Energy conversion performances during biomass air gasification process under microwave irradiation

Biomass gasification technology under microwave irradiation is a new and novel method, and the energy conversion performances during the process play a guiding role in improving the energy conversion efficiencies and developing the gasification simulation models. In order to improve the energy utilization efficiency of microwave biomass gasification system, this study investigated and presented the energy conversion performances during biomass gasification process under microwave irradiation, and these were materialized through detailing (a) the energy conversion performance in the microwave heating stage, and (b) the energy conversion performance in the microwave assisted biomass gasification stage. Different forms of energies in the biomass microwave gasification process were calculated by the method given in this study based on the experimental data. The results showed that the useful energy (energy in silicon carbide (SiC), 18.73 kJ) accounted for 31.22% of the total energy input (electrical energy, 60.00 kJ) in the heating stage, and the useful energy (energy in the products, 758.55 kJ) accounted for 63.41% of the total energy input (electrical and biomass energy, 1196.28 kJ) in the gasification stage. During the whole biomass gasification process under microwave irradiation, the useful energy output (energy in the products, 758.55 kJ) accounted for 60.38% of the total energy input (electrical and biomass energy, 1256.28 kJ), and the energy in the gas (523.40 kJ) product played a dominate role in product energy (758.55 kJ). The energy loss mainly included the heat loss in the gas flow (89.20 kJ), magnetron loss (191.80 kJ) and microwave dissipation loss (198.00 kJ), which accounted for 7.10%, 15.27% and 15.76% of the total energy, respectively. The contents detailed in this study not only presented the energy conversion performances during microwave assisted gasification process but also supplied important data for developing gasification simulation models.     

Hydrogen production by supercritical water gasification of lignin over CuO–ZnO catalyst synthesized with different methods

In this study, lignin was gasified in supercritical water with catalysis of CuO–ZnO synthesized by deposition precipitation, co-precipitation and sol-gel methods. Sol-gel synthesized CuO–ZnO showed the highest catalytic performance, and the gasification efficiency was increased by 37.92% with it. The XRD, SEM-EDS and N₂ adsorption/desorption analysis showed that the priority of the sol-gel catalyst was the smallest crystallite size, largest specific surface area and high dispersion. For sol-gel synthesized CuO–ZnO, the increase of CuO/ZnO ratio improved the gasification efficiency but reduced H₂ selectivity. And the catalytic activity was reduced with the calcination temperature above 600 °C due to enlarged crystallites and reduced pores. During sol-gel preparation, both the addition of ethanol and PEG in the solvent reduced the agglomeration and improved the catalytic activity. With CuO–ZnO prepared with 1 g PEG + water as the solvent, the highest H₂ yield of 6.86 mol/kg was obtained, which was over 1.5 times of that without catalyst.     

Hydrogen production with an auto-thermal MSW steam gasification and direct melting system: A process modeling

Municipal solid waste steam gasification and direct melting system is proposed in this study for H₂ production and ash melting simultaneously. Part of the H₂ generated in gasification is extracted for combustion with pure oxygen in the melting zone to provide the energy necessary for auto-thermal operation. A simulation model is developed with Aspen Plus to investigate the performance and optimum conditions of the system. For the feedstock with a lower heating value of 18.91 MJ/kg used in this study, 39.8% of the generated H₂ needs to be extracted to maintain the heat balance of the system at the gasification temperature of 900 °C, melting temperature of 1400 °C, and S/M of 1. The net H₂ yield is ～77.3 kg/t-MSW with a net cold gas efficiency of 49.1% under the same operating condition. An optimum operation condition for T (850–1000 °C) and S/M (0.6–1.0) is determined considering the balance between H₂ production ability and the auto-thermal energy balance.     

The effect of biomass feeding location on rice husk gasification for hydrogen production

The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of biomass feeding location on rice husk gasification for hydrogen production. By comparing the results between top-feed and bottom-feed of the feedstock of the fluidized bed biomass gasification at the reaction temperature between 600～1000 °C and ER = 0.2, 0.27, and 0.33 without steam, the optimum low heating value was increase by 2.35 kJ/g-rice husk by the top-feed to gasifier. Although the yield of hydrogen was decreased by 42% for the rice husk gasification by the top-feed operation, the yield of CO, CO2, and CH4 were highly increased, which enhancing the heating value of the effluent gas. The study results suggested the potential route of the biomass gasification at the different feeding location.     

CFD model for tubular SOFC directly fed by biomass

The coupling between biomass gasification and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells can represent a sustainable and efficient system for electricity production. This work aims to develop a preliminary model for the operation of a tubular, electrolyte-supported fuel cell (SOFC) fed by a syngas mixture. The fuel required by the SOFC system is produced inside the energy generator box from an integrated biomass gasification system. This study stems from the European DB-SOFC project, that proposed the exploitation of the abundant biomasses deriving from agricultural residues for energetic purposes (as from olive oil and wine production). In this study, the main processes have been simulated to find a possible configuration to obtain a power value of 200 W. 25 cells were used in the model to produce the required power. The results showed that at 0.7 V it is possible to achieve 12.3 W, when the biomass gasification was integrated into the SOFC box, while it was possible to achieve 9.6 W when the system was fed by externally produced syngas.     

Molecular dynamic investigation on sulfur migration during hydrogen production by benzothiophene gasification in supercritical water

Benzothiophene (BT) is a key sulfur-containing intermediate product in the thermal conversion process of coal and heavy oil. The migration process of the sulfur element may affect the thermal utilization design of BT. In this paper, BT was used as a model compound to simulate the supercritical water gasification (SCWG) process by molecular dynamics with a reactive force field (ReaxFF) method, and the laws of hydrogen production and sulfur migration mechanisms were obtained. Increasing the molecule number of supercritical water (SCW) and increasing the reaction temperature can enhance the generation of hydrogen and promote the conversion of organic sulfur to inorganic sulfur. Water was the main source of H₂, and H₂S was the main gaseous sulfur-containing product. SCW had a certain degree of oxidation due to a large number of hydroxyl radicals, which could increase the valence of sulfur. The conversion process of BT in SCW was mainly divided into four stages, including thiophene ring-opening; sulfur separation or carbon chain broke with sulfur retention; carbon chain cleaved, and gas generation. The lumped kinetic parameters of the conversion of sulfur in BT to inorganic sulfur were calculated, and the activation energy was 369.98 kJ/mol, which was much lower than those under pyrolysis conditions. This article aims to clarify the synergistic characteristics of hydrogen production and sulfur migration in the SCWG process of BT from the molecular perspective, which is expected to provide a theoretical basis for pollutant directional removal during hydrogen production by sulfur-containing organic matters in SCW.     

无烟煤制工业燃气项目原料煤价与经济性的关系分析

针对我国建材行业传统使用的常压固定床煤气发生炉及化肥行业固定床间歇气化炉面临淘汰,无烟煤市场萎缩的情况,提出以晋城无烟煤为原料,利用赛鼎碎煤加压气化技术,生产适合建材行业大规模使用的工业燃气。以无烟煤为原料的河北沙河年产26亿m^3工业清洁燃气项目为基础,对无烟煤与天然气价格、项目经济性的关系进行了分析,结果表明,以晋城无烟块煤运到河北沙河的到厂价935元/t计算,盈亏平衡天然气价约2.26元/m^3;以沙河工业天然气到户售价2.5元/m^3计算,盈亏平衡到厂煤价约1 077元/t,项目经济性较好。     

德士古水煤浆加压气化技术运行中的问题和处理对策

水煤浆气化装置运行问题较多。对煤浆制备单元进行煤浆提浓改造,通过与类似项目生产装置对比,解决存在的问题,使甲醇产品能根据市场价格调节其产量,提高装置盈利能力。     

Challenges and Opportunities of Modeling Biomass Gasification in Aspen Plus: A Review

Aspen Plus has become one of the most common process simulation tools for both academia and industrial applications. In the last decade, the number of the papers on Aspen Plus modeling of biomass gasification has significantly increased. This review focuses on recent developments and studies on modeling biomass gasification in Aspen Plus including key aspects such as tar formation and model validation. Accordingly, challenges in modeling due to specific assumptions and limitations will be highlighted to provide a useful basis for researchers and end-users for further process modeling of biomass gasification in Aspen Plus.