Artificial neural network models for biomass gasification in fluidized bed gasifiers

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been applied for modeling biomass gasification process in fluidized bed reactors. Two architectures of ANNs models are presented; one for circulating fluidized bed gasifiers (CFB) and the other for bubbling fluidized bed gasifiers (BFB). Both models determine the producer gas composition (CO, CO₂, H₂, CH₄) and gas yield. Published experimental data from other authors has been used to train the ANNs. The obtained results show that the percentage composition of the main four gas species in producer gas (CO, CO₂, H₂, CH₄) and producer gas yield for a biomass fluidized bed gasifier can be successfully predicted by applying neural networks. ANNs models use in the input layer the biomass composition and few operating parameters, two neurons in the hidden layer and the backpropagation algorithm. The results obtained by these ANNs show high agreement with published experimental data used R² > 0.98. Furthermore a sensitivity analysis has been applied in each ANN model showing that all studied input variables are important.     

Model validation of a CFB biomass gasification model

The developed 1-dimensional biomass gasification mathematical model [1] was validated using the experimental results obtained from a circulating fluidized bed biomass gasifier. The reactor was operated on rice husk at various equivalence ratios (ER), fluidization velocities and biomass feed rates. The model gave reasonable predictions of the axial bed temperature profile, syngas composition and lower heating value (LHV), gas production rate, gasification efficiency and overall carbon conversion. The model was also validated by comparing the simulation results with two other different size circulating fluidized beds biomass gasifiers (CFBBGs) using different biomass feedstock, and it was concluded that the developed model can be applied to other CFBBGs using various biomass fuels and having comparable reactor geometries.     

生物质气化原理及设备浅析

生物质作为一种可再生的洁净能源,其气化技术得到大力发展。本文对生物质气化的基本原理及气化工艺类型进行了简要介绍,同时阐述了主要气化炉类型的工作原理及优缺点,如固定床原料适应性广,但难以大型化,流化床气化效率高但结构复杂;并对气化炉的特性进行浅析,对生物质气化工程的设计及运行具有指导意义。     

Gas cleaning for IC engine applications from fixed bed biomass gasification

Gas cleaning for tar and particle removal is necessary for internal combustion (IC) engine applications of producer gas from fixed bed biomass gasifiers which are usually in the capacity range from 100 kW up to 5000 kW. In the present investigation, tar and particle collection efficiencies have been determined in a sand bed filter, a wash tower, two different fabric filters, and a rotational particle separator (RPS) in different test runs with fixed bed gasifiers. Tar adsorption on coke has been investigated in a fixed bed batch reactor. Furthermore data from literature for catalytic tar crackers, venturi scrubbers, a rotational atomizer, and a wet electrostatic precipitator (ESP) are given. Based on the presented gas cleaning efficiencies and the investment cost, an assessment of gas cleaning systems is made for IC engine applications from cocurrent gasifiers. The results show that the postulated gas quality requirements for IC engines cannot be safely achieved with state-of-the-art gas cleaning techniques and that 90% particle removal is easier to achieve than 90% tar removal. Except for the catalytic tar crackers which are considered as an option for applications above several MW and for gases with a high tar level, none of the investigated gas cleaning systems can securely meet a tar reduction exceeding 90%. Therefore one of the key issues for a successful application of biomass derived producer gas from small scale gasifiers is the tar removal, where further development is needed.     

Performance correlations for biomass gasifiers using semi‐equilibrium non‐stoichiometric thermodynamic models

Biomass gasification has been a viable alternative for decentralized electricity generation in developing countries. The efficiency of the biomass gasification process for operation of the engine‐generator set is mapped in terms of quality and quantity of the producer gas. In this study, we have attempted to devise generalized correlations for four principal parameters that form the benchmark for the performance of the gasifier. These parameters are lower heating value and net yield (per unit biomass) of producer gas, and volume fractions of CO and CO₂ in the gas resulting from biomass gasification process. The correlations have been constituted using simulations of gasification of three common biomass feedstocks (viz. rice husk, saw dust and corn cobs) using semi‐equilibrium non‐stoichiometric thermodynamic model. The independent variables used in the simulations are air ratio, carbon conversion, gasification temperature and three elemental ratios in the gasification mixture, viz. H/C, O/H and O/C. As many as eight expressions of linear and non‐linear type have been evaluated to best fit the simulations data for each performance parameter. On the basis of statistical indicators, the compatibility of the correlations for best fit of the data has been assessed. Finally, the predictions of the correlation have been tested against experimental data on gasification of different biomass. The best correlation for each performance parameter was chosen on the basis of least average absolute error and highest (absolute) regression coefficient. It was found that the set of best correlations could predict the values of performance parameters within engineering accuracy of ± 10–20%. The correlations proposed in this work are independent of the type of biomass gasifier. These correlations can form a useful tool for design and optimization of fixed or fluidized bed gasifier for any biomass feedstock. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving the performance of fluidized bed biomass/waste gasifiers for distributed electricity: A new three-stage gasification system

Methods to increase the conversion of char and tar in fluidized bed gasifiers (FBG) are discussed, with the focus on small to medium-size biomass/waste gasifiers for power production (from 0.5 to 10 MW_e). Optimization of such systems aims at (i) maximizing energy utilization of the fuel (maximizing char conversion), (ii) minimizing secondary treatment of the gas (by avoiding complex tar cleaning), and (iii) application in small biomass-to-electricity gasification plants. The efficiency of various measures to increase tar and char conversion within a gasification reactor (primary methods) is discussed. The optimization of FBG by using in-bed catalysts, by addition of steam and enriched air as gasification agent, and by secondary-air injection, although improving the process, is shown to be insufficient to attain the gas purity required for burning the gas in an engine to produce electricity. Staged gasification is identified as the only method capable of reaching the targets mentioned above with reasonable simplicity and cost, so it is ideal for power production. A promising new stage gasification process is presented. It is based on three stages: FB devolatilization, non-catalytic air/steam reforming of the gas coming from the devolatilizer, and chemical filtering of the gas and gasification of the char in a moving bed supplied with the char generated in the devolatilizer. Design considerations and comparison with one-stage FBG are discussed.     

Hydrogen and syngas production from biomass gasification for fuel cell application

Gasification process is being developed to produce a clean and efficient gas flue from fuels such as coal, biomass, and solid/liquid wastes for power generation. In this work, a biomass gasification kinetic model that can predict reaction temperature, gasification performance, and gas composition has been developed for a circulating fluidized bed (CFB). Experimental data from a CFB power plant have been used to validate the model. It is confirmed that the addition of steam is important for increasing the hydrogen concentration and syngas caloric value. Based on the predicted results, an optimal condition is suggested for air and steam gasification in the CFB gasifier.     

生物质富氧气化特性的研究

富氧气化是先进的中热值气化方法之一，具有设备体积小，运行稳定等优点。从富氧气化的原理出发，分析氧气浓度，气化当量比等因素对气化结果的影响，并在实验的基础上，分析讨论提高了富氧气化经济性和实用性的途径，总结得到的循环流化床富氧气化的最佳运行条件：氧气浓度，气化当量比约０．１５。     

Modeling of biomass gasification in fluidized bed

Modeling of biomass gasification in bubbling and circulating fluidized bed (FB) gasifiers is reviewed. Approaches applied for reactor modeling, from black-box models to computational fluid-dynamic models, are described. Special attention is paid to comprehensive fluidization models, where semi-empirical correlations are used to simplify the fluid-dynamics. The conversion of single fuel particles, char, and gas is examined in detail. The most relevant phenomena to be considered in modeling of FB biomass gasifiers are outlined, and the need for further investigation is identified. An updated survey of published mathematical reactor models for biomass and waste gasification in FB is presented. The overall conclusion is that most of the FB biomass gasification models fit reasonably well experiments selected for validation, despite the various formulations and input data. However, there are few measurements available for comparison with detailed model results. Also, validation of models with data from full-scale FB biomass gasification units remains to be done.     

A two phase model of high temperature steam-only gasification of biomass char in bubbling fluidized bed reactors using nuclear heat

A two phase biomass char steam gasification kinetic model is developed in a bubbling fluidized bed with nuclear heat as source of energy. The model is capable of predicting the temperature and concentration profiles of gases in the bubble, emulsion gas and solid phases. The robust model calculates the dynamic and steady state profiles, as well as the complex parameters of fluidized bed. Three pilot scale gasifiers were simulated in order to see the effect of the H/D ratio and the bed heating dynamics in the gasification kinetics, these parameters are found to be really important in order to enhance the water-gas shift reaction, and consequently, the hydrogen production. For the system modeled, hydrogen is the principal product of the steam-only gasification, as reported in the literature data. The carbon dioxide yield seems to be smaller than the ones in other works, but these differences are due principally to the energy source (no combustion is conducted) and that char (no oxygen in the solids) was used as the carbon source.     

Physicochemical properties and gasification reactivity of the ultrafine semi-char derived from a bench-scale fluidized bed gasifier

Zhundong coalfield is the largest intact coalfield worldwide and fluidized bed gasification has been considered as a promising way to achieve its clean and efficient utilization.The purpose of this study is to investigate the physieochemical properties and gasification reactivity of the ultrafine semi-char,derived from a bench-scale fluidized bed gasifier,using Zhundong coal as fuel.The results obtained are as follows.In comparison to the raw coal,the carbon and ash content of the semi-char increase after partial gasification,but the ash fusion temperatures of them show no significant difference.Particularly,76.53％ of the sodium in the feed coal has released to the gas phase after fluidized bed gasification.The chemical compositions of the semi-char are closely related to its particle size,attributable to the distinctly different natures of diverse elements.The semi-char exhibits a higher graphitization degree,higher BET surface area,and richer meso-and macropores,which results in superior gasification reactivity than the coal char.The chemical reactivity of the semi-char is significantly improved by an increased gasification temperature,which suggests the necessity of regasification of the semi-char at a higher temperature.Consequently,it will be considered feasible that these carbons in the semi-char from fluidized bed gasifiers are reclaimed and reused for the gasification process.     

A short overview on purification and conditioning of syngas produced by biomass gasification: Catalytic strategies,process intensification and new concepts

Application of the process intensification concept to biomass gasification is relatively recent, but is arousing growing interest by providing true opportunities for developing cost-effective high quality syngas, particularly for small to medium-scale installations, adapted to the economic context of most regions in the world. In this highly swarming context towards process intensification, this article provides an overview of the different strategies which are reported in the literature to perform syngas or H₂ purification and conditioning into the gasifier. A promising avenue towards process intensification consists in integrating several functionalities into suitable fluidized bed gasifiers, such as catalytic tar cracking/reforming, CO₂ elimination, H₂ separation and the elimination of particles and other contaminants. The development of new catalytic integrated gasification concepts is also proposed to achieve high conversion performances while pursuing significant process intensification. This strategy is illustrated by relevant examples such as the design of short contact time partial oxidation catalytic reactors, the implementation of specific reaction media such as supercritical water or molten metal, or the realisation of a close contact between solid catalysts and lignocellulosic biomass. Most of these different technologies are not mature yet and research effort has to be performed for optimizing each of these approaches, calling for a multidisciplinary and multi-scale approach integrating catalysis, chemistry, reaction and process engineering. The design of new advanced gasification reactor concept still has to be pursued in order to achieve the challenging one-step production of a high quality syngas from biomass gasification. The implementation of such innovative biomass gasification breakthrough concepts could be one of the most promising ways of process intensification resulting in a significant cut down of the production costs of synthesis gas and H₂ derived from biomass.     

Equilibrium modeling of gasification: Gibbs free energy minimization approach and its application to spouted bed and spout-fluid bed gasifiers

Spouted beds have been found in many applications, one of which is gasification. In this paper, the gasification processes of conventional and modified spouted bed gasifiers were considered. The conventional spouted bed is a central jet spouted bed, while the modified spouted beds are circular split spouted bed and spout-fluid bed. The Gibbs free energy minimization method was used to predict the composition of the producer gas. The major six components, CO, CO₂, CH₄, H₂O, H₂ and N₂, were determined in the mixture of the producer gas. The results showed that the carbon conversion in the gasification process plays an important role in the model. A modified model was developed by considering the carbon conversion in the constraint equations and in the energy balance calculation. The results from the modified model showed improvements. The higher heating values (HHV) were also calculated and compared with the ones from experiments. The agreements of the calculated and experimental values of HHV, especially in the case of the circular split spouted bed and the spout-fluid bed were observed.     

生物质气化过程的混合神经网络模拟

用几种生物质的料进行了水蒸汽流化条件下的常压气化实验。为得到各种生物质的气化特性,用混合神经网络模型于气化过程进行了模拟。模型得到的气化产率与实验数据吻合得较好。神经网络给出的气化特性能正确地反映实际的生物质气化过程。模拟结果还显示,草本生物质和木本生物质在气化过程中,各种煤气成分的释放有不同的规律。     

Review and analysis of biomass gasification models

The use of biomass as a source of energy has been further enhanced in recent years and special attention has been paid to biomass gasification. Due to the increasing interest in biomass gasification, several models have been proposed in order to explain and understand this complex process, and the design, simulation, optimisation and process analysis of gasifiers have been carried out. This paper presents and analyses several gasification models based on thermodynamic equilibrium, kinetics and artificial neural networks. The thermodynamic models are found to be a useful tool for preliminary comparison and for process studies on the influence of the most important fuel and process parameters. They have the advantage of being independent of gasifier design, but they cannot give highly accurate results for all cases. The kinetic-based models are computationally more intensive but give accurate and detailed results. However, they contain parameters that limit their applicability to different plants.     

Bench-scale bubbling fluidized bed systems around the world - Bed agglomeration and collapse: A comprehensive review

Thermochemical conversion by gasification process is one of the most relevant technologies for energy recovery from solid fuel, with an energy conversion efficiency better than other alternatives like combustion and pyrolysis. Nevertheless, the most common technology used in the last decades for thermochemical conversion of solid fuel through gasification process, such as coal, agriculture residues or biomass residues are the fluidized bed or bubbling fluidized bed system. For these gasification technologies, an inert bed material is fed into reactor to improve the homogenization of the particles mixture and increase the heat transfer between solid fuel particles and the bed material. The fluidized bed reactors usually operate at isothermal bed temperatures in the range of 700–1000 °C, providing a suitable contact between solid and gas phases. In this way, chemical reactions with high conversion yield, as well as an intense circulation and mixing of the solid particles are encouraged. Moreover, a high gasification temperature favours carbon conversion efficiency, increasing the syngas production and energy performance of the gasifier. However, the risk of eutectic mixtures formation and its subsequent melting process are increased, and hence the probability of bed agglomeration and the system collapse could be increased, mainly when alkali and alkaline earth metals-rich biomasses are considered. Generally, bed agglomeration occurs when biomass-derived ash reacts with bed material, and the lower melting temperature of ash components promotes the formation of highly viscous layers, which encourages the progressive agglomerates creation, and consequently, the bed collapse and system de-fluidization. Taking into account the relevance of this topic to ensure the normal gasification process operating, this paper provides several aspects about bed agglomeration, mostly for biomass gasification systems. In this way, chemistry and mechanism of bed agglomeration, as well as, some methods for in-situ detection and prediction of the bed agglomeration phenomenon are reviewed and discussed.     

生物质气化工艺及装置研究进展

文章分析了生物质气化技术的发展现状，介绍了几种典型的生物质气化工艺及装置，比较了固定床、流化床等气化装置的优缺点，并分析了现有气化工艺存在的问题以及生物质热解气化技术的发展前景。     

Assessment of producer gas composition in air gasification of biomass using artificial neural network model

Energy generation from renewable and carbon-neutral biomass is significant in the context of a sustainable energy framework. Hydrogen can be conveniently extracted from biomass through thermo-chemical conversion process of gasification. In the present work, an artificial neural network (ANN) model is developed using MATLAB software for gasification process simulation based on extensive data obtained from experimental investigations. Experimental investigations on air gasification are conducted in a bubbling fluidised bed gasifier with different locally available biomasses at various operating conditions to obtain the producer gas. The developed artificial neural network consists of seven input variables, output layer with four output variables and one hidden layer with fifteen neurons. The multi-layer feed-forward neural network is trained employing Levenberg–Marquardt back-propagation algorithm. Performance of the model appraised using mean squared error and regression analysis shows good agreement between the output and target values with a regression coefficient, R = 0.987 and mean squared error, MSE = 0.71. The developed model is implemented to predict the producer gas composition from selected biomasses within the operating range. This model satisfactorily predicted the effect of operating parameters on producer gas yield, and is thus a useful tool for the simulation and performance assessment of the gasification system.     

Modeling biomass gasification in circulating fluidized beds

Detailed review of existing models resulted in the development of a new mathematical model to study biomass gasification in a circulating fluidized bed. Hydrodynamics as well as chemical reaction kinetics were considered to predict the overall performance of a biomass gasification process. The fluidized bed was divided into two distinct sections: a) a dense region at the bottom of the bed where biomass undergoes mainly heterogeneous reactions and b) a dilute region at the top where most of homogeneous reactions occur in gas phase. Each section was divided into a number of small cells, over which mass and energy balances were applied. A number of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions were considered in the model. Mass transfer resistance was considered negligible since the reactions were under kinetic control due to good gas–solid mixing. The model is capable of predicting the bed temperature distribution along the gasifier, the concentration and distribution of each species in the vertical direction of the bed, the composition and heating value of produced gas, the gasification efficiency, the overall carbon conversion and the produced gas production rate. The modeling and simulation results were in good agreement with published data.     

Co–gasification of coal/biomass blends in 50 kWe circulating fluidized bed gasifier

This paper reports gasification of coal/biomass blends in a pilot scale (50 kWe) air-blown circulating fluidized bed gasifier. Yardsticks for gasification performance are net yield, LHV and composition and tar content of producer gas, cold gas efficiency (CGE) and carbon conversion efficiency (CCE). Net LHV decreased with increasing equivalence ratio (ER) whereas CCE and CGE increased. Max gas yield (1.91 Nm³/kg) and least tar yield (5.61 g/kg of dry fuel) was obtained for coal biomass composition of 60:40 wt% at 800 °C. Catalytic effect of alkali and alkaline earth metals in biomass enhanced char and tar conversion for coal/biomass blend of 60:40 wt% at ER = 0.29, with CGE and CCE of 44% and 84%, respectively. Gasification of 60:40 wt% coal/biomass blend with dolomite (10 wt%, in-bed) gave higher gas yield (2.11 Nm³/kg) and H₂ content (12.63 vol%) of producer gas with reduced tar content (4.3 g/kg dry fuel).