Abstract
In this paper, an integrated energy-exergy-based evaluation was conducted on an entire bio-dimethyl ether (bio-DME) system established using ASPEN PLUS. The system contained a novel combination of biomass torrefaction unit (BTU) and entrained-flow gasification (EFG) followed by single-step DME synthesis, including DME purification, as well as heat recovery and cogeneration. The mass and energy balances were calculated in detail and compared with those cited in previous literature. The overall energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the system were found to be 55.2% and 46.9%, respectively. The exergy rates for all processes involved in the system were calculated and the locations as well as magnitudes of exergy losses were determined. Subsequently, the causes of exergy losses were deeply analyzed followed by pointing out the corresponding improvement potentials. Further investigation indicated that considerable improvement could be achieved for BTU and EFG, where the largest and second largest exergy loss took place. According to the parametric investigation based on energetic and exergetic efficiencies, controlling the BTU and EFG operation at 250 °C and 1200 °C, respectively, was proposed to improve the efficiency of the system and increase the overall exergetic efficiency to 52.6% while reducing the total exergy losses by 5.7%.
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