Syngas production and combined heat and power from Scottish agricultural waste gasification – A Computational Study

Salem, A. M., Dhami, H. S. and Paul, M. (2022) Syngas production and combined heat and power from Scottish agricultural waste gasification – A Computational Study. Sustainability, 14(7), 3745. (doi: 10.3390/su14073745)

Abstract

This paper explores the possibility of utilizing Scottish agricultural waste for sustainable energy, including combined heat and power (CHP). Challenges of using unconventional agricultural feedstocks for gasification are addressed, and the study is focused on the fundamental understanding of gasification processes as well as the design constraints of a commonly used downdraft gasifier. An integrated kinetic and CHP model is presented to address these, and the results demonstrate the optimal working parameters that maximize the production of high-quality syngas and power from the CHP engine. Based on the robust sensitivity analysis, an equivalence ratio (Φ) of 0.3–0.35 with moisture content (MC) less than 10% yields higher production of syngas, thus resulting in higher gasification efficiency. Moreover, an increase in Φ also favors the gasification temperature, which promotes tar cracking and results in lower tar content. Additionally, the gasification efficiency, design limitations, and challenges are addressed to optimize the gasifier design so that it can handle diverse feedstocks with high performance. Therefore, the findings are significant in the field of bioenergy and, in particular, help to expand the route of converting agricultural waste to energy.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research was funded by the Scottish Government Interface Food & Drink (IFD0190) and the University of Glasgow KE Fund (GKE100). M.C.P. also acknowledges his RAEng/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship support (LTSRF1718\14\45) from the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Salem, Ahmed Morsy Mostafa and Paul, Professor Manosh

Creator Roles

Salem, A. M.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Paul, M. C.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review and editing, Supervision

• Authors: Salem, A. M., Dhami, H. S., and Paul, M.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: Sustainability
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2071-1050
• ISSN (Online): 2071-1050
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 by the authors
• First Published: First published in Sustainability 14(7):3745
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
301784		Next Generation Advanced Gasification Technology	Manosh Paul	Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE)	LTSRF1718\14\45	ENG - Systems Power & Energy