Biomass gasification Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The biofuel industry is rapidly growing with a promising role in producing renewable energy and tackling climate change. Nanotechnology has tremendous potential to achieve cost-effective and process-efficient biofuel industry. Various... more

The biofuel industry is rapidly growing with a promising role in producing renewable energy and tackling climate change. Nanotechnology has tremendous potential to achieve cost-effective and process-efficient biofuel industry. Various nanomaterials have been developed with unique properties for enhanced biofuel production/utilization. The way forward is to develop nanotechnology-based biofuel systems at industrial scale.

... in remaining char and increase in oxidant), thus the total amount of hydrogen in the product gas remains roughly constant. ... Bioenergy 84 Vol. 3 Biomass Conversion, 73-79. Durai-Swamy, K., DW Warren, B. Aghamahommadi, and MN... more

... in remaining char and increase in oxidant), thus the total amount of hydrogen in the product gas remains roughly constant. ... Bioenergy 84 Vol. 3 Biomass Conversion, 73-79. Durai-Swamy, K., DW Warren, B. Aghamahommadi, and MN Mansour. 1989. ...

Production of biogas from agricultural and animal wastes is one of the viable options to mitigate the scarcity of energy and hazards of fossil fuels to both human and ecology. Therefore, this project work was on generation of biogas using... more

Production of biogas from agricultural and animal wastes is one of the viable options to mitigate the scarcity of energy and hazards of fossil fuels to both human and ecology. Therefore, this project work was on generation of biogas using cow dung and rumen fluid as co-substrate. A biogas digester with a capacity of 105 liters was used to produce the gas. The substrate (cow dung and rumen fluid) was mixed in the ratio 3:2 and water to substrate ratio of 2:1 was used. The digester was stirred thrice daily to avoid scum formation in the digester and to allow for easy escape of the gas produced. The retention time used for this experiment was 42 days during which the daily internal temperature readings were taken in order to determine temperature variations and also to determine the effect of heat on the production rate. A rubber hose was connected to the digester gas outlet located at the top of the digester and the other end of the rubber hose was connected to a PVC Tyer tube provided for storing the gas generated. The gas produced was collected and taken to the laboratory for chemical analysis. The results showed that biogas yielded consists of 57.98 % of methane (CH4), 39.99 % of carbon dioxide (CO2), 0.10 % of oxygen (O2), 0.01 % of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and 0.01% of water vapour. The methane has the highest percentage, which represents the main source of energy and oxygen having 0.10 %, which shows that the process was purely carried out under anaerobic condition. Result of this study showed that methane has the highest percentage and generally cow dung with rumen fluid easily lent itself to process of anaerobic digestion.

Biochars produced from pelletized grape vine (GV) and sunflower husk (SFH) agricultural residues were studied by pyrolysis in a batch reactor at 400 and 500 °C. Chemical and physical evolution of the biomass under pyrolysis conditions was... more

Biochars produced from pelletized grape vine (GV) and sunflower husk (SFH) agricultural residues were studied by pyrolysis in a batch reactor at 400 and 500 °C. Chemical and physical evolution of the biomass under pyrolysis conditions was determined and the products were characterized, including the main gaseous organic components. Results showed a decrease in solid biochar yield with increasing temperature. Biochar is defined as a " porous carbonaceous solid " produced by thermochemical conversion of organic materials in an oxygen depleted atmosphere, which has physiochemical properties suitable for the safe and long-term storage of carbon in the environment and, potentially, soil improvement. The aim of this work is to improve the knowledge and acceptability of alternative use of the biochar gained from agro-forestry biomass residuals, such as grape vine and sunflower husks, by means of modern chemical and physical characterization tools.

Biomass pyrolysis is a promising renewable sustainable source of fuels and petrochemical substitutes. It may help in compensating the progressive consumption of fossil-fuel reserves. The present article outlines biomass pyrolysis. Various... more

Biomass pyrolysis is a promising renewable sustainable source of fuels and petrochemical substitutes. It may help in compensating the progressive consumption of fossil-fuel reserves. The present article outlines biomass pyrolysis. Various types of biomass used for pyrolysis are encompassed, e.g., wood, agricultural residues, sewage. Categories of pyrolysis are outlined, e.g., flash, fast, and slow. Emphasis is laid on current and future trends in biomass pyrolysis, e.g., microwave pyrolysis, solar pyrolysis, plasma pyrolysis, hydrogen production via biomass pyrolysis, co-pyrolysis of biomass with synthetic polymers and sewage, selective preparation of high-valued chemicals, pyrolysis of exotic biomass (coffee grounds and cotton shells), comparison between algal and terrestrial biomass pyrolysis. Specific future prospects are investigated, e.g., preparation of supercapacitor biochar materials by one-pot one-step pyrolysis of biomass with other ingredients, and fabricating metallic catalysts embedded on biochar for removal of environmental contaminants. The authors predict that combining solar pyrolysis with hydrogen production would be the eco-friendliest and most energetically feasible process in the future. Since hydrogen is an ideal clean fuel, this process may share in limiting climate changes due to CO 2 emissions.
Keywords Sustainable and renewable energy source; Fossil-fuel alternatives; Biomass pyrolysis; Biofuel (bio-oil, biogas, biochar); Charcoal (activated carbon); Hydrogen fuel

This paper presents an overview on EQTEC`s biomass gasification technology, applying the proprietary EQTEC fluidised bed gasification (FBG) process. After testing a broad variety of biomass, the EQTEC FBG process is... more

CFD analysis is a useful tool that can be used to optimize the design of gasifiers. Although plenty of CFD analysis has been performed on fluidized bed gasifiers, little analysis has been performed on the biomass gasification of solid... more

CFD analysis is a useful tool that can be used to optimize the design of gasifiers. Although plenty of CFD analysis has been performed on fluidized bed gasifiers, little analysis has been performed on the biomass gasification of solid fuels due to the difficulty in modeling the chemical phenomena in the combustion of solids. In order to
simplify calculations, previous CFD simulations have modeled fuel beds by creating homogenous beds with uniform spacing or beds with simplified shapes like spherical particles. However, in real experimental conditions, fuel beds are non-homogenous and particle position is randomized. This study aimed to fill the gap of research simulations on
realistically modeled fuel beds. In this study, a downdraft gasifier was modeled using cubic woodchips as fuel and air as a gasifying agent. Woodchips were individually placed in the gasifier in random orientation to imitate the positioning of when biomass is fed from the top of a gasifier. CFD analysis was performed on the effect of air flow
rate and feedstock properties on air velocity, air trajectory, and average pressure throughout the gasifier. The applications of these analyses were demonstrated in this paper; they include blower size optimization, pressure drop calculation for non-uniform beds, combustion zone range determination, air inlet design, and velocity and pressure
profile generation and analysis. An optimal flow rate was chosen based on previous experimentation and results of the optimized flow rate for this gasifier were given in this paper.

An application for biomass is the synthesis of liquid fuels such as dimethyl ether, and methanol etc. our effort is intended to explore the syngas production technology from biomass using catalytic gasification process and the various... more

An application for biomass is the synthesis of liquid fuels such as dimethyl ether, and methanol etc. our effort is intended to explore the syngas production technology from biomass using catalytic gasification process and the various process and technologies involved in the purification of biomass derived syngas. In this context, the characteristic of syngas such as yield, the H2/CO ratio and the different factors affecting H2/CO ration have been studied. This ratio is an important parameter which has an upper effect on our process. The reactors employ are fluidized bed, gasifier and the fixed bed reactor. H2/CO ratio lies between 1.87 & 4.45. Further, text of this report involves the purification of syngas. Three technologies are there for syngas cleanup and are classified according to the temperature of the gas which is leaving clean up device. The Hot Gas Cleanup technology has been discussed in details because of energy efficiency and prevention of reheating and cooling of the gas. Wet scrubbers cyclones, absorbers with varying sorbents are discussed regarding Hot Gas Clean up with new approaches for Chlorine and Tar removal.

Addressing the contemporary waste management is seeing a shift towards energy production while managing waste sustainably. Consequently, waste treatment through gasification is slowly taking over the waste incineration with multiple... more

Addressing the contemporary waste management is seeing a shift towards energy production while managing waste sustainably. Consequently, waste treatment through gasification is slowly taking over the waste incineration with multiple benefits, including simultaneous waste management and energy production while reducing landfill volumes and displacing conventional fossil fuels. Only in the UK, there are around 14 commercial plants built to operate on gasification technology. These include fixed bed and fluidized bed gasification reactors. Ultra-clean tar free gasification of waste is now the best available technique and has experienced a significant shift from two-stage gasification and combustion towards a one-stage system for gasification and syngas cleaning. Nowadays in gasification sector, more companies are developing commercial plants with tar cracking and syngas cleaning. Moreover, gasification can be a practical scheme when applying ultra-clean syngas for a gas turbine with heat recovery by steam cycle for district heating and cooling (DHC) systems. This chapter aims to examine the recent trends in gasification-based waste-to-energy technologies. Furthermore, types of gasification technologies, their challenges and future perspectives in various applications are highlighted in detail.

The ever growing environmental concern caused by excessive use of fossil fuels in energy and transportation systems triggered considerable investigations on alternative energy sources such as biomass. Furthermore, the availability and... more

The ever growing environmental concern caused by excessive use of fossil fuels in energy and transportation systems triggered considerable investigations on alternative energy sources such as biomass. Furthermore, the availability and security of fossil fuels to meet future global energy need are also subjected to uncertainty. For these reasons, the world's current focus is shifted towards hydrogen-based future economy. Gasification is a proven technology to produce satisfactory yield of hydrogen. Many studies have been performed to increase the production yield. Due to the extensive range of investigations, mathematical and computational approaches have been applied to conduct these studies. Thus, this paper aims to update and broaden the review coverage by incorporating works done to materialize the investigations on the potential of producing hydrogen from biomass via gasification encompassing mathematical modeling, simulation, optimization, process heat integration and cogeneration. Each of these subjects is reviewed and analyzed which helped to identify their respective strength and areas which require further research effort.

Industrial Biorefineries and White Biotechnology provides a comprehensive look at the increasing focus on developing the processes and technologies needed for the conversion of biomass to liquid and gaseous fuels and chemicals, in... more

An extensive background overview on the use of agricultural residues (wastes) for production of paper, board, binderless board, energy, different types of fuels by pyrolysis (solid, liquid and gaseous fuel), many petrochemicals... more

An extensive background overview on the use of agricultural residues (wastes) for production of paper, board, binderless board, energy, different types of fuels by pyrolysis (solid, liquid and gaseous fuel), many petrochemicals substitutes, charcoal (activated carbon), dissolving pulps and rayon. It includes both scientific and industrial data, case studies, current status, sustainability of paper and sugar industries, green nanotechnology, and future prospects.
Keywords: Agricultural Residues (Wastes); Paper and Board manufacture; Sustainability of Paper and Sugar Industries; Green Nanotechnology; Future Prospects

The current study investigates the short rotation coppice (SRC) gasification in a bubbling fluidized bed gasifier (BFBG) with air as gasifying medium. The thermochemical processes during combustion were studied to get better control over... more

The current study investigates the short rotation coppice (SRC) gasification in a bubbling fluidized bed gasifier (BFBG) with air as gasifying medium. The thermochemical processes during combustion were studied to get better control over the air gasification and to improve its effectiveness. The combustion process of SRC was studied by different thermo-analytical techniques. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), derivative thermo-gravimetry (DTG), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were performed to examine the thermal degradation and heat flow rates. The product gas composition (CO, CO 2 , CH 4 and H 2) produced during gasification was analyzed systematically by using an online gas analyzer and an offline GC analyzer. The influence of different equivalence ratios on product gas composition and temperature profile was investigated during SRC gasification. TG/DTG results showed degradation occur in four stages; drying, devolatilization, char combustion and ash formation. Maximum mass loss ~70% was observed in devolatilization stage and two sharp peaks at 315-500 °C in TG/DSC curves indicate the exothermic reactions. The temperature of gasifier was increased in the range of 650-850 °C along with the height of the reactor with increasing equivalent ratio (ER) from 0.25 to 0.32. The experimental results showed that with an increment in ER from 0.25 to 0.32, the average gas composition of H 2 , CO, CH 4 decreased in the range of 9-6%, 16-12%, 4-3% and CO 2 concentration increased from 17 to 19% respectively. The gasifier performance parameters showed a maximum high heating value (HHV) of 4.70 MJ/m 3 , https://doi. T Low heating value (LHV) of 4.37 MJ/m 3 and cold gas efficiency (CGE) of 49.63% at 0.25 ER. The ER displayed direct effect on carbon conversion efficiency (CCE) of 95.76% at 0.32 ER and tar yield reduced from 16.78 to 7.24 g/m 3 with increasing ER from 0.25 to 0.32. All parametric results confirmed the reliability of the gasification process and showed a positive impact of ER on CCE and tar yield.

The World is facing crucial time for energy due to consumption of fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, and oil), rise in fuel price, and unacceptable environmental effect in recent years. Biomass is a renewable potential energy source which... more

The World is facing crucial time for energy due to consumption of fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, and oil), rise in fuel price, and unacceptable environmental effect in recent years. Biomass is a renewable potential energy source which can reduces dependency on fossil fuels. Biomass is available in various forms throughout year in India. It accumulates solar energy by photosynthesis method from sunlight. Gasification is a chemical process that converts carbonaceous material such as biomass and coal into gaseous fuel or chemical feedstock. This gaseous fuel is known as producer gas or syngas which contains CO2, H2, CO, H2O, CH4 and N2 compounds. An attempt has been made to give basic idea about gasification, gasification mechanism, types of gasifier and characteristics of different biomass in this paper.

Experimental work on oxygen–steam based entrained flow gasification of Torrefied Karanja Press Seed Cake (TKPSC) has been carried out in order to evaluate the effect of temperature, Equivalence Ratio (ER), Steam to Biomass Ratio (SBR) and... more

Experimental work on oxygen–steam based entrained flow gasification of Torrefied Karanja Press Seed Cake
(TKPSC) has been carried out in order to evaluate the effect of temperature, Equivalence Ratio (ER), Steam to
Biomass Ratio (SBR) and Particle Size (Dp) on the syngas composition also, Lower Heating Value (LHV), Cold Gas
Efficiency (CGE) and Carbon Conversion (CC). The experimental work was conducted in an entrained flow
gasification unit of 1 kg/h federate designed and installed at Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, India. In
this work, the temperature was varied from 600 °C to 1100 °C. The ER and SBR values were varied between 0.1
and 1 while, Dp was changed from 0.5 to 3.0 mm. The aim here was to understand the effect of different process
parameters and derive relative optimum operating conditions for the entrained flow gasification of the TKPSC.
The results obtained show that operating conditions such as temperature of 1100 °C, ER of 0.3, SBR of 0.4 and
0.5mm Dp were found to be the most relative optimum operating parameters. The highest values of LHV around
∼12 MJ/Nm3, CGE around ∼90% and CC up to 98% were obtained for TKPSC. These values are in agreement
with the results reported in the literature on the other biomass waste materials that pocess similar properties to
TKPSC.

Biomass fuels are considered as alternative fuels for different energy sectors. This thesis project considers three different solid and dry biomass fuels: Rice Husk, Wood Chips and Sugarcane Bagasse. Experiments are carried out to analyze... more

Biomass fuels are considered as alternative fuels for different energy sectors. This thesis project considers three different solid and dry biomass fuels: Rice Husk, Wood Chips and Sugarcane Bagasse. Experiments are carried out to analyze the combustible components of the produced syngas by gasification process of solid Biofuels. The Concentration of the three major components (CO, H2, CH4) of syngas are obtained by locally made gas analyzer system. Three different solid biomass fuels are investigated for different amount of fuel (by mass) and different air flow rates.
The results indicated that the presence of CO is kept almost constant & obtained highest concentration after the combustion period of syngas. On the other hand, it has found that CH4 concentration of about 400 PPM is required to start the combustion of syngas. The combustion period of different biofuels shows that with the increase of mass of biofuel the combustion period is enhanced & rice husk has longer combustion period over the other biofuels. However, syngas from the sugarcane bagasse shows the highest heating value among others. Another findings is the that rice husk also took the least amount of time to produce combustible syngas. But it was easier for wood chips and sugarcane bagasse to ignite the fuel for the start of gasification process.

In this work, biomass (eucalyptus spp.) gasification has been investigated in a two-stage downdraft reactor by using different gasifying agents such as: air, air + saturated steam, and O 2 + saturated steam. The utilization of low quality... more

In this work, biomass (eucalyptus spp.) gasification has been investigated in a two-stage downdraft reactor by using different gasifying agents such as: air, air + saturated steam, and O 2 + saturated steam. The utilization of low quality saturated steam for gasification in different mixtures with air and O 2 is the main novelty of this paper. Thus, the influence of different gasifying agents was assessed on the concentrations of CO, H 2 and CH 4 and hence, on the lower heating value (LHV), the syngas power and the cold gasification efficiency. Since the type and flow of gasifying agent control the biomass consumption in downdraft gasifiers, the equivalence ratio (ER) and the steam-to-biomass ratio (SBR) were calculated by means of a mass balance. The results showed that low quality steam can increase remarkably the H 2 concentration and the LHV of syngas despite its low temperature. Particularly, when O 2 + saturated steam is fed to the gasifier, the H 2 concentration varied between 27.4 and 35.9 vol.%, while the LHV was between 7.13 and 8.35 MJ/N m 3 , i.e. almost twice the produced when only air or air + saturated steam is used. The optimum ER seems to be below 0.412, while the SBR is found between 0.495 and 1.032. Under this conditions, the cold gasification efficiency was between 70 and 75%. Moreover, the O 2 seems to mitigate in a better way the negative effect of the low temperature of the saturated steam given the lower tar concentration in syngas (58.74–64.18 mg/N m 3) respect to those found with air + saturated steam (91.41–91.95 mg/N m 3). This paper concludes that saturated steam can be used blended either with air or O 2 (being better with O 2) for biomass gasification in two-stage downdraft reactors and therefore, the requirements of superheated steam are not so important as in other gasification processes.

The association of concentrated solar energy and biomass gasification has often been suggested as an interesting alternative to conventional autothermal processes where a significant portion of the biomass has to be used for heat... more

The association of concentrated solar energy and biomass gasification has often been suggested as an interesting alternative to conventional autothermal processes where a significant portion of the biomass has to be used for heat generation to drive endothermic reactions. It is a clean process able to produce high quality synthesis gas with a higher output per unit of feedstock and that allows for the chemical storage of solar energy in the form of a readily transportable fuel, among other advantages. The present paper describes the latest advances in solar thermochemical reactors for gasification of carbonaceous feedstocks. This work is categorized in this paper into patents and research/journal papers.

DOE Scientific and Technical ... Publication Date, 2002 Jun 01. OSTI Identifier, OSTI ID: 802155. Report Number(s), FC26-00NT40937--03. DOE Contract Number, FC26-00NT40937. DOI, 10.2172/802155. Other Number(s), TRN: US200223%%920.... more

DOE Scientific and Technical ... Publication Date, 2002 Jun 01. OSTI Identifier, OSTI ID: 802155. Report Number(s), FC26-00NT40937--03. DOE Contract Number, FC26-00NT40937. DOI, 10.2172/802155. Other Number(s), TRN: US200223%%920. Resource Type, Technical Report ...

This paper presents the feasibility study of a sound scientific, engineering, and technological solution for converting lignocellulosic biomass to electrical power using a trailer-scale downdraft biomass gasification system coupled with a... more

This paper presents the feasibility study of a sound scientific, engineering, and technological solution for
converting lignocellulosic biomass to electrical power using a trailer-scale downdraft biomass gasification
system coupled with a spark-ignited IC engine/electric generator set for portable power applications
on agricultural farms and in rural areas.
The main objective of this study is to investigate the coupling and integration between the gasification
unit and the power generation unit. Also it is intended to emphasize on the effectiveness of distributed
power generation systems and demonstrate the feasibility of such integrated systems in real world scenarios,
where the lignocellulosic biomass resources are widely available and distributed across the board.
Four feedstock materials, pine, red oak, horse manure and cardboard that represent a wide spectrum of
lignocellulosic biomass resources were chosen for the study. The efficiencies for individual components
and the overall integrated system efficiencies were evaluated using experimental data and a thermal–
chemical model for all four feedstocks.

This work presents an experimental study of the gasification of a wood biomass in a moving bed downdraft reactor with two-air supply stages. This configuration is considered as primary method to improve the quality of the producer gas,... more

This work presents an experimental study of the gasification of a wood biomass in a moving bed downdraft reactor with two-air supply stages. This configuration is considered as primary method to improve the quality of the producer gas, regarding its tar reduction. By varying the air flow fed to the gasifier and the distribution of gasification air between stages (AR), being the controllable and measurable variables for this type of gasifiers, measuring the CO, CH4 and H2 gas concentrations and through a mass and energy balance, the gas yield and its power, the cold efficiency of the process and the equivalence ratio (ER), as well as other performance variables were calculated. The gasifier produces a combustible gas with a CO, CH4 and H2 concentrations of 19.04, 0.89 and 16.78% v respectively, at a total flow of air of 20 Nm3 h−1 and an AR of 80%. For these conditions, the low heating value of the gas was 4539 kJ Nm−3. Results from the calculation model show a useful gas power and cold efficiency around 40 kW and 68%, respectively. The resulting ER under the referred operation condition is around 0.40. The results suggested a considerable effect of the secondary stage over the reduction of the CH4 concentration which is associated with the decreases of the tar content in the produced gas. Under these conditions the biomass devolatilization in the pyrolysis zone gives much lighter compounds which are more easily cracked when the gas stream passes through the combustion zone.► Obtained results an important for a better phenomenological understanding of processes occurring in two stage gasification reactors. ► The air flow is the fundamental parameter in the operation of downdraft gasifiers. ► CH4 reduction is associated with a decreases in the tar content. ► An enhancement in the thermal cracking of tar is carried out in the two-air downdraft gasifier.

A circulating fluidized bed biomass gasification model is developed in the present study. The model consists of sub-models for devolatilization, tar cracking and a chemical reaction network of main gasification reactions and nitrogen... more

A circulating fluidized bed biomass gasification model is developed in the present study. The model consists of sub-models for devolatilization, tar cracking and a chemical reaction network of main gasification reactions and nitrogen chemistry. A total of forty global chemical reactions are included in the model, of which twenty-eight reactions belong to fuel-nitrogen reaction network. Individual reaction rates are selected from the literature, wherever possible, based on studies of woody biomass fuels. Volatile nitrogen is assumed to consist of NH3, HCN and N2 with the distribution between three species as input parameters to the model. Modeling of the hydrodynamics of the riser is simplified by using solids concentration profile along the riser as an input to the model. Both gaseous phase and solids phase are assumed to be in plug flow. Modeling results are compared with the experimental results published in the literature. Predicted effects of bed temperature, equivalence ratio and fuel moisture content on main gaseous composition, tar and NH3 emissions generally agree with the literature data. A sensitivity analysis of some reaction rates included in the model on NH3 emissions has also been carried out. It has been revealed that the catalytic activity of bed materials towards the oxidation of NH3 has the greatest influence on the predicted NH3 emissions. In addition, the
predicted NH3 emissions are also affected by the catalytic activity of bed materials towards the decomposition of NH3 and the homogenous reaction rates of NH3 decomposition and the reduction of NO by NH3 in the presence of oxygen.