褐煤干燥过程对流传热特性的数值模拟

以干燥器内对流传热问题为研究对象,建立了褐煤干燥过程气-固对流传热模型。通过流-固界面传热耦合,利用CFD仿真技术进行模拟,对褐煤在不同粒径、风速及温度下的干燥过程进行了数值模拟,得到不同工况下的温度场分布及对流传热系数。根据模拟结果拟合得到气-固传热关联式,结果表明该关联式与褐煤干燥过程较吻合,可为工程实践提供理论指导。     

Ash effects during combustion of lignite/biomass blends in fluidized bed

Aiming at investigating the role of minerals in evaluating co-firing applications of low rank coals and biomass materials, agricultural residues characteristic of the Mediterranean countries, one lignite and their blends with biomass proportions up to 20% wt, were burned in a lab-scale fluidized bed facility. Fly ashes and bed material were characterized in terms of mineralogical, chemical and morphological analyses and the slagging/fouling and agglomeration propensities were determined.The results showed that combustion of each fuel alone could provoke medium or high deposition problems. Combustion of raw fuels produced fly ashes rich in Ca, Si and Fe minerals, as well as K and Na minerals in the case of biomass samples. However, blending of the fuels resulted in a reduction of Ca, Fe, K and Na, while an increase of Si and Al elements in the fly ashes as compared to lignite combustion, suggesting lower deposition and corrosion problems in boilers firing these mixtures. The use of bauxite as an additive enriched bottom ash in calcium compounds. Under the conditions of the combustion tests, no signs of ash deposition or bed agglomeration were noticed.     

稻壳和褐煤热解特性的初步研究

利用TG-DSC联用分析稻壳与褐煤热解过程中热失重规律及吸放热情况,结果发现,稻壳的热失重率较大,共热解失重过程相当于二者单独热失重过程的叠加。通过DSC曲线分析稻壳与褐煤热解过程的吸放热量显示,与二者单独热解过程不同的是共热解在高温热分解阶段须吸收大量的热量。利用气相色谱分析不同温度下稻壳与褐煤热解气体产物各组分比例,并与热失重过程相对应分析气体产物变化规律,结果发现,H2和CH4气体组分变化规律相同;与褐煤热解相比,稻壳热解气体产物中CO气体组分较多。总体而言,共热解产物是二者单独热解产物的简单加和,但共热解过程吸放热量变化却显示二者存在热量交换和相互影响。     

Environmental requirements in thermochemical and biochemical conversion of biomass

Many biological and thermochemical processing options exist for the conversion of biomass to fuels.

Commercially, these options are assessed in terms of fuel product yield and quality. However, attention must also be paid to the environmental aspects of each technology so that any commercial plant can meet the increasingly stringent environmental legislation in the world today.

The environmental aspects of biological conversion (biogasification and bioliquefaction) and thermal conversion (high pressure liquefaction, flash pyrolysis, and gasification) are reviewed. Biological conversion processes are likely to generate waste streams which are more treatable than those from thermal conversion processes but the available data for thermal liquefaction are very limited. Close attention to waste minimisation is recommended and processing options that greatly reduce or eliminate waste streams have been identified. Product upgrading and it's effect on wastewater quality also requires attention. Emphasis in further research studies needs to be placed on providing authentic waste streams for environmental assessment.     

Hydrogen production by biomass gasification in supercritical water: A parametric study

Hydrogen production by biomass gasification in supercritical water is a promising technology for utilizing high moisture content biomass, but reactor plugging is a critical problem when feedstocks with high biomass content are gasified. The objective of this paper is to prevent the plugging problem by studying the effects of the various parameters on biomass gasification in supercritical water. These parameters include pressure, temperature, residence time, reactor geometrical configuration, reactor types, heating rate, reactor wall properties, biomass types, biomass particle size, catalysts and solution concentration. Biomass model compounds (glucose, cellulose) and real biomass are used in this work. All the biomasses have been successfully gasified and the product gas is composed of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide and a small amount of ethane and ethylene. The results show that the gas yield of biomass gasification in supercritical water is sensitive to some of the parameters and the ways of reducing reactor plugging are obtained.     

Rapid and slow pyrolysis of pistachio shell: effect of pyrolysis conditions on the product yields and characterization of the liquid product

This study reports the experimental results for the pyrolysis of pistachio shell under different conditions in a tubular reactor under a nitrogen flow. For the different conditions of pyrolysis temperature, nitrogen flow rate and heating rate, pyrolysis temperature of 773 K gave the highest bio-oil yield with a value of 27.7% when the heating rate and carrier gas flow rate were chosen as 300 K min⁻¹ and 100 cm³ min⁻¹, respectively. Column chromatography was applied to this bio-oil and its subfractions were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR and ¹H-NMR. Aliphatic subfraction was conducted to gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy for further characterization. The results for the characterization show that using pistachio shell as a renewable source to produce valuable liquid products is applicable via pyrolysis. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The economics of indigenous energy use: The case of northern Ireland lignite

The paper sets out an economic framework within which to judge the potential economic benefits of using newly discovered indigenous fuel reserves. It illustrates the method with extensive reference to the newly discovered deposits of lignite in Northern Ireland. For a long time, the lack of indigenous fuel supplies, together with some unfortunate decisions on fuel use, resulted in Northern Ireland having the highest energy costs of any region in the United Kingdom. Although not the bonanza it was originally thought to be, lignite offers the possibility of a secure source of fuel to power at least part of the local electricity supply system, the smallest isolated electricity supply system in western Europe.     

Main routes for the thermo-conversion of biomass into fuels and chemicals. Part 2: Gasification systems

Gasification as a thermo-chemical process is defined and limited to combustion and pyrolysis. The gasification of biomass is a thermal treatment, which results in a high production of gaseous products and small quantities of char and ash. The solid phase usually presents a carbon content higher than 76%, which makes it possible to use it directly for industrial purposes. The gaseous products can be burned to generate heat or electricity, or they can potentially be used in the synthesis of liquid transportation fuels, H₂, or chemicals. On the other hand, the liquid phase can be used as fuel in boilers, gas turbines or diesel engines, both for heat or electric power generation. However, the main purpose of biomass gasification is the production of low- or medium heating value gas which can be used as fuel gas in an internal combustion engine for power production. In addition to limiting applications and often compounding environmental problems, these technologies are an inefficient source of usable energy.     

Technical and economical evaluation of enhanced biomass to liquid fuel processes

‘Enhanced Biomass-to-Liquid’ (EBtL) refers to BtL processes (biomass gasification and liquid fuel synthesis) with a significant increase in fuel production by means of external energy inputs. The conversion yield of biomass carbon into fuel carbon is multiplied by a factor of 3 in comparison with existing (autothermal) gasification processes. The technical options of such processes are outlined and evaluated in the paper: the production cost is estimated between 0.7 and 1.2 €/litre diesel.     

Biogas and biomass technology: Energy generation from biomass and waste in the Netherlands

Within the European Community, the interest in energy generation from biomass and waste is increasing. A brief overview is given of several thermal conversion technologies, of biomass production and waste availability in the Netherlands. Based on this, the possibilities for energy generation from biomass and waste in the Netherlands are evaluated.     

Hydrogen production from biomasses and wastes: A technological review

Biomass and organic solid waste are considered as very potential alternative energy sources in the future, leading to the realization of a clean and CO₂-free energy system. Therefore, the effective conversion of biomass and organic solid waste to a secondary energy source is urgently demanded. In addition, hydrogen is considered very promising among the secondary energy sources due to its advantages of cleanliness, wide range of conversion and utilization technologies, high energy efficiency, and high gravimetric energy density. This paper reviews several possible routes and key conversion technologies of biomass and organic solid waste to hydrogen. Recent progress related to biological and thermochemical conversion technologies is described. Thermochemical route includes gasification, pyrolysis, steam reforming, partial oxidation, and thermochemical cycle; while biological route covers fermentation (dark and photo), biophotolysis (direct and indirect), enzymatic, and microbial electrolysis. In addition, several challenges regarding the conversion and utilization of biomass and organic solid waste to hydrogen are also discussed in order to clarify the feasibility of biomass and the organic solid waste-based hydrogen economy.     

Dark fermentative hydrogen production from food waste: Effect of biomass ash supplementation

This work aimed to investigate the effects of supplementing two distinct types of ash, namely fly ash (FA) and bottom ash (BA) on the dark fermentation (DF) process of food waste (FW) for H₂ production. Both types of biomass combustion ash (BCA) were collected in an industrial bubbling fluidized bed combustor, using residual forest biomass as fuel. Results indicated that adding BCA at different doses of 1, 2 and 4 g/L could effectively enhance H₂ generation when compared to the control test without BCA addition. This stimulatory effect was attributed to the crucial role of metal elements released from BCA such as sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and iron in the provision of buffering capacity and inorganic nutrients for the functioning of hydrogen-forming bacteria. The highest H₂ yield of 169 mL per g of volatile solids (VS) were obtained by adding only a small amount of BA (1 g/L) to the reactive system, representing a significant increment of 1070% compared to the control reactor. Furthermore, a significant decrease in the bacterial lag phase time from 26 h to 2.7 h, as well as about a 12-fold increase in the energy recovery as H₂ gas was observed at BA dosage of 1 g/L in comparison with the control reactor. Overall, this study suggested that a proper addition of BCA could promote the DF process of FW and enhance biohydrogen production.     

Economic analysis of energy production from coal/biomass upgrading; Part 1: Hydrogen production

Hydrogen production by steam-gasification is an interesting method compared to other common methods which has a wide range of applications including Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells and gas engines. The current research was aimed to provide a detailed economic study on gasification of biomass and coal for syngas and hydrogen production using the Aspen Plus software. The effect of plant size on hydrogen selling price was evaluated from biomass, coal, and biomass-coal gasification. With the plant size increasing from 200 tonnes/day to 400 tonnes/day, the hydrogen selling price decreased sharply from 11.5 to 9.1 $/m³ for biomass, from 10.4 to 8.2 $/m³ for coal, and from 10.1 to 7.7 $/m³ which means that the particle size has a key role in the process, and operation in larger plants is more affordable.     

Investigation of the effectiveness of desliming and flotation in cleaning Malatya-Arguvan lignite

This study investigated the possibility of cleaning Malatya-Arguvan lignite using the flotation method. Because preliminary flotation studies suggested that desliming affects flotation performance, an attempt was made to quantify the effects of the major influencing parameters on the effectiveness of desliming and flotation. Because the optimum collector dosage was found to be very high, the effects of addition of sodium oleate and Aero 3477 were also investigated, to reduce the collector dosage. However, flotation results showed that the addition of sodium oleate and Aero 3477 does not alter the collector dosage significantly. Despite all the aforementioned efforts, only 20% of feed ash could be removed.     

Synthesis gas production by biomass pyrolysis: Effect of reactor temperature on product distribution

This paper describes mass, C, H, and O balances for wood chips pyrolysis experiments performed in a tubular reactor under conditions of rich H₂ gas production (700–1000 °C) and for determined solid heating rates (20–40 °C s⁻¹). Permanent gases (H₂, CO, CH₄, CO₂, C₂H₄, C₂H₆), water, aromatic tar (10 compounds from benzene to phenanthrene and phenols), and char were considered in the balance calculations. Hydrogen (H) from dry wood is mainly converted into CH₄ (more than 30% mol. of H at 900 °C), H₂ (from 9% to 36% mol. from 700 to 1000 °C), H₂O, and C₂H₄. The molar balances showed that the important yield increase of H₂ from 800 to 1000 °C (0.10 Nm³ kg⁻¹ to 0.24 Nm³ kg⁻¹ d.a.f. wood) cannot be solely explained by the analyzed hydrocarbon compounds conversion (CH₄, C₂, aromatic tar). Possible mechanisms of H₂ production from wood pyrolysis are discussed.     

Bio-oil production from hydrothermal liquefaction of waste Cyanophyta biomass: Influence of process variables and their interactions on the product distributions

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of waste Cyanophyta biomass at different temperatures (factor A, 260–420 °C), times (factor B, 5–75 min) and algae/water (a/w) ratios (factor C, 0.02–0.3) by single reaction condition and Response Surface Method (RSM) experiments was investigated. By single reaction condition runs, maximum total bio-oil yield (29.24%) was obtained at 350 °C, 60 min and 0.25 a/w ratio. Maximum bio-oil HHV of 40.04 MJ/kg and energy recovery of 51.09% was achieved at 350 °C, 30 min, 0.1 a/w ratio and 350 °C, 60 min, 0.25 a/w ratio, respectively. RSM results indicate that effect of AB interaction was significant on light bio-oil yield. Both AC and AB had more remarkable influence than BC on heavy bio-oil yield and aqueous total organic carbon (TOC) recovery whereas BC was noticeable on ammonia nitrogen (NH₃N) recovery in aqueous products. By model-based optimization of highest bio-oil yield, the highest bio-oil yield reached 31.79%, increasing by 8.72% after RSM optimization, and light and heavy bio-oil yield was 17.44% and 14.35%, respectively. Long-chain alkanes, alkenes, ketones, fatty acids, phenols, benzenes, amides, naphthalenes were the main components in light bio-oil. Some alcohols, phenols and aromatics were primarily found in heavy bio-oil. Solid residue after HTL consisted of numerous microparticles (～5 μm) observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) analysis shows these particles primarily contained C, O, Mg, P and microelements, derived from Cyanophyta cells.     

Preparation of high-activity coal char-based catalysts from high metals containing coal gangue and lignite for catalytic decomposition of biomass tar

The potential of using high metals containing coal gangue and lignite to prepare high-activity coal char-based catalysts is investigated for effective biomass tar decomposition. Loose structure and rough surface are formed for these char-based catalysts with heterogeneous distribution of a large number of inorganic particles. In the biomass tar decomposition, the performance of the coal char-based catalysts is significantly influenced by the content of the metals in the raw materials and coal gangue char (GC) with the ash content as high as 50.80% exhibits the highest activity in this work. A high biomass tar conversion efficiency of 93.5% is achieved at 800 °C along with a significant increase in the fuel gas product. During the five-time consecutive tests, the catalytic performance of GC increases a little at the second or third times reuse and remains relatively stable, showing the remarkable stability of the catalyst in biomass tar decomposition applications.     

Hydrogen production by biomass gasification in supercritical water using concentrated solar energy: System development and proof of concept

A novel system of hydrogen production by biomass gasification in supercritical water using concentrated solar energy has been constructed, installed and tested at the State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering (SKLMF). The “proof of concept” tests for solar-thermal gasification of biomass in supercritical water (SCW) were successfully carried out. Biomass model compounds (glucose) and real biomass (corn meal, wheat stalk) were gasified continuously with the novel system to produce hydrogen-rich gas. The effect of direct normal solar irradiation (DNI) and catalyst on gasification of biomass was also investigated. The results showed that the maximal gasification efficiency (the mass of product gas/the mass of feedstock) in excess of 110% were reached, hydrogen fraction in the gas product also approached to 50%. The experimental results confirmed the feasibility of the system and the advantage of the process, which supports future work to address the technical issues and develop the technology of solar-thermal hydrogen production by gasification of biomass in supercritical water.     

电厂生物质灰渣全组分分选及特性试验研究

根据生物质灰渣在不同领域进行资源化利用时粒径R的特征差异,通过磁选与筛分串联使用的方式对生物质电厂发电作业产生的生物质灰渣进行分选。将生物质灰渣原料分选成1号（R > 5 mm）、2号（R为2～5 mm）、3号（R为1～2 mm）、4号（R为0.5～1 mm）、5号（R为0.25～0.5 mm）和6号（R < 0.25 mm）等6种粒径规格,各规格生物质灰渣质量分数分别为26.3%、17.5%、17.6%、19.7%、14.3%、3.8%。1、2号生物质灰渣因其粒径较大,一般多作为填埋路基、建筑等原料;3、4和5号生物质灰渣特性研究结果以及现有将其应用于水处理方面的相关研究成果为将该规格生物质灰渣作为水处理的一种新型功能性材料提供了依据;6号生物质灰渣因其粒径小以及富含Fe、P等营养元素,故一般可作为复合化肥的原料应用于农业生产。     

Direct electrolysis of Bunsen reaction product HI/H2SO4/H2O/toluene mixture for hydrogen production: Pt electrode characterization

In chemical cycles to produce hydrogen, the H₂S splitting cycle and the sulfur-iodine (SI) water splitting cycle both share the Bunsen reaction and HI decomposition. Therefore, they have to overcome the same challenges in the technology development, one of them being the complex and difficult separations of the mixed hydroiodic acid and sulfuric acid solution after the Bunsen reaction. To avoid the separations, this paper studies the electrolysis of the HI/H₂SO₄/H₂O/toluene mixture, focusing on the electrochemical characterization of the Pt electrode by using linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results show that hydrogen is identified from the gas generated from the cathode in electrolysis. Iodide oxidation is the main reaction in the anode chamber and no significant side reactions are observed. Iodine deposition on the anode surface increases the resistance to iodide diffusion to the anode. However, it can be mitigated by adding toluene in or applying stirring to the anolyte HI/H₂SO₄ solution. The Pt cathode and sulfuric acid catholyte also work stably.