SIMULATION OF AIR‐GASIFICATION OF WOOD WASTES USING ASPEN PLUS

Year 2021, Volume: 5 Issue: 3, 86 - 97, 30.09.2021

Peter Akhator , Jude Asibor

Abstract

A thermodynamic equilibrium model for air‐gasification of wood wastes in fixed-bed downdraft gasifier was developed using Aspen (Advanced System for Process Engineering) Plus based on minimisation of Gibbs free energy. The synthesis gas (syngas) composition predicted by the model was found to be in fair agreement with measured syngas composition from experiments with similar gasifier type and biomass. The validated model was used to carry out sensitivity analysis to study the effect of gasifier temperatures, air-fuel ratios and wood waste moisture levels on syngas quality (composition and energy content). The various parameters investigated were observed to affect the syngas quality significantly.

Keywords

Biomass, equilibrium model, gasification, syngas, wood wastes

References

• [1] K.G. Mansaray, A.M. Al-Taweel, A.E. Ghaly, F. Hamdullahpur, and V.I. Ugursal, “Mathematical modeling of a fluidized-bed rice husk gasifier: Part I Model Development”, Energy Sources, vol. 22, pp. 83–98, 2000a
• [2] K.G. Mansaray, A.M. Al-Taweel, A.E. Ghaly, F. Hamdullahpur, and V.I. Ugursal, “Mathematical modeling of a fluidized-bed rice husk gasifier: Part II Model Sensitivity”, Energy Sources, vol. 22, pp. 167-185, 2000b.
• [3] K.G. Mansaray, A.M. Al-Taweel, A.E. Ghaly, F. Hamdullahpur, and V.I. Ugursal, “Mathematical modeling of a fluidized-bed rice husk gasifier: Part III Model Verification” Energy Sources, vol. 22, pp.281-296, 2000c
• [4] P. Mathieu, and R. Dubuisson, “Performance analysis of a biomass gasifier”, Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 43, pp. 1291-99, 2002.
• [5] N.R. Mitta, S. Ferrer-Nadal, A.M. Lazovic, J.F. Perales, E. Velo, and L. Puigjaner, “Modelling and simulation of a tyre gasification plant for synthesis gas production” Proceedings of 16th European Symposium on Computed Aided Process Engineering and 9th International Symposium on Process Systems Engineering, Garmisch- Partenkirchen, Germany, pp. 1771-76, July 2006.
• [6] M.B. Nikoo, and N. Mahinpey, “Simulation of biomass gasification in fluidized bed reactor using ASPEN PLUS”, Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 32, pp. 1245 – 1254, 2008.
• [7] I. Hannula, and E. Kurkela, “A semi-empirical model for pressurised air-blown fluidised-bed gasification of biomass”, Bioresource Technology, vol. 101, pp. 4608 – 4615, 2010.
• [8] N. Ramzan, A. Ashraf, S. Naveed, and A. Malik, “Simulation of hybrid biomass gasification using Aspen Plus: A comparative performance analysis of food, municipal solid and poultry waste”, Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 35, pp. 3962 – 3969, 2011
• [9] A. Mavukwana, K. Jalama, F. Ntuli, and K. Harding, “Simulation of sugarcane bagasse gasification using Aspen Plus”, International Conference on Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Johannesburg, pp. 70-74, 15-16 April 2013.
• [10] P.C. Kuo, W. Wu, and W.H. Chen, “Gasification performances of raw and torrefied biomass in a downdraft fixed bed gasifier using thermodynamic analysis”, Fuel vol. 117, pp. 1231-1241, 2014.
• [11] C. Chen, Y.Q. Jin, J.H. Yan, and Y. Chi, “Simulation of municipal solid waste gasification in two different types of fixed bed reactors”, Fuel, vol. 103, pp. 58–63, 2013
• [12] Z.A. Zainal, R. Ali, C.H. Lean, and K.N. Seetharamu, “Prediction of performance of a downdraft gasifier using equilibrium modeling for different biomass materials”, Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 42, pp. 1499-1515, 2001.
• [13] J.K. Ratnadhariya, and S.A. Channiwala, “Three zone equilibrium and kinetic free modelling of biomass gasifier: a novel approach”, Renewable Energy, vol. 34, pp. 1050 – 1058, 2009).
• [14] A. Faaij, R. van Ree, L.Waldheim, E. Olsson, A. Oudhuis, A. van Wijk, C. Daey-Ouwens, C. and W. Turkenburg, “Gasification of biomass wastes and residues for electricity production”, Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 12, pp. 387 – 407, 1997.
• [15] H.M. Yan, and V. Rudolph, “Modelling a compartmented fluidized bed coal gasifier process using ASPEN PLUS” Chemical Engineering Communication, vol. 183, pp. 1–38, 2000.
• [16] M. Sudiro, C. Zanella, L. Bressan, M. Fontana, and A. Bertucco, “Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) from petcoke: model development and simulation”, The 9th International Conference on Chemical and Process Engineering (ICheaP-9), Rome, Italy, pp. 10-13, May 2009.
• [17] F. Paviet, F. Chazarenc, and M. Tazerout, “Thermochemical equilibrium modelling of a biomass gasifying process using Aspen Plus, International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering, vol. 7, A40, 2009
• [18] W. Doherty, A. Reynolds, and D. Kennedy, “The effect of air preheating in a biomass CFB gasifier using ASPEN Plus simulation”, Biomass Bioenergy, Vol. 33, pp. 1158 – 1167, 2009.
• [19] W. Doherty, A. Reynolds, and D. Kennedy, “Simulation of a Circulating Fluidised Bed Biomass Gasifier Using ASPEN Plus - A Performance Analysis”, Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems, Krakow, Poland, pp. 24-27 June 2008.
• [20] S. Michailos, and A. Zabaniotou, “Simulation of Olive Kernel Gasification in a Bubbling Fluidized Bed Pilot Scale Reactor”, Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 43, pp. 1291– 1299, 2002.
• [21] A. Kumar, H. Noureddini, Y. Demirel, D.D. Jones, and M.A. Hanna, “Simulation of corn stover and distillers grains gasification with Aspen Plus”, Trans. ASABE, vol. 52, pp. 1989–1995, 2009.
• [22] P.E. Akhator, A.I. Obanor, E.G. Sadjere, Design and development of a small-scale biomass downdraft gasifier, Nigerian Journey of Technology, vol. 38, pp. 922 – 930, 2019.
• [23] S. Begum, M. Rasul, and D. Akbar, “A numerical investigation of municipal solid waste gasification using Aspen Plus”, Procedia Engineering, vol. 90, pp. 710 – 717, 2014.
• [24] O. Pardo-Planas, H.K. Atiyeh, J.R. Phillips, C.P. Aichele, and S. Mohammad, “Process simulation of ethanol production from biomass gasification and syngas fermentation”, Bioresource Technology, vol. 245, pp. 925 – 932, 2017.
• [25] M.S. Eikeland, R. Thapa, and B. Halvorsen, “Aspen Plus simulation of biomass gasification with known reaction kinetic”, Proceedings of the 56th Conference on Simulation and modeling, Linköping, pp. 149-156, 7-9 October 2015.
• [26] M.S. Eikeland, and R.K. Thapa, “Stepwise analysis of gasification reactions with Aspen Plus and CPFD”, International Journal of Energy Production and Management, vol. 2, pp. 70-80, 2017.
• [27] R. Guruprasad, T. Renganathan, and S. Pushpavanam, “Generalized Thermodynamic Analysis of high pressure air blown gasifier”, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, vol. 53, pp. 18750-18760, 2014.
• [28] M. Formica, S. Frigo, and R. Gabbrielli, “Development of a new steady state zero- dimensional simulation model for woody biomass gasification in a full scale plant”, Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 120, pp. 358-369, 2016.
• [29] L.P.R Pala, Q. Wang, G. Kolb, and V. Hessel, “Steam Gasification of Biomass with Subsequent Syngas Adjustment Using Shift Reaction for Syngas Production: An Aspen Plus model”, Renewable Energy, vol. 101, pp. 484-492, 2017.
• [30] M. Fernandez-Lopez, J. Pedroche, J. Valverde, and L. Sanchez-Silva, “Simulation of the gasification of animal wastes in a dual gasifier using Aspen Plus”, Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 140, pp. 211-217, 2017.
• [31] A. Gagliano, F. Nocera, M. Bruno, and G. Cardillo, “Development of an equilibrium- based model of gasification of biomass by Aspen Plus”, Energy Procedia, vol. 111, pp. 1010 - 1019, 2017.
• [32] P. Lestinsky, and A. Palit, “Wood pyrolysis using Aspen Plus simulation and industrially applicable model”, Geoscience Engineering, vol. 62, pp. 11-16, 2016.
• [33] T. Damartzis, S. Michailos, and A. Zabaniotou, “Energetic assessment of a combined heat and power integrated biomass gasification - internal combustion engine system by using Aspen Plus”, Fuel Processing Technology, vol. 95, pp. 37-44, 2012.
• [34] J. Han, Y. Liang, J. Hu, L. Qin, J. Street, Y. Lu, and F. Yu, “Modeling downdraft biomass gasification process by restricting chemical reaction equilibrium with Aspen Plus”, Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 153, pp. 641-648, 2017.
• [35] A.J. Keche, A.P.R. Gaddale, and R.G. Tated, “Simulation of biomass gasification in downdraft gasifier for different biomass fuels Using Aspen Plus”, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, vol. 17, pp. 465-473, 2015.
• [36] S. Rupesh, C. Muraleedharan, and P. Arun, “Aspen Plus modeling of air-steam gasification of biomass with sorbent enabled CO2 capture”, Resource Efficient Technologies, vol. 2, pp. 94-103, 2016.
• [37] M. Dahmani, C. Périlhon, C. Marvillet, N. Hajjaji, A. Houas, and Z. Khila, “Development of a fixed bed gasifier model and optimal operating conditions determination”, AIP Conference Proceedings, 1814, Article ID: 020069, 2017.
• [38] N. Deng, A. Zhang, Q. Zhang, G. He, W. Cui, G. Chen, and C. Song, “Simulation analysis and ternary diagram of municipal solid waste pyrolysis and gasification based on the equilibrium model”, Bioresource Technology, vol. 235, pp. 371-379, 2017.
• [39] J.F. Peters, S.W. Banks, A.V. Bridgwater, and J. Dufour, “A kinetic reaction model for biomass pyrolysis processes in Aspen Plus”, Applied Energy, vol. 188, pp. 595-603, 2017.
• [40] P. Kaushal, and R. Tyagi, “Advanced simulation of biomass gasification in a fluidized bed reactor using Aspen Plus”, Renewable Energy, vol. 101, pp. 629-636, 2017.
• [41] L. Wei, J.A. Thomasson, R.M. Bricka, R. Sui, J.R. Wooten, and E.P. Columbus, Syngas quality evaluation for biomass gasification with a downdraft gasifier. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, vol. 52, pp. 21-37, 2009.
• [42] P. Basu, Biomass gasification and pyrolysis: practical design and theory. Academic Press, Burlington, MA 01803, USA, 2010.
• [43] G. Song, F. Feng, J. Xiao, and L. Shen. “Technical assessment of synthetic natural gas (SNG) production from agriculture residuals”, Journal of Thermal Sciences, vol. 22, pp. 359–365.
• [44] M. Puig-Arnavat, J.C. Bruno, and A. Coronas, “Review and analysis of biomass gasification models”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 14, pp. 2841–51, 2010
• [45] M. Puig-Arnavat, J.C. Bruno, and A. Coronas, “Modified thermodynamic equilibrium model for biomass gasification: a study of the influence of operating conditions”, Energy and Fuels, vol. 26, pp. 1385–1394, 2012.
• [46] A. Gagliano, F. Nocera, F. Patania, M. Bruno, and D.G. Castaldo, “A robust numerical model for characterizing the syngas composition in a downdraft gasification process”, Comptes Rendus Chimie, vol. 19, pp. 441 – 449, 2016.
• [47] Y.I. Son, Y.J. Sang, K.K. Yong, and J.G. Lee, “Gasification and power generation characteristics of woody biomass utilizing a downdraft gasifier”, Biomass Bioenergy, vol. 35, pp. 4215–4220, 2011.
• [48] S. Rupesh, C. Muraleedharan, and P. Arun, “Analysis of hydrogen generation through thermo‐chemical gasification of coconut shell using thermodynamic equilibrium model considering char and tar”, International Scholarly Research Notices, vol. pp. 1‐9, 2014.
• [49] L. Devi, K.J. Ptasinski, and F.J. Jenssen, “A review of the primary measures for tar elimination in biomass gasification processes”, Biomass & Bioenergy, vol. 24, pp. 125– 140, 2003.
• [50] A. Melger, J.F. Perez, H. Laget, and A. Horillo, “Thermochemical equilibrium modeling of a gasifying process”, Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 48, pp. 59- 67, 2007.
• [51] A.K. Sharma, “Equilibrium modeling of global reduction reactions for a downdraft (biomass) gasifier”, Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 49, pp. 832-842, 2008.