Waste Biomass Gasification Research Articles

Catalytic supercritical water gasification of biomass waste using iron-doped alkaline earth catalysts

Catalytic supercritical water gasification of biomass waste using iron-doped alkaline earth catalysts

Evaluation of Physical and Chemical Properties of Residue from Gasification of Biomass Wastes

Thermochemical conversion of biomass waste is a high potential option for increasing usage of renewable energy sources and transferring wastes into the circular economy. This work focuses on the evaluation of the energetic and adsorption properties of solid residue (char) of the gasification process. Gasification experiments of biomass wastes (wheat straw, hay and pine sawdust) were carried out in a vertical fixed bed reactor, under a CO2 atmosphere and at various temperatures (800, 900 and 1000 °C). The analysis of the energy properties of the obtained chars included elemental and thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis. TGA results indicated that the chars have properties similar to those of coal; subjected data were used to calculate key combustion parameters. As part of the analysis of adsorption properties, BET, SEM, FTIR and dynamic methanol vapor sorption tests were conducted. The specific surface area has risen from 0.42–1.91 m2/g (biomass) to 419–891 m2/g (char). FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the influence of gasification on the decomposition of characteristic chemical compounds for biomass. Methanol sorption has revealed for the 900 °C chars of pine sawdust the highest sorption capacity and its mass change was 24.15% at P/P0 = 90%. Selected chars might be an appropriate material for volatile organic compounds sorption.

Multi-objective optimization of an integrated biomass waste fixed-bed gasification system for power and biochar co-production

In this work, an integrated biomass waste gasification combined heat and power (CHP) system is simulated and analyzed based on a multi-scale first-principles numerical model, which consists of a 1D fixed-bed gasifier model and a 1D hybrid peripheral fragmentation and shrinking-core biomass particle model. The simulations are based on a 15kW gasification CHP system and the numerical model is validated by two different groups of experimental data, and the maximum deviation is 2.56% in syngas H2 composition prediction. A multi-objective optimization framework of the integrated biomass waste gasification CHP system is formulated that considers 3 objectives: economic benefit, greenhouse gas emission, and potential health impact caused by PM emission. The best-compromised solution from the Pareto front leads to $142.8/day economic benefit, 694.3 kg CO2eq/day mitigation, and 57.67 Singapore Pollutant Standards Index score. The impacts of the three objectives on decision variables (i.e., feedstock flowrate, feedstock moisture content, and equivalent ratio) are analyzed by investigating 21 different weighted single-objective problems.

Techno-Economic Optimization of an Integrated Biomass Waste Gasifier–Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Plant

With a growing energy demand in a carbon-constrained society, fuels cells powered by renewable fuels, and specifically solid waste, are seen as interesting contributors to the energy portfolio. The alternative energy industry needs to reduce costs, enhance efficiency, and demonstrate durability and reliability to be economically feasible and attractive. This paper addresses biomass waste gasification in distributed energy systems, using a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) to produce electricity and heat. The potential and optimal plant efficiency and layout (i.e., anode off-gas (AOG) recirculation point via small-scale turbomachinery and heat exchanger network) are analyzed through a multi-stage approach that includes scenario evaluation and multi-objective optimization via a hybrid optimization strategy with heuristics and mathematical programming. The results in this paper summarize the most convenient operating conditions and provide an optimized heat exchanger network (HEN). The AOG recirculation toward the gasifier combustor is the preferred option; the electrical and thermal efficiencies can separately go up to 49 and 47%, respectively. The combined total efficiency ranges between 76 and 82%, and the area of heat exchange, which corresponds to an amount of heat exchanged between 91 and 117 kW, is within 6–14 m2.

Methane production from syngas using a trickle-bed reactor setup

Syngas from gasification of waste biomass is a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and hydrogen (H2), which can be utilized for the synthesis of biofuels such as methane (CH4). The aim of the study research work was to demonstrate how syngas could be methanated and upgraded to natural gas quality (biomethane) in a fed-batch trickle-bed reactor system using either manure – (AD-M) or sludge-based (AD-WW) inoculum as microbial basis. The methanated syngas had a high concentration of CO2 and did not fulfil the criteria for natural gas quality biomethane. Further upgrading of syngas to biomethane could be achieved simultaneously in the same reactors by addition of exogenous H2, resulting in CH4 concentrations up to 91.0 ± 3.5% (AD-WW) and 95.3 ± 1.0% (AD-M). Microbial analysis indicated that the communities differed between AD-M and AD-WW demonstrating functional redundancy among the microbial communities of different inocula.

Gasification of biomass waste in the moving-grate gasifier with the addition of all air into the oxidizing stage: Experimental and numerical investigation

The moving-grate gasifier has some significant advantages over other types of gasifiers. This is because the residue time of the biomass waste in a moving-grate gasifier can be controlled in a suitable range for optimizing thermochemical conversion efficiency. In addition, the moving-grate gasifier is more suitable for having biomass waste fed into it. This study investigated the gasification behaviours of biomass waste in the moving-grate gasifier with the addition of all air being done in the oxidizing stage. In the experimental samples, the average cold gas efficiency in the moving-grate gasifier was 64.79 %, and the high temperature region in the moving-grate gasifier was converted to the pyrolysis. The lower heating value (LHV) of flue gas in the large-scale moving-grate gasifier was 5570 kJ/m3 and the cold gas efficiency was 67.50 %. From this observation, it can be concluded that the gasification performance of the large-scale moving-grate gasifier was better than that of the small-scale.

Simulation of small-scale waste biomass gasification integrated power production: acomparative performance analysis for timber and wood waste

<div data-canvas-width="75.53283108244308">A simulation model for integrated waste biomass gasification with cogeneration heat and power has been developed using Aspen Plus. The model can be used as a predictive tool for optimization of the gasifier performance. The system has been modeled in four stages. Firstly, moisture content of biomass is reduced. Secondly biomass is decomposed into its elements by specifying yield distribution. Then gasification reactions have been modeled using Gibbs free energy minimization approach. Finally, power is generated through the internal combustion engine as well as heat recovery system generator. In simulation study, the operating parameters like temperature, equivalence ratio (ER) and biomass moisture content are varied over wide range and their effect on syngas composition, low heating value (LHV) and electrical efficiency (EE) are investigated. Overally, increasing temperature and decreasing ER and MC lead to improvement of the gasification performance. However, for maximum electrical efficiency, it is important to find the optimal values of operating conditions.</div><div data-canvas-width="156.02508062890539">The optimum temperature, ER and MC of the down draft gasifier for timber and wood waste are 800 ̊C, 0.2- 0.3 and 5%. At such optimum conditions, CO and H</div><div>2 reach to the highest production and LHV and EE are around 7.064 MJ Nm-3 and 45%, respectively.</div>

Simulation of small-scale waste biomass gasification integrated power production: a comparative performance analysis for timber and wood waste

Simulation of small-scale waste biomass gasification integrated power production: a comparative performance analysis for timber and wood waste

Simulation and Performance Analysis of Integrated Gasification–Syngas Fermentation Plant for Lignocellulosic Ethanol Production

This study presents a new simulation model developed with ASPEN Plus of waste biomass gasification integrated with syngas fermentation and product recovery units for bioethanol production from garden waste as a lignocellulosic biomass. The simulation model includes three modules: gasification, fermentation, and ethanol recovery. A parametric analysis is carried out to investigate the effect of gasification temperature (500–1500 °C) and equivalence ratio (0.2–0.6) on the gasification performance and bioethanol production yield. The results reveal that, for efficient gasification and high ethanol production, the operating temperature range should be 700–1000 °C, as well as an equivalence ratio between 0.2 and 0.4. At optimal operating conditions, the bioethanol production yield is 0.114 kg/h per 1 kg/h input garden waste with 50% moisture content. It is worth mentioning that this parameter increases to 0.217 kgbioethanol/kggarden waste under dry-based conditions.

Evaluation of waste biomass gasification for local community development in central region of Brazil

Brazil is one of the most powerful agro-industrial countries in the world impacting important chains of food, energy, and materials supplies. Residues resulting from this manufacture attract environmental and economic concerns for those producers. Aiming to focus on decentralized bioenergy production for local communities of the Midwest region, this work reports the physicochemical characterization of fruit peels of Baru (FPB), barks of Jatoba-do-cerrado tree (BJC), and their potential as raw materials for energy generation by gasification. FPB and BJC were analyzed by proximate analysis (12.0 and 11.6% of moisture, 71.2 and 75.4% of volatiles, 2.6 and 1.1% of ashes, and 26.2 and 23.5% of fixed carbon content), lignocellulosic analysis (21.7 and 13.3% of extractives, 65.8 and 60.7% of holocellulose, and 31.8 and 38.1% of lignin), and higher heating value (HHV), 19.7 kJ g−1 and 20.4 kJ g−1 for FPB and BJC, respectively. Both were used as fuel in a countercurrent gasifier (updraft) for the production of synthesis gas to generate energy, achieving satisfactory results, 25% and 15% of H2, 33% and 36% of CO, and 14% and 4% of CO2 for FPB and BJC, respectively. These results were similar or better than other biomasses reported in the literature. Since FPB and BJC are agricultural residues without a specific purpose, this work showed that decentralized bioenergy conversion by thermochemical process can benefit local producers.

Sustainability Design on Use of Biomass Waste Gasification Technology for Small Industry of Palm Sugar in Sinarlaut Village

Sinarlaut Village is located in Agrabinta District, Cianjur Regency, West Java Province. The community is mainly farmers, and some people produce palm sugar from coconut tree sap. Farming activities produce various agricultural waste. One of them is an abundant rice husk. This research conducted an analysis focusing on the feasibility of implementing gasification technology in supporting small industry palm sugar. The study was conducted not only on the technical aspect but also on the multi-variable sustainability aspect. One business cooks around 60 liters of sap for 6-8 hours to produce approximately 20 kg of palm sugar daily. The community uses firewood to cook coconut tree sap. They need around 50 kg/day firewood equivalent to 197,400 kcal/day. Based on the calculations, 59,818 kg of rice husk is an alternative resource to replace wood as fuel for cooking sap by gasification technology. The evaluation shows disadvantages and gap problems in terms of social, operation and maintenance, readiness to use, waste, land availability, and safety standard that should be managed. To implement the technology diffusion, social engineering needs to be conducted in the community to build system sustainability. The challenge will be more substantial for the effort to implement gasification technology on mass scale.

Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessment of Power Supply Chain by Using Waste Biomass Gasification in Iceland

In this paper, technical, economic and environmental assessments are carried out for power supply chain by using timber and wood waste (T&WW) gasification in Iceland. The Icelandic municipalities were clustered into 35 subgroups based on various number of households/ inhabitants. Different expenses were taken into consideration, like capital, installation engineering, operation and maintenance costs and the interest rate of the investment. Regarding revenues, they come from the electricity sale and the fee paid by the Icelandic municipalities for waste collection and disposal. The economic feasibility was conducted based on the economic indicators of net present value (NPV) and discounted payback period (DPP), bringing together three different scenarios, with interest rates of 8% for Scenario 1, 10% for Scenario 2 and 13% for Scenario 3. The environmental analysis was also performed relied on the environmental impacts of global warming (GWP), acidification (AP) and eutrophication (EP) potentials. The results show that changing the interest rate does not have significant impact on NPV and DPP for all studied scenarios. NPV is positive for the municipalities with more than 150 inhabitants or for a gasification plant with the capability to generate greater than 45 kW. Moreover, electricity generation based on T&WW gasification would lead to a GWP of 13 tonCO2eq (Subgroup 1) to 469 tonCO2eq (Subgroup 35), AP of 173.6 tonSO2eq (Subgroup 1) to 6187.2 tonSO2eq (Subgroup 35) and EP potential of 331.9 tonNO3eq (Subgroup 1) to 11,827.7 tonNO3eq (Subgroup 35), yearly.

Cost analysis and energy return on investment of fuel cell and gas turbine integrated fusion-biomass hybrid system; application of a small scale conceptual fusion reactor GNOME

The objective of this study was to propose a fusion-biomass hybrid system with fuel cell and gas turbine as a technical option for fusion application to generate electricity. Fusion reactor with dual coolants lithium lead (DCLL) blanket design employing SiCf/SiC could provide over 900 °C of high temperature heat for waste biomass gasification process. Waste biomass such as municipal waste solid and residues from agricultural and forestry sites could be sufficiently processed. A small scale conceptual fusion reactor GNOME is designed under the assumption that the system will be deployed in a place where a low amount of waste biomass is generated. Results showed that 364 MW GNOME reactor could produce 410 MWth power through divertor and blanket according to fusion power plant system analysis code (FUSAC). The hybrid system enables to generate 454 MWe with 80% capacity factor which is 7008 h operation in a year. Net electricity of 289 MWe could be produced through solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and gas turbine showed 30% of overall system efficiency due to the high self-consumption of GNOME reactor. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is 208 $/MWh and the energy return on investment (EROI) is 3.9.

Performance analysis and environmental assessment of small-scale waste biomass gasification integrated CHP in Iceland

Integrated waste biomass gasification with cogeneration heat and power (CHP) is an attractive method for high efficiency electricity generation. It not only involves wastes as fuel but also helps in reduction of releasing pollutant gasses to the atmosphere. In this research, a simulation model is developed to assess performance and environmental impacts of producing electricity from gasifying of organic wastes in Iceland: garden, timber/wood, and paper mixed wastes. The objectives are to find the optimal operating conditions to make the highest electrical efficiency and the evaluation of global warming (GWP), acidification (AP) and eutrophication (EP) potentials in regard to the environmental impact of the system. Moreover, the environmental assessment for the integrated waste gasification and CHP is compared with waste incineration in a conventional and currently running system. Our results show that the electricity production from waste gasification technology appears to be more environmentally friendly than waste direct combustion in all impact categories considered. Among the systems, timber and wood waste is the most beneficial from performance and environmental perspectives. The 1 kW h electricity production from timber through gasification would lead to a GWP of 0.07 kg CO2eq, AP of 0.09 kg SO2eq, and EP potential of 0.36 kg NO3eq.

Techno-Economic Analysis of Power Production by Using Waste Biomass Gasification

Energy recovery from waste biomass can have significant impacts on the most pressing development challenges of rural poverty and environmental damages. In this paper, a techno-economic analysis is carried out for electricity generation by using timber and wood waste (T & WW) gasification in Iceland. Different expenses were considered, like capital, installation, engineering, operation and maintenance costs and the interest rate of the investment. Regarding to revenues, they come from of the electricity sale and the fee paid by the Icelandic municipalities for waste collection and disposal. The economic feasibility was conducted based on the economic indicators of net present value (NPV) and discounted payback period (DPP), bringing together three different subgroups based on gasifier capacities, subgroup a: 50 kW, subgroup b: 100 kW and subgroup c: 200 kW. The results show that total cost increases as the implemented power is increased. This indicator varies from 1228.6 k€ for subgroups a to 1334.7 k€ for subgroups b and 1479.5 k€ for subgroups c. It is worth mentioning that NPV is positive for three subgroups and it grows as gasifier scale is extended. NPV is about 122 k€ (111,020 $), 1824 k€ (1,659,840 $) and 4392 k€ (3,996,720 $) for subgroups a, b and c, respectively. Moreover, DPP has an inversely proportional to the installed capacity. It is around 5.5 years (subgroups a), 9.5 months (subgroups b) and 6 months (subgroups c). The obtained results confirm that using small scale waste biomass gasification integrated with power generation could be techno-economically feasible for remote area in Iceland.

Development of a Chemical Quasi-Equilibrium Model of Biomass Waste Gasification in a Fluidized-Bed Reactor by Using Aspen Plus

In the delicate context of climate change, biomass gasification has been demonstrated to be a very useful technology to produce power and hydrogen. Nevertheless, in literature, there is a lack of a flexible and fast but accurate model of biomass gasification that can be used with all the combinations of oxidizing agents, taking into account both organic and inorganic contaminants, and able to give results that are more realistic. In order to do that, a model of biomass gasification has been developed using the chemical engineering software Aspen Plus. The developed model is based on the Gibbs free energy minimization applying the restricted quasi-equilibrium approach via Data-Fit regression from experimental data. The simulation results obtained, considering different mixes of gasifying agents, were compared and validated against experimental data reported in literature for the most advanced fluidized bed technology. The maximum discrepancy value obtained for hydrogen, with respect to experimental data, is of 8%, and all the other values reached by the developed simulations, considering both organic and inorganic compounds, are in good agreement with literature data. The gas yield reached by the developed simulation is in the range of 1.1–1.3 Nm3/kg.

Development of a Chemical Quasi-Equilibrium Model of Biomass Waste Gasification in a Fluidized-Bed Reactor by Using Aspen Plus

Development of a Chemical Quasi-Equilibrium Model of Biomass Waste Gasification in a Fluidized-Bed Reactor by Using Aspen Plus

Eco-efficiency assessment of bioelectricity production from Iranian vineyard biomass gasification

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) were combined in the environmental sustainability assessment of bioelectricity production by means of vineyard waste biomass gasification. Fifty vineyards were assessed following LCA and DEA methodologies to estimate their technical efficiency. Moreover, target performance values benchmarked for inefficient vineyards, and the potential reductions in their environmental impact linked to the improvement in technical efficiency, were evaluated with the aim of verifying eco-efficiency criteria. The DEA results showed an average reduction of up to 30% per input of material for the vineyards, leading to impact reductions that ranged from 29% to 60% depending on the chosen impact category. Photochemical oxidation and terrestrial ecotoxicity had the highest environmental inefficiencies. Electricity generated from vineyard pruning residue gasification—as an alternative to conventional electricity and in comparison to electricity generation via combustion—was a suitable solution for reducing environmental impact under the studied categories. The innovative value of the present work is further based in the integrated application of LCA and DEA methodologies for the previously unexplored Iranian context. The results show that operational efficiency within vineyards is required to ensure that bioelectricity is significantly advantageous with regards to environmental performance in comparison to national grid electricity. The analysis further emphasises that increasing the operational efficiency of biomass production is a feasible way to achieve significant and wide-ranging environmental sustainability benefits.

Effect of porous silica on the removal of tar components generated from waste biomass during catalytic reforming

Thermal gasification of waste biomass requires a method of tar removal from gasified gases, since the tar produced is at risk of obstruction of the piping of the gasification processes and failure of the subsequent power generation processes. Using laboratory-scale fluidized bed gasifier and catalytic reformers, the characteristics of tar removal was investigated. A commercial Ni-based catalyst and several kinds of porous silica with different surface areas were applied to the reforming reaction. Moreover, the feasibility of regeneration by air oxidation of both the catalyst and the porous silica was evaluated. In gasification and reforming experiments using woody waste, application of porous silica led to lower levels of highly polymerized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The greater the specific surface area of the porous silica, the lower the concentration of PAHs. Carbon deposited on the surface of the porous silica and the mass of the carbon deposit reached a maximum at a surface area of 195 m2/g. When both the catalyst and the porous silica regeneration by air oxidation was performed, hydrogen concentration was found to level off from the third reforming operation and the amount of total tar did not increase after the second reforming operation. Our results showed that the catalyst and the porous silica is likely to have good reforming activity even repeatedly regeneration condition.

Waste biomass gasification char derived activated carbon for pharmaceutical carbamazepine removal from water

Carbamazepine (CBM), a widely occurring pharmaceutical, has been removed from water by upgrading a waste biomass char from a 300 MW biomass gasification power station plant operating in Indonesia. The fuel source is the waste residue palm kernel shell (PKS) after the palm oil extraction process constituting over one million tonnes per year. The resulting waste power station biomass char (CPKS) from the power station gasification process has been converted into high quality activated carbon by carbon dioxide activation as a sequestration opportunity, at different temperatures ranging from 700 to 900°C for 1 or 1.5 hours. The highest BET surface area was 711.5 m2/g and this activated carbon was able to adsorb 1.14 mmol/g or 268.7 mg CBM/g. Equilibrium and kinetic studies have been undertaken.