Abstract
This paper introduces the design of a biomass gasification reactor with specific constraints for its manufacturing and operation in the West African conditions. The foreseen applications are the valorisation into heat and electricity of agricultural biomass residues. Rice husk is chosen as the reference fuel for the design. Local manufacturing is a key feature and the main focus of the design, as it allows us to reduce the capital costs and facilitate the maintenance. The design methodology is based on the conceptual approach proposed by Cross. This approach leads in several steps to a rational design choice based on the evaluation of different solutions. In this study, nine reactor types have been compared leading to a prototype that best suits the defined objectives such as a local manufacturing, a secure installation and a sufficient gas quality. From this conception approach, the Semi-Batch, Fixed-bed reactor with air Aspiration appears the most suitable. Its specific characteristics for the foreseen application are a power of 44 kW based on the syngas lower heating value, an average fuel consumption of 20.38 kg/h and an average air flow of 28.8 kg/h for optimal gasification. The gasifier resulting from the design methodology has been built. It is presented in the paper.
Highlights
During the past decades, modern electricity access in West African countries has been growing up steadily from 33% in 2000 to 54% 2018 [1]
In Burkina Faso, the national rate of electrification was estimated at 20% in 2018, while in rural areas this rate remained as low as 5% [1]
Many projects based on solar energy, both photovoltaic and concentrated solar power, have been developed as a source of renewable energy [5,6,7]
Summary
Modern electricity access in West African countries has been growing up steadily from 33% in 2000 to 54% 2018 [1]. In addition to the expansion of the national grid, covering the electrification gap in rural areas requires the development of local smallscale energy production units. These units should be conceived to be adopted by the local populations while meeting the criteria of sustainable energy such as low CO2 emissions. West African countries have a large biomass potential from different resources, including agricultural residues, which are not yet valorised In this perspective, the gasification of biomass could be an interesting approach for energy production [8]. These issues can be harmful gas leaks or unsuitable materials leading to rapid mechanical failures
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