Performance studies on a downdraft biomass gasifier with blends of coconut shell and rubber seed shell as feedstock

Singh, V. Christus Jeya; Sekhar, S. Joseph

doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.09.099

Cited by 61 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The scale of the plant significantly affects the technology to be preferred and its application. The downdraft gasifier is a very attractive solution for less than 1 MW th thermal power input, if compared with the updraft configuration, for the advantage of higher conversion efficiency with lower rates of tar [23] and particulate matter release. Several cases of real plants combining a downdraft gasifier with an internal combustion engine (ICE) of the microscale of power (less than 50 kW) exists in the literature, such as the Viking plant in Denmark [24], Spanner Re in Germany [25], and GM Corsa in Brazil [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “INNOVARE” Project: Innovative Plants for Distributed Poly-Generation by Residual Biomass

et al. 2020

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The valorization of residual biomass plays today a decisive role in the concept of “circular economy”, according to which each waste material must be reused to its maximum extent. The collection and energy valorization at the local level of biomass from forest management practices and wildfire prevention cutting can be settled in protected areas to contribute to local decarbonization, by removing power generation from fossil fuels. Despite the evident advantages of bioenergy systems, several problems still hinder their diffusion, such as the need to assure their reliability by extending the operating range with materials of different origin. The Italian project “INNOVARE—Innovative plants for distributed poly-generation by residual biomass”, funded by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MISE), has the main scope of improving micro-cogeneration technologies fueled by biomass. A micro-combined heat and power (mCHP) unit was chosen as a case study to discuss pros and cons of biomass-powered cogeneration within a national park, especially due to its flexibility of use. The availability of local biomasses (woodchips, olive milling residuals) was established by studying the agro-industrial production and by identifying forest areas to be properly managed through an approach using a satellite location system based on the microwave technology. A detailed synergic numerical and experimental characterization of the selected cogeneration system was performed in order to identify its main inefficiencies. Improvements of its operation were optimized by acting on the engine control strategy and by also adding a post-treatment system on the engine exhaust gas line. Overall, the electrical output was increased by up to 6% using the correct spark timing, and pollutant emissions were reduced well below the limits allowed by legislation by working with a lean mixture and by adopting an oxidizing catalyst. Finally, the global efficiency of the system increased from 45.8% to 63.2%. The right blending of different biomasses led to an important improvement of the reliability of the entire plant despite using an agrifood residual, such as olive pomace. It was demonstrated that the use of this biomass is feasible if its maximum mass percentage in a wood matrix mixture does not exceed 25%. The project was concluded with a real operation demonstration within a national park in Southern Italy by replacing a diesel genset with the analyzed and improved biomass-powered plant and by proving a decisive improvement of air quality in the real environment during exercise.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “INNOVARE” Project: Innovative Plants for Distributed Poly-Generation by Residual Biomass

et al. 2020

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“…These issues were related to polymeric particle presence in some of the tested blends. Feeding a 50.0 KWth gasifier with coconut -rubber seed shell mixtures, Jeya et al [14] analyzed process performance through theoretical and experimental approaches. Authors found performance for residuals that was comparable with that reported for wood biomass at equivalence ratios from 0.2 to 0.3.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the air-to-biomass ratio is one of the variables that has a stronger effect on gasifier performance [14], [20], in commercial downdraft gasifiers, the biomass feeding rate and airflow can be changed independently, which means that the user is able to set the thermochemical state of the process, seeking the maximum performance. However, biomass feeding rate is limited by biomass consumption rate [21] which in turn depends on air flow, and thus both variables must be manipulated carefully.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance analysis of a commercial fixed bed downdraft gasifier using palm kernel shells

Verdeza-Villalobos

Rodas

Bula-Silvera

et al. 2019

CT&F Cienc. Tecnol. Futuro

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This work analyzes the use of palm kernel shells (PKS) produced by the Colombian palm oil mill industry, for purposes of fueling a commercial downdraft fixed bed gasifier (Ankur Scientific WGB- 20) designed to operate with wood chips. Operational parameters such as hopper shaking time, ash removal time, and airflow were varied in order to get the highest gasifier performance, computed as the ratio between producer gas chemical energy over biomass feeding energy. Experiments were carried out following a half fraction experimental design 24-1. Since these parameters affect the equivalence ratio (ER), behavior indicators were analyzed as a function of ER. It was found that the shaking time and airflow had a significant effect on higher-heating-value (HHV) and process efficiency, while the removal time is not significant. The highest performance for palm shell was reached at ER=0.35, where the resulting gas HHV and process efficiencies were 5.04 MJ/Nm3 and 58%, respectively.

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“…The achieved HHV of the producer gas was around 7.5 MJ/Nm 3 . The studies also indicate that the downdraft biomass gasifier has a significant variation in its performance whenever the feedstock is changed (Christus and Sekhar, 2016). It was suggested that equilibrium models are less computationally intensive and they cannot predict highly accurate results for all cases (Maria et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of Species-Transport Model in Numerical Simulation to Predict the Performance of Downdraft Gasifier with Biomass Blends

Chockalingam

Prasad

Sekhar³

2019

Energy Research Journal

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The demand for energy from biomass gasification is increasing due to the depletion of fossil fuels and serious environmental issues. Due to this, usage of individual biomass in a gasifier is not sufficient to meet the demand in rural areas. However, an enormous study have been reported on the gasifier with single biomass as working fuel. In addition, only a few works have been carried out on biomass blends in a gasifier through equilibrium modelling and experimental approach. The numerical simulation for the biomass blends are in scarce. Hence, in this study, a numerical and experimental studies were conducted on a 40kWth downdraft biomass gasifier to find out the possibility of rubber seed kernel shell and cassava stalk biomass with different blend ratio. The species-transport CFD model is used for numerical simulation with the k-ε turbulence model. The effect of species concentration, higher heating value and conversion efficiency with respect to different equivalence ratio have been observed. The simulated results were also validated through experimentation. Among different blending ratio 80:20 blend shows better performance. The result reveals that the species concentration and higher heating value at 0.2 equivalence ratio has an average value of CO-23.5%, H 2-19.2%, CH 4-3.1% and 6.62 MJ/Nm 3 with an efficiency of 58.23% respectively. The viability of using the species transport model for biomass blends is confirmed.

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Performance studies on a downdraft biomass gasifier with blends of coconut shell and rubber seed shell as feedstock

Cited by 61 publications

References 19 publications

The “INNOVARE” Project: Innovative Plants for Distributed Poly-Generation by Residual Biomass

The “INNOVARE” Project: Innovative Plants for Distributed Poly-Generation by Residual Biomass

Performance analysis of a commercial fixed bed downdraft gasifier using palm kernel shells

Implementation of Species-Transport Model in Numerical Simulation to Predict the Performance of Downdraft Gasifier with Biomass Blends

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