Black liquor gasification is a promising alternative for recovery of energy and chemicals from spent pulping liquor (black liquor) in the pulp and paper industry. Because the organic fraction of black liquor comes from biomass, it is a carbon-neutral fuel and is classified as a renewable energy resource. Large-scale adoption of black liquor gasification technology in an integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) configuration would allow production of more than 20,000 megawatts of green electricity in the U.S. alone. Alternately, using the synthesis gas produced from black liquor gasification as feedstock for production of automotive fuels (e.g. biodiesel) would result in the equivalent of more than 280 million barrels of oil per year. This would displace more than 7% of U.S. oil imports with a domestically-produced, renewable fuel. (Read more about black liquor gasification.)

The Institute for Combustion and Energy Studies is actively involved in black liquor gasification research. Two U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored programs, one focused on fluidized bed black liquor steam reforming and one investigating entrained-flow gasification, aim to shed light on gasifier performance and the mechanisms of liquor conversion as it progresses from liquid fuel to syngas. Details of those programs are presented in these pages.