Landfill gas is approximately forty to sixty percent methane, with the remainder being mostly carbon
dioxide. Landfill gas also contains varying amounts of nitrogen and oxygen gas, water
vapour, hydrogen sulphide, and other contaminants. Most of these other contaminants are known as
"non-methane organic compounds" or NMOCs. Some inorganic contaminants, such as mercury, are
also present in the gas of some landfills. There are sometimes also contaminants, such tritium)
found in landfill gas. The non-methane organic compounds usually make up less than one percent of
landfill gas. In 1991, the US EPA identified ninety-four non-methane organic compounds, including
toxic chemicals like benzene, toluene, chloroform, vinyl chloride, and carbon tetrachloride. At least
forty one of the non-methane organic compounds are halogenated compounds (chemicals
containing halogens, such as chlorine, fluorine, orbromine. General options for managing landfill gas
are: flaring, boiler (makes heat), internal combustion engine (makes electricity), gas turbine (makes
electricity), convert the methane to methyl alcohol, clean it enough to pipe it to other industries or
into natural gaslines.[7]
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that there are approximately six thousand landfills
in the United States. Most of these landfills are composed of municipal waste, and, therefore,
produce methane. These landfills are the largest source of anthropogenic methane emissions in the
United States. These landfills will contribute an estimated four hundred and fifty to six hundred and
fifty billion cubic feet of methane per year (in 2000).[8

Landfill gas use[edit]

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Main article: Landfill gas utilization

Figure 1[11]

The gases produced within a landfill can be collected or flared off. Once collected, the gas has
several different pathways it can take. The landfill gas can be utilized directly on site by a boiler or
any type or combustion system. This provides raw heat for processes. Electricity can also be
generated on site through the use of micro turbines, steam turbines, or fuel cells. [12] The landfill gas
can also be sold off site and sent into natural gas pipelines. This requires the gas to be processed

into pipeline quality by removing the water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogren, oxygen and any
other trace contaminants. Once in the general supply of natural gas, it can be used at power plants
producing electricity or in home boilers. [13]
Landfill gas can also be used to evaporate leachate, another byproduct of the landfill process. This
displaces another fuel that was previously used for the same thing.[14]

Figure 2[15]

The number of landfill gas projects went from 399 in 2005, to 594 in 2012[16] according to
theEnvironmental Protection Agency. These projects are popular because they control energy costs
and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These projects collect the methane gas and treat it, so it can
be used for electricity or upgraded to pipeline-grade gas. (Methane gas has twenty times the global
warming potential of carbon dioxide.) These projects power homes, buildings, and vehicles. [17]
Waste Management uses landfill gas as an energy source. Their landfill gas-to-energy projects
create enough energy to power four hundred thousand homes every day. This energy production
offsets almost two million tons of coal per year. These projects also reduce greenhouse gas
emissions into the atmosphere. Waste Management currently has 110 landfill gas-to-energy
facilities.This is a good substitute of natural gas and run the vehicles more efficiently.[18]

Blast furnace gas (BFG)

[1]

is a by-product of blast furnaces that is generated

when the iron ore is reduced with coke to metallic iron. It has a very low heating value, about
93 BTU/cubic foot, because it consists of about 60 percent nitrogen, 18-20% carbon dioxide and
someoxygen, which are not flammable. The rest is mostly carbon monoxide, which has a fairly low
heating value already. It is commonly used as a fuel within the steel works, but it can be used
in boilers and power plants equipped to burn it. It may be combined with natural gas or coke oven
gas before combustion or a flame support with richer gas or oil is provided to sustain
combustion. Particulate matter is removed so that it can be burned more cleanly. Blast furnace gas is
sometimes flared without generating heat or electricity.
Blast Furnace Gas is generated at higher pressure and at about 100 C (212 F)-150 C(302 F) in a
modern Blast Furnace. This pressure is utilized to operate a generator (Top-gas-pressure Recovery

Turbine - i.e. TRT in short), which can generate electrical energy up to 35 kwh/t of pig iron without
burning any fuel. Dry type TRTs can generate more power than wet type TRT.
Auto ignition point of blast furnace gas is approximate 630 C (1,166 F)-650 C (1,202 F) and it
has LEL (Lower Explosive Limit) of 27% & UEL (Upper Explosive Limit) of 75% in an air-gas mixture
at normal temperature and pressure.
Higher concentration of carbon monoxide makes the gas hazardous.