A techno-economic comparison between two design configurations for a small scale, biomass-to-energy gasification based system

Arena, Umberto; Gregorio, F. Di; Santonastasi, M.

doi:10.1016/j.cej.2010.05.067

Cited by 98 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…A generic fluidized bed reactor was modeled based on existing pilot plants (32,(55)(56)(57). The main parameters modeled were: cold gas and carbon conversion efficiency (CGE and CCE), energy content of the syngas and energy consumption of the plants.…”

Section: Gasificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioenergy Production from Perennial Energy Crops: A Consequential LCA of 12 Bioenergy Scenarios including Land Use Changes

Tonini

Hamelin

Wenzel

et al. 2012

Environ. Sci. Technol.

105

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In the endeavor of optimizing the sustainability of bioenergy production in Denmark, this consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluated the environmental impacts associated with the production of heat and electricity from one hectare of Danish arable land cultivated with three perennial crops: ryegrass (Lolium perenne), willow (Salix viminalis) and Miscanthus giganteus. For each, four conversion pathways were assessed against a fossil fuel reference: I) anaerobic co-digestion with manure, II) gasification, III) combustion in small-to-medium scale biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plants and IV) co-firing in large scale coal-fired CHP plants. Soil carbon changes, direct and indirect land use changes as well as uncertainty analysis (sensitivity, MonteCarlo) were included in the LCA. Results showed that global warming was the bottleneck impact, where only two scenarios, namely willow and Miscanthus co-firing, allowed for an improvement as compared to the reference (-82 and -45 t CO 2 -eq. ha -1 , respectively). The indirect land use changes impact was quantified as 310 ±170 t CO 2 -eq. ha -1 , representing a paramount average of 41% of the induced greenhouse gas emissions. The uncertainty analysis confirmed the results robustness and highlighted the indirect land use changes uncertainty as the only uncertainty that can significantly change the outcome of the LCA results.3

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Section: Gasificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioenergy Production from Perennial Energy Crops: A Consequential LCA of 12 Bioenergy Scenarios including Land Use Changes

Tonini

Hamelin

Wenzel

et al. 2012

Environ. Sci. Technol.

105

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“…In gasification processes the carbon content in biochar is much lower due to the higher process temperatures. Carbon conversion efficiencies (CCE) of approximately 80% was reported for lignocellulosic biomass by [11,12,14,35]. The remaining 20% was then found in the biochar.…”

Section: Si4 Management Of Agricultural and Biomass Conversion Residmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…As minimization of transport distances is important, installation of local small-scale facilities for conversion of biomass should be preferred over centralized plants (provided efficiencies are competitive). Thermal gasifiers have been demonstrated to be competitive with combustion plants at a small-scale (100-600 kWe) [11][12][13][14][15]. Lignocellulosic biomass was therefore assumed gasified for production of syngas with efficiencies as reported in Table S3.…”

Section: Si2 Energy Conversion Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…up to 50%), replacement of fossil fuels with biomass resource and integration of the transport sector into the energy system, e.g. through establishment of electric vehicles [13,14]. Although the primary focus of studies involving energy system analysis is on the technical design of the energy system (modeling of energy demand and supply, fuels requirements, and technology implementation), many of these studies also report associated CO 2 emissions as an indicator for the environmental impacts related to the energy system in question.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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LCA of biomass-based energy systems: A case study for Denmark

Tonini

2012

Applied Energy

109

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Decrease of fossil fuel consumption in the energy sector is an important step towards more sustainable energy production. Environmental impacts related to potential future energy systems in Denmark with high shares of wind and biomass energy were evaluated using life-cycle assessment (LCA). Based on the reference year 2008, energy scenarios for 2030 and 2050 were assessed. For 2050 three alternatives for supply of transport fuels were considered: 1) fossil fuels, 2) rapeseed based biodiesel, and 3) Fischer-Tropsch based biodiesel. Overall, the results showed that greenhouse gas emissions per PJ energy supplied could be reduced by more than half by increased use of wind and residual biomass resources as well as by electrifying the transport sector (from 68 to 17 Gg CO 2 -eq/PJ). Energy crops for production of biofuels and the use of these biofuels for heavy terrestrial transportation were responsible for most environmental impacts in the 2050 scenarios, in particular upstream impacts from land use changes (LUC), fertilizer use, and NO x emissions from the transport sector were critical. Land occupation (including LUC effects) caused by energy crop production increased to a range of 600-2100 10 6 m 2 /PJ depending on the amounts and types of energy crops introduced. Use of fossil diesel in the transport sector appeared to be environmentally preferable over biodiesel for acidification, aquatic eutrophication, and land occupation. For global warming, biodiesel production via Fischer-Tropsch was comparable with fossil diesel.

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“…In order to have the best commercially available efficiency, the option of a single ICE has been selected. The chosen conversion technology is wood chip gasification, attached to an internal gas engine, the biomass-to-electricity conversion path that has proven to have the best efficiency at the chosen scale [25,38], as well as durability and affordability compared to other biomass-to-electricity conversion technologies [39]. Such a system consists of a biomass downdraft gasifier, a syngas cleaning and cooling subsystem, and an internal combustion engine of Otto or diesel typology, adapted to have gas as the fuel.…”

Section: System Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal Sizing of a Hybrid Grid-Connected Photovoltaic–Wind–Biomass Power System

2015

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Hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) are a trendy alternative to enhance the renewable energy deployment worldwide. They effectively take advantage of scalability and flexibility of these energy sources, since combining two or more allows counteracting the weaknesses of a stochastic renewable energy source with the strengths of another or with the predictability of a non-renewable energy source. This work presents an optimization methodology for minimum life cycle cost of a HRES based on solar photovoltaic, wind and biomass power. Biomass power seeks to take advantage of locally available forest wood biomass in the form of wood chips to provide energy in periods when the PV and wind power generated are not enough to match the existing demand. The results show that a HRES combining the selected three sources of renewable energy could be installed in a rural township of about 1300 dwellings with an up-front investment of US $7.4 million, with a total life cycle cost of slightly more than US $30 million. Such a system would have benefits in terms of energy autonomy and environment quality improvement, as well as in term of job opportunity creation. OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 12788

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A techno-economic comparison between two design configurations for a small scale, biomass-to-energy gasification based system

Cited by 98 publications

References 27 publications

Bioenergy Production from Perennial Energy Crops: A Consequential LCA of 12 Bioenergy Scenarios including Land Use Changes

Bioenergy Production from Perennial Energy Crops: A Consequential LCA of 12 Bioenergy Scenarios including Land Use Changes

LCA of biomass-based energy systems: A case study for Denmark

Optimal Sizing of a Hybrid Grid-Connected Photovoltaic–Wind–Biomass Power System

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