Title:
Fuel Flexibility of a Pilot Plant Gasifier Using Torrefied Pellet as Feedstock
Author(s):
Antolini, D., Tanoh, T.S., Patuzzi, F., Escudero Sanz, F.J., Baratieri, M.
Document(s):
Paper
Poster
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of enhancing the gasification process using a pre-treated biomass that presents higher heating value, higher C/O ratio and less moisture content than untreated biomass. The aim is to assess the gasification parameters that can be modified in order to achieve the best performance of the gasification system. These research studies have been carried out in collaboration with the Centre RAPSODEE (UMR CNRS 5302, IMT Ecole de mines Albi-Carmaux, France) and the Free University of Bolzano (Italy). The torrefaction of standard pellets is realized using a lab scale rotary kiln unit at RAPSODEE. On the contrary, the gasification tests are carried out at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano by means of a fixed bed open top gasifier. The tests of pellets torrefaction has been carried out at 250°C and 270°C with two repetitions in order to obtain about 60 kg of pellets for each torrefied condition. The used feedstock is a standard French pellets produced from sawdust of oak and beech following the standard EN 14961-2 (“Wood pellets for non-industrial use”). The pellets are characterized before and after the torrefaction pre-treatment. The gasifier used for the gasification tests is an open top pilot-scale gasifier placed at the Bioenergy and Biofuel Lab of the Free University of Bolzano. The plant is an open top downdraft system, where both gas and feedstock move downward as the reactions proceed. The main difference between un-treated and torrefied pellets is the moisture content. In addition, a slight increase in terms of carbon content and LHV and a slight decrease in terms of volatile matter are observed by moving from standard to torrefied pellets. The torrefied pellets seem to reach lower performances in terms of cold gas efficiency (CGE) and char yield with respect to the standard pellets. However, the trends in terms of ER and CGE suggest that moving toward higher values of ER, higher values of CGE could be reached independently of the material used.
Keywords:
biomass, fixed bed, gasification, pellet, torrefaction
Topic:
Biomass Technologies and Conversion for Bioenergy
Subtopic:
Gasification for power, CHP and polygeneration
Event:
28th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
2CV.3.11
Pages:
403 - 406
ISBN:
978-88-89407-20-2
Paper DOI:
10.5071/28thEUBCE2020-2CV.3.11
Price:
FREE
