Design, instrumentation, and operation of a standard downdraft, laboratory-scale gasification testbed utilising novel seed-propagated hybrid Miscanthus pellets

Khan, Z. et al. (2022) Design, instrumentation, and operation of a standard downdraft, laboratory-scale gasification testbed utilising novel seed-propagated hybrid Miscanthus pellets. Applied Energy, 315, 118864. (doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.118864)

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Abstract

Biomass gasification remains an attractive option to impact climate chaos; however, the technology presents challenges in tolerance to feedstock variability and tar production, which can limit the overall process efficiency, gasifier performance, durability and downstream syngas utilisation. The primary objectives of this study were to compare two gasifier design approaches using different reaction kinetics, based on multiple or singular oxidation and gasification reactions, and build and test a novel, flexible, laboratory-scale downdraft gasifier to convert pellets from UK hybrid Miscanthus into syngas, whilst deploying inexpensive instrumentation methods. The experimental gasification parameters studied were carbon conversion efficiency, gas yield, cold gas efficiency and gas heating values. The performance study shows that the system achieved good average temperature (842–866 °C) in the reduction zones for equivalence ratios between 0.25 and 0.35. The optimum values for carbon conversion efficiency, cold gas efficiency, heating values (HHV) of product gas and gas yield were 74%, 32%, 4.17 MJ/m3 and 1.32 m3/kg(biomass), respectively. The reported performance parameters for the new seed-propagated hybrid Miscanthus in the present study were comparable to those from conventional Miscanthus pellet gasification in downdraft gasifiers but these new hybrid varieties offer advantages in productivity over broader climatic regions compared to conventional varieties.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:This work was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), contract number EP/M01343X/1, Real time control of gasifiers to increase tolerances to biomass variety and reduce emissions. Prashant Kamble was kindly supported by a Government of Maharashtra scholarship (DSW/EDU/F.S/15-16/D-IV/1762).
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Kamble, Mr Prashant and Turner, Ms Ellen and Khan, Dr Zakir and Watson, Dr Ian
Creator Roles:
Khan, Z.Conceptualization, Visualization, Writing – review and editing, Data curation, Investigation, Formal analysis, Methodology
Kamble, P.Conceptualization, Visualization, Writing – review and editing, Data curation, Investigation, Formal analysis, Methodology
Turner, E.Investigation, Methodology
Watson, I.Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing – review and editing, Investigation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Conceptualization
Authors: Khan, Z., Kamble, P., DiLallo, T., O’Sullivan, W., Turner, E. D., Mackay, A., Blanco-Sanchez, P., Yu, X., Bridgwater, A., McCalmont, J. P., Donnison, I., and Watson, I.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering
College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
Journal Name:Applied Energy
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0306-2619
ISSN (Online):1872-9118
Published Online:04 April 2022
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2022 Crown Copyright
First Published:First published in Applied Energy 315:118864
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
190847Real time control of gasifiers to increase tolerance to biomass variety and reduce emissionsIan WatsonEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/M01343X/1ENG - Systems Power & Energy