Increasing global demand for animal-based protein has created a critical environmental management challenge regarding manure accumulation in intensive livestock production. Gasification offers a sustainable solution by converting organic residues into renewable synthetic gas (syngas) and carbon-rich biochar. This study systematically evaluated the performance of three major types of animal waste—dairy manure, poultry litter, and swine manure—against a lignocellulosic control (wood veneer waste) in a top-lit updraft (TLUD) gasifier. Three airflow rates (10, 15, and 20 L min−1) were studied. The results indicated that increasing airflow significantly elevated the gasifier flame front temperatures, with poultry litter achieving the highest peak temperature (825.5 °C), followed by swine manure and dairy manure (753.7 and 727.0 °C, respectively) at 20 L min−1 airflow. While dairy manure exhibited the fastest linear burning rate (25.7 mm/min), poultry litter demonstrated the highest mass consumption rate (32.8 g/min). Feedstock chemistry drove distinct reaction pathways in syngas composition. Poultry litter emerged as the superior feedstock for H2 production, achieving a peak H2 concentration of 10.78% at 20 L min−1, which attributed to a synergistic combination of outstanding temperature, moisture content and catalytic alkali metals that promoted steam reforming and water–gas shift reactions. CO production was dominated by wood veneer (17.6%), which was driven by the dominance of elemental carbon and fixed solid (FS) content that favored partial oxidation and a Boudouard reaction. These findings suggest that while airflow regulates thermal kinetics, the specific energy profile of the produced syngas is fundamentally determined by the physiochemical properties of the biomass precursor.
Cahyani et al. (Thu,) studied this question.