BIOMASS GASIFICATION SYSTEM Thermo-chemical principles: Effect of pressure, temperature and introducing steam and oxygen.

Design of Fixed and Fluidized Bed Gasifiers and their operation - Safety aspects.
CASE STUDY: BIOMASS GASIFIER (MNES PROJECT): TUMKUR DISTRICT, KARNATAKA. STAND ALONE GASIFIER: POWER 60 TO 100 KW FOR 15 VILLAGES. REF: BUISNESS STANDARD: 25, FEB. 2000 NAME OF PRODUCT GAS IS PRODUCER GAS GASIFIER, GAS CLEANING TRAIN, DUAL FUEL INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE OR GAS TURBINE CASE STUDY: PERFORMANCE OF SMALL GASIFIER DUAL FUEL ENGINE SYSTEM Ref: Biomass 19, (1989), 75-97 Till July 2000, 1704 biomass gasifiers with an aggregate capacity of 34.36 MW have been installed. Forty biomass combustion based power projects are aggregating 222 MW

ENGINEALTERNATER COMBINATION FOR ELECTRIC POWER ENGINEPUMP COMBINATION FOR WATER ******

Gasification Technologies, By John Rezaiyan and Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff, Taylor and Francis, Florida, USA. 2005 [665.7P5, 100419] Jan, 2006, NITT Library.

THERMOCHEMICAL GASIFICATION OF BIOMASS TO GENERATE PRODUCER GAS AS MEDIUM CALOIFIC VALUE FUEL Desirable characteristics of biomass for gasification

1. Average moisture content of the biomass should be well within 50%. 2. Average sizes of the feedstock should be between 1.25 and 7.62 cm. 3. Average higher heating value should not be less than 10 MJ/kg. 4. Ignition temperature of the feedstock should be low. 5. Chemical composition of the feedstock should be uniform. 6. Ash content should be less than 10%. 7. Fusion temperature of the ash should be over 1150 o C. 8. It should be relatively simple and economical to collect, store and handle the biomass. 9. It should be constantly and adequately available to meet the gasifier load demand.
Some parameters to be considered for proper gasification process: 1. FUEL FOR 2. GASIFIER/ 3. PRODUCT 4. ACCESSORY GASIFICATION DEVICE GAS FOR CLEANING a) Collection, a) Type, Size, a) Gas chemical a) System, handling, Cost, Reliability composition, b) Efficiency, storage, content of tar, upgrading volatile matter, systems; their moisture, costs particulates b) Composition: b) Environmental b) Calorific c) Costs moisture, ash impact, Pollution value of the gas. content, heating control value

5. END USE OF PRODUCER GAS a)Design of direct combustion burner or I.C. engine for dual fuel operation

b) Efficiency, costs, pollution control, reliability.

Biomass Gasification Overview: When biomass is gasified by thermo-chemical reactions the product gas is called as producer gas or low BTU gas. The objective of Biomass Gasification is to recover the stored chemical energy of the solid in a product that is a gaseous fuel that can be broadly usable in variety of applications. Agro residues are the commonly used feedstock and Gasification can be called a renewable energy technology.

Design Program for Biomass Gasification Power Generation

To make basic design calculations to determine operating condition and equipment specifications, we have to make chemical equilibrium calculation, stoichiometric calculation, enthalpy calculation and chemical engineering calculation. Design and studies can be made for: (1) Wood Gas Cart (2) Comparison of Wood vs. Charcoal (3) Hardwood Power Generation According to a design manual published by Forestry Department of FAO (Food Agricultural Organization) of UN, there are four types of reactor design. (1) Up draught or counter current gasifier (2) Cross-draught gasifier (3) Downdraught or co-current gasifier (4) Fluidized bed gasifier Downdraught or co-current gasifier is most suited for engine. There are 3 different types among Downdraught or co-current gasifier. Following table shows appropriate "Hearth Load" for each type. Wood based Hearth Load kg/cm2/h 0.03 0.11 0.4 Gas based Hearth Load Nm3/cm2/h 0.07 0.25 0.9

No Throat Single Throat Double Throat

Further recommendations by the manual by FAO are: -nozzle air inlet velocities should be around 30-35m/sec -throat inclination should be around 45-60deg. -height of the reduction zone should be more than 20cm. -height of the air inlet nozzle plane should be 10cm above narrowest constriction of the height determined by following equation. (nozzle height)/(throat dia.)=19.6*(throat dia,)^-0.64 -hearth diameter at inlet height should be 10cm larger than throat diameter in case of single throat and about 20 cm larger than the throat diameter of the narrowest constriction in case of double throat design. 1. Wood Characteristics Carbon, Hydrogen, oxygen ratio of the dry wood was calculate from that of Cellulose (C6H10O5)n and Lignin (C18H24O11)n. It was assumed that 70% is Cellulose and remaining 30% is Lignin. Chemical formula for wood was taken from a reference. Water and ash content were assumed 30 wt% and 3 wt% respectively. 2. Equipment Specifications Design of gasifier will be made to meet available engine size. Wood has to be charged batch wise into the container. Ashes and condensate will also be discharged batch wise. When water content of biomass is 30wt%, gasification air is needed. When size of reactor is small scale, air and biomass had to be preheated. As FAO manual shows two different figures of Hearth Load, intermediate figures of both was taken as the basis of throat diameter. Air nozzle controls a gasification air. Air cooler shall be installed horizontally to ensure good natural air circulation around the coil. Water condenses at low load. Sufficient condensate accumulation capacity will be provided in filter housing. The basic flow scheme was established as follows: 4

Chemical Equilibrium Calculation There are many possible chemical reactions for the wood gassification. Chemical equilibrium constant were calculated for following 6 equations. Eq. No.3 & 4 is called as Water Gas Reaction. Eq. No.5 is called Methane Formation Reaction. Eq. No.6 is called as Shift Reaction.
Chemical Equations

H0
-94,200

S0
2.06

Equation No. 1 2 3 4 5 6

C + O2 = CO2 2C + O2 = 2CO C + H2O = CO + H2 C + 2H2O = CO2 + H2 CO + 3H2 = CH4 + H2O CO+H2O = CO2+H2

-53,300
+31,230 +21,560 -49,300 -9,670

45.54
33.41 -7.89 6.51 -10.07

Heat of reaction H0 was calculated from Standard Heat of Formation -H0 as listed below. The figures were taken from Reference 4. When Standard Entropy is not available, it was back calculated from Standard Gibbs Free Energy G0 . Eq. No.1, 2, 4 and 5 having minus H0 figures are exothermic reactions. Eq. No.3 and 4 are endothermic reactions. -H0 (kcal/kgmol) O2 N2 CO2 CO H2 H2O CH4 0 0 94,200 26,650 0 57,880 18,070 S0 (kcal/kgmol/K) 49.02 45.79 51.08 47.28 31.23 45.1 -G0(kcal/kgmol) -12,440

Chemical equilibrium constant Kp could be calculated from Standard Heat of Reaction H0 and Standard Entropy S0 using following Thermodynamic equations. Gas constant R=1.987(kcal/kgmol K) G0 = H0 - TS0 G0 = -RTlnKp Kp = Pprod1*Pprod2/Pfeed

When you plot G0 v.s.T, following diagram will be obtained. At 700 deg. C, Gibbs Free Energy of Eq. No. 1 and 2 crosses. Same crossing is seen on Eq. No.3 and 6. This is equivalent to following new equation. Over 700 deg. C, the quantity of CO exceed CO2. C + CO2 = 2CO

6. Stoichiometric Calculation Calculation were conducted for 400, 600, 800 and 1000 deg. C. Dry wood of 8kg/h and oxygen in Air, A (kgmol/h) will be converted to a mixture of XO2, XCO2, XCO, XH2, XH2O, XCH4 kgmol/h of Gas. Number of unknown variables are 6. We have 3 equations for C, O, and H element balance as listed below.
for C element for O element for H element

C = XCO2 + XCO + XCH4 2A + O = 2XO2 + 2XCO2+ XCO + XH2O H = 2XH2O + 2XH2 + 4XCH4

Eq. No. 7 Eq. No. 8 Eq. No. 9

If we add following three equilibrium equation Kp1, Kp2, Kp3, we now have 6 algebraic equations. Here, P is total pressure and Px is partial pressure and SUM(X) is a sum of all procucts gas mol. including nitrogen gas. Eq. No.1 to 2 are independent of total pressure. Chemical Equilibrium Constant for Eq. No.1 Chemical Equilibrium Constant for Eq. No.1 Chemical Equilibrium Constant for Eq. No.1 Kp1 = PCO2/PO2 = (XCO2/XO2) Kp2 = PCO/PO2 = (XCO/XO2) Kp3 = PCOPH2/PH2O = (XCOXH2/XH2O)(P/SUM(X)) Eq. No. 10 Eq. No. 11 Eq. No. 12

You can obtain solutions by either solving six algebraic equations numerically or analitically. Solver of Excel was used for numerical calculation of the following equation. (XCOXH2/XH2O)(P/Kp3)+(2(Kp1/Kp2)+1)XCO+XH2+4XCH4+2XH2O+XO2-C-O-H-2A-N = 0 Here, N is nitrogen gas mol contained in the air feed.(kgmol/h) 7. Enthalpy Calculation Enthalpy of the gas could be calculated from specific heat at constant pressure Cp. Cp is a function of temperature T. Enthalpy could be calculated from an equation, having a integral form of Cp as follows. The equation for enthalpy calculation was derived from Reference 3. Where H* is an integral constant.

Components Cp kcal/kgmol deg.K Cp = a + bT + O2 c/T2 N2 Cp = a + bT Cp = a + bT + CO2 c/T2 CO Cp = a + bT H2 Cp = a + bT H2O CH4

Enthalpy kcal/kgmol

a -

b -

c -

H = H* + aT + bT2/2 - c/T 8.27 0.000258 -187,700 H = H* + aT + bT2/2 6.5 0.001 -

H = H* + aT + bT2/2 - c/T 10.34 0.00274 -195,500 6.6 0.0012 6.62 0.00081 -

H = H* + aT + bT2/2 H = H* + aT + bT2/2 H = H* + aT + bT2/2 + Cp = a + bT + cT2 3 cT /3 Cp = a + bT H = H* + aT + bT2/2

8.22 0.00015 0.00000134 5.34 0.0115 -

8. Heat and Material Balance Calculation Based on calculated mol. flow of gas and enthalpy of each component, total gas enthalpy was calculated. Heat of reaction was calculated from heat of formation used for equilibrium calculation according to the following equation. Reference 2. H0reaction = H0products-H0reactants-H0vap Where H0vap is a Latent Heat of Water in Wood and is -10,514 (kcal/kgmol). Difference between gas enthalpy and heat of reaction plus recovered heat was defined as Heat Loss. Composition of the gas in mol. % at each reaction temperature are shown in the following chart. Chemical Engineering Calculation Using all information made available, following items were calculated. (1) Heating Value of the Gas ; Stoichiometric calculation of gas combustion and subsequent heat of reaction from heat of formation. Data source of heat of formation is Reference 4. (2) Air Intake Volume for the Engine (air/gas) ; Stoichiometric calculation of gas combustion. (3) Lower Flammability Limit of the Gas ; Data source is Reference 4. 7

(4) Upper Flammability Limit of the Gas ; Data source is Reference 4. (5)Water Dew Point of the Gas ; Data source is Reference 4. (6) Total Energy contained in the Gas ; Calculated from Heating Value of the Gas and Gas Volume. (7) Engine Power Output in kW ; Normally, gasoline engine is converted to gas fuel. Engine Analysis Program will calculate intake gas volume and thermal efficiency form gasoline data. Int he case od power generation, normally speed is constant. (8) Energy Conversion Efficiency of the Gasifier (gas/wood) ; Ratio of total energy contained in the gas and that contained in the wood. Heating value of wood was calculated from heat of formation and latent heat of water contained in the wood. Data source is Reference 4. (9) Main Dimensions of Gasifier ; A container having is required to house feed wood. It was assuming Sp. Gr. of wood is 0.5 and average void is 40%. (10) Insulation thickness ; Insulation thickness was calculated from thermal conductivity of rock wool and allowable heat loss. For low load and for startup operation, burning rate was calculated from heat loss calculated from given insulation thickness. (11)Gasificaion air preheating was calculated from assumed heat transfer coefficient of 10kcal/m2 h C. (12)Biomass preheating was calculated from Kunii-Smith Equation. Calculated heat transfer coefficient reaches 18kcal/m2 h C. This is sufficient to vaporise all water content in wood. For design purpose, heat equivalent to water evaporation was included in heat loss calculation. (13) Diameter of the throat ; Velocity was selected to ensure uniform contact of gas and charcoal based on FAO manual. (14) Upward gas velocity of 0.18m/sec in the annular space shall be lower than the terminal velocity of 160 micron ash particulate calculated by Stokes' Law taken from Reference 6. (15)Annular space outlet temperature was calculated from air and biomass preheating and heat loss. (16) Diameter and total length of gas cooler ; Overall heat transfer coefficient was calculated from gas side and water side film coefficient. Goal seek type calculation was applied for obtaining outlet gas temperature. (17) Pressure drop of the Nozzle was calculated from orifice calculation equation 8

(18) Pressure drop of the throat was calculated by Carman's equation (19) Capacity of Blower: Air rate at startup operation was taken as a design capacity. (20) Diameter and Flow Velocity of Connecting Pipes; Ideal gas was assumed for calculation actual volume of flow. 10.Performance Calculation at Startup and Reduced Load After design type calculation, performance type calculation were conducted for reduced operation. Turndown ratio was calculated for the case of reaction temperature of 600 and 400 deg.C respectively. Wood feed rate were determined to match heat loss by goal seek calculation as air feed is zero. For startup operation, reaction temperature of 900 deg. C was taken as operating conditions. In the case, two variables, namely, wood consumption and oxygen were calculated by Solver function of Excel. 11. Docking with Engine Analysis Program Normally, reactor is designed for the engine. Therefore, Engine Analysis Program and this program were combined to find best matching. Macro program was developed to do many Solver calculations automatically. Acknowledgements References 1. Science Dictionary Japan 1953 2. Chemical Process Principles by Hougen and Watson, 1954 3. Mathematics I, 1956 4. Chemical Hand Book, Japan 1960 5. John H. Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook 1963 6. Ernest E. Ludwig, Applied Process Design for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants Vol.1 7. Thermodynamics by Kazuo Kijima 1968 8. Data Book on Hydrocarbons by J.B. Maxwell, Sixth Edition, 1950 9. Chemical Engineering Hand Book, 1968. 9

10. Chemical Engineering Lecture Note by Tesuo Maejima for 2003 Faculty of Science, Tokyo University of Science. 11. Design Manual by Forestry Department of FAO (Food Agricultural Organization)

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