Introduction - Biomass Gasification, Pyrolysis and Torrefaction - page 19

iron ore. Figure 5.2 shows a typical beehive oven used in early times to
produce charcoal using the carbonization process. This practice contin-
ued until wood, owing to its overuse, became scarce at the beginning of
the eighteenth century. Fortunately, coal was then discovered and coke
was produced from coal through pyrolysis. This replaced charcoal for
iron extraction.
Gasification was the next major development. Figure 1.7 shows some of
the important milestones in the progression of gasification. Early developments
of gasification were inspired primarily by the need for town gas for street
lighting. Thomas Shirley probably performed the earliest investigation into
gasification in 1659. He experimented with “carbureted hydrogen” (now called
methane). The salient features of town gas from coal were demonstrated to the
British Royal Society in 1733, but the scientists of the time saw no use for it.
In 1798, William Murdoch used coal-gas (also known as town gas) to light
the main building of the Soho Foundry, and in 1802 he presented a public dis-
play of gas lighting astonishing the local population. Friedrich Winzer of
Germany patented coal-gas lighting in 1804 ( www.absoluteastronomy.com/
topics/coalgas ).
By 1823, numerous towns and cities throughout Britain were gas-lit. At the
time, the cost of gaslight was 75% less than that for oil lamps or candles, and
this helped accelerate its development and deployment. By 1859, gas lighting
had spread throughout Britain. It came to the United States probably in 1816,
with Baltimore being the first city to use it ( http://www.bge.com/aboutbge/
pages/history ).

1920
Carl von Linde:
cryogenic separation
of air, fully continuous
gasification process.

1931
Lurgi moving
bed pressurized
process.

1997
First commercial
gasification plant in U.S.

1788
Robert Gardner: First
gasification patent

1659
Thomas Shirley:
Discovered gas
from coal mine

1974
Arab Oil Embargo
renewed
gasification interest.

1801
Fourcroy: Water-
gas shift reaction.

1926

Winkler fluidized-
bed gasifier.

1739
Dean Clayton:
Distilled coal in a
closed vessel

1792
Murdoc: First use
of coal-gas for
interior lighting.

1861
Siemens Gasifier:
First successful unit.

1945-1974
Post war “Oil
Glut”

2001
Advanced
gasification biomass
renewable energy
projects.

FIGURE 1.7 Historical milestones of gasification development.