Gasification Processing of Biomass and Refuse Derived Fuel

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 18955

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Mechanical Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
Interests: combustion instability; laser diagnostics; fuel sprays; real fuel and crude oil behavior; biomass gasification and combustion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA
Interests: biomass gasification; conventional and alternative energy systems; Zero+ energy buildings
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to be the guest editor for a Special Issue focused on the Gasification of Biomass and Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF). I encourage you to submit articles examining methods of processing, technoeconomic analysis, benchtop and pilot scale testing, and any other topics that will help to inform readers about new ways to utilize biomass and/or RDF to produce electricity or liquid fuels through thermal gasification. This is a topic with significant interest, and a focused issue will help to bring more readers to all of the papers included.

Prof. Dr. Albert Ratner
Dr. Yunye Shi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biomass gasification
  • RDF gasification
  • waste to energy
  • high-temperature gasification
  • hybrid gasification cycle
  • hybrid gasification system

Published Papers (5 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

13 pages, 2173 KiB  
Article
Gasification of Biomass: The Very Sensitive Monitoring of Tar in Syngas by the Determination of the Oxygen Demand—A Proof of Concept
by Binayak Ojha, Marco Schober, Stefan Turad, Joachim Jochum and Heinz Kohler
Processes 2022, 10(7), 1270; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pr10071270 - 28 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1626
Abstract
A novel method for quasi-continuous tar monitoring in hot syngas from biomass gasification is reported. A very small syngas stream is extracted from the gasifier output, and the oxygen demand for tar combustion is determined by a well-defined dosage of synthetic air. Assuming [...] Read more.
A novel method for quasi-continuous tar monitoring in hot syngas from biomass gasification is reported. A very small syngas stream is extracted from the gasifier output, and the oxygen demand for tar combustion is determined by a well-defined dosage of synthetic air. Assuming the total oxidation of all of the combustible components at the Pt-electrode of a lambda-probe, the difference of the residual oxygen concentrations from successive operations with and without tar condensation represents the oxygen demand. From experiments in the laboratory with H2/N2/naphthalene model syngas, the linear sensitivity and a lower detection limit of about 70 ± 5 mg/m3 was estimated, and a very good long-term stability can be expected. This extremely sensitive and robust monitoring concept was evaluated further by the extraction of a small, constant flow of hot syngas as a sample (9 L/h) using a Laval nozzle combined with a metallic filter (a sintered metal plate (pore diameter 10 µm)) and a gas pump (in the cold zone). The first tests in the laboratory of this setup—which is appropriate for field applications—confirmed the excellent analysis results. However, the field tests concerning the monitoring of the tar in syngas from a woodchip-fueled gasifier demonstrated that the determination of the oxygen demand by the successive estimation of the oxygen concentration with/without tar trapping is not possible with enough accuracy due to continuous variation of the syngas composition. A method is proposed for how this constraint can be overcome. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gasification Processing of Biomass and Refuse Derived Fuel)
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 1862 KiB  
Article
Environmental and Energetic Evaluation of Refuse-Derived Fuel Gasification for Electricity Generation
by Taís Eliane Marques, York Castillo Santiago, Maria Luiza Grillo Renó, Diego Mauricio Yepes Maya, Leandro Alcoforado Sphaier, Yunye Shi and Albert Ratner
Processes 2021, 9(12), 2255; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pr9122255 - 14 Dec 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2912
Abstract
In this work, an energetic and environmental evaluation of the electricity generation process through refuse-derived fuel (RDF) gasification coupled to a gas microturbine (GM) was performed. Two scenarios are considered with different gasification agents in RDF gasification modeling: air and air enriched with [...] Read more.
In this work, an energetic and environmental evaluation of the electricity generation process through refuse-derived fuel (RDF) gasification coupled to a gas microturbine (GM) was performed. Two scenarios are considered with different gasification agents in RDF gasification modeling: air and air enriched with oxygen. A thermodynamic chemical equilibrium approach was used to analyze the gasification parameters. The results of RDF gasification indicate a maximum value of syngas low heating value (LHV) equal to 8.0 MJ/Nm3, obtained for an equivalence ratio of 0.3. The use of these syngas in the gas microturbine produces 79.6 kW of electrical power. For the environmental evaluation of gasification and electricity generation systems, the Life Cycle Assessment methodology was employed. The calculated environmental impacts indicate that the emission of contaminants from fossil fuel combustion (in the stage of transport by heavy load vehicles) and that the electricity consumption for equipment operation (in the stage of municipal solid waste pretreatment) contributes to environmental pollution. On the other hand, electricity generation through GM presented lower environmental impact for all analyzed categories, suggesting that the electricity generation from gas obtained from gasification could be a viable option for thermochemical conversion of RDF and its subsequent energetic use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gasification Processing of Biomass and Refuse Derived Fuel)
Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 1823 KiB  
Article
Semi-Batch Gasification of Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF)
by Juma Haydary, Patrik Šuhaj and Michal Šoral
Processes 2021, 9(2), 343; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pr9020343 - 13 Feb 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2416
Abstract
Gasification is a promising technology for the conversion of mixed solid waste like refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and municipal solid waste (MSW) into a valuable gas consisting of H2, CO, CH4 and CO2. This work aims to identify the [...] Read more.
Gasification is a promising technology for the conversion of mixed solid waste like refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and municipal solid waste (MSW) into a valuable gas consisting of H2, CO, CH4 and CO2. This work aims to identify the basic challenges of a single-stage batch gasification system related to tar and wax content in the producer gas. RDF was first gasified in a simple semi-batch laboratory-scale gasification reactor. A significant yield of tars and waxes was received in the produced gas. Waxes were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry. These analyses indicated the presence of polyethylene and polypropylene chains. The maximum content of H2 and CO was measured 500 sec after the start of the process. In a second series of experiments, a secondary catalytic stage with an Ni-doped clay catalyst was installed. In the two-stage catalytic process, no waxes were captured in isopropanol and the total tar content decreased by approximately 90 %. A single one-stage semi-batch gasification system is not suitable for RDF gasification; a large fraction of tar and waxes can be generated which can cause fouling in downstream processes. A secondary catalytic stage can significantly reduce the tar content in gas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gasification Processing of Biomass and Refuse Derived Fuel)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 3255 KiB  
Article
Gasification Applicability of Korean Municipal Waste Derived Solid Fuel: A Comparative Study
by Sang Yeop Lee, Md Tanvir Alam, Gun Ho Han, Dong Hyuk Choi and Se Won Park
Processes 2020, 8(11), 1375; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pr8111375 - 29 Oct 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3063
Abstract
Gaining energy independence by utilizing new and renewable energy resources has become imperative for Korea. Energy recovery from Korean municipal solid waste (MSW) could be a promising option to resolve the issue, as Korean MSW is highly recyclable due to its systematic separation, [...] Read more.
Gaining energy independence by utilizing new and renewable energy resources has become imperative for Korea. Energy recovery from Korean municipal solid waste (MSW) could be a promising option to resolve the issue, as Korean MSW is highly recyclable due to its systematic separation, collection and volume-based waste disposal system. In this study, gasification experiments were conducted on Korean municipal waste-derived solid fuel (SRF) using a fixed bed reactor by varying the equivalence ratio (ER) to assess the viability of syngas production. Experiments were also conducted on coal and biomass under similar conditions to compare the experimental results, as the gasification applicability of coal and biomass are long-established. Experimental results showed that Korean SRF could be used to recover energy in form of syngas. In particular, 50.94% cold gas efficiency and 54.66% carbon conversion ratio with a lower heating value of 12.57 MJ/Nm3 can be achieved by gasifying the SRF at 0.4 ER and 900 °C. However, compared to coal and biomass, the syngas efficiency of Korean SRF was less, which can be resolved by operating the gasification processes at high temperatures. If proper research and development activities are conducted on Korean SRF, it could be a good substitute for fossil fuels in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gasification Processing of Biomass and Refuse Derived Fuel)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

17 pages, 3086 KiB  
Review
The Role of Pyrolysis and Gasification in a Carbon Negative Economy
by Robert C. Brown
Processes 2021, 9(5), 882; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pr9050882 - 18 May 2021
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 7493
Abstract
The International Panel on Climate Change and the 2015 Climate Summit in Paris have recommended that efforts to reduce carbon emissions be coupled with carbon removal from the atmosphere. Carbon negative energy combines net carbon removal with the production of energy products or [...] Read more.
The International Panel on Climate Change and the 2015 Climate Summit in Paris have recommended that efforts to reduce carbon emissions be coupled with carbon removal from the atmosphere. Carbon negative energy combines net carbon removal with the production of energy products or other revenue-generating products beyond sequestered carbon. Even though both biochemical and thermochemical approaches to carbon negative energy can be envisioned, this paper considers the prospects for the latter including pyrolysis and gasification. The fundamentals of these two processes are described to better understand how they would be integrated with carbon removal. Characteristics of pyrolysis and gasification are related to the kinds of sequestration agents they would produce, the scale of their deployment, the fraction of biomass carbon that could ultimately sequestered, the challenges of effectively sequestering these different forms of carbon and the economics of thermochemical carbon negative energy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gasification Processing of Biomass and Refuse Derived Fuel)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop