Aspen HYSYS simulation of biomass pyrolysis for the production of methanol

Abstract

In terms of supplying energy carriers for the transport sector and storing electricity outflows from intermittent sources, the importance of renewable fuel production has become significant. In this work, the production of methanol fuel from biomass is simulated. Biomass is an excellent renewable resource for the production of methanol. It is of utmost importance to make effective use of biomass resources. There are different methods available for the production of methanol from biomass. One of the best methods is pyrolysis to convert biomass into methanol. This is due to the fact that pyrolysis is an efficient conversion method compared to other thermochemical conversion practices. Pyrolysis is the process of decomposing biomass in an inert atmosphere to convert it into worthwhile products. The production of methanol from sugarcane bagasse via pyrolysis was simulated using Aspen HYSYS because of its ability to solve chemical as well as energy problems. To simulate the microwave assisted pyrolysis reactor, an Aspen HYSYS model was developed. The model is based on Gibbs free energy and it has been calibrated using the restricted equilibrium method. The model was validated and foresees the percentage of methanol yield, the predicted values very well agreed with the available data. Important parameters of the pyrolysis process such as pyrolysis temperature, sweeping nitrogen gas flow rate, heating rate, biomass moisture content were varied. It was found that pyrolysis temperature, nitrogen flow rate, heating rate have a very profound influence on the pyrolysis process and methanol yield, while the moisture content of biomass had a lesser impact.