The College of Engineering at the University of Baghdad held the public defense of Master’s student Dania Aqeel Mahmood from the Department of Energy Engineering for her thesis titled “Performance and Gas Quality Assessment of a Downdraft Biomass Gasifier Using Corn and Wood Residues.” The defense took place on Thursday, 27 November 2025, in the Petroleum Engineering Hall, under the supervision of Asst. Prof. Dr. Zina Ali Abdul-Ridha.
The thesis aimed to evaluate the performance and gas quality produced from the gasification of biomass using two types of agricultural residues—corn residues and wood residues—in addition to various mixtures of the two. The experiments were conducted using a downdraft gasifier to study the influence of feedstock type and operating conditions on gas yield and quality, with a particular focus on gas composition, tar levels, and filtration efficiency. The study concluded that utilizing locally available residues can provide a clean and efficient source of energy and supports the national direction towards adopting renewable energy in Iraq.
The study recommends carrying out further experiments on additional local agricultural residues to assess their suitability for gasification in the same system. It also recommends optimizing operating conditions, such as the equivalence ratio and temperature, to achieve higher gas yield and improved gas quality, particularly for mixtures that demonstrated promising performance. The findings further emphasize the importance of using the char produced by the gasifier itself as an effective filtration medium due to its ability to reduce tar and enhance the final gas quality.
Following the scientific discussion by the examination committee members and after reviewing the candidate’s defense and evaluating the thesis, the committee awarded the researcher the degree of Master of Science in Energy Engineering with a grade of Very Good High.
