Decomposition of tars in microwave plasma – preliminary results

The paper refers to the main problem connected with biomass gasification - a presence of tar in a product gas. This paper presents preliminary results of tar decomposition in a microwave plasma reactor. It gives a basic insight into the construction and work of the plasma reactor. During the experiment, researches were carried out on toluene as a tar surrogate. As a carrier gas for toluene and as a plasma agent, nitrogen was used. Flow rates of the gases and the microwave generator’s power were constant during the whole experiment. Results of the experiment showed that the decomposition process of toluene was effective because the decomposition efficiency attained above 95%. The main products of tar decomposition were light hydrocarbons and soot. The article also gives plans for further research in a matter of tar removal from the product gas.