Mentor
Albert Ratner
Participation year
2013
Project title

Simulation of Producer Gas Composition in a Pilot-Scale Gasifier with an Equilibrium Model

Abstract

Renewable energy and alternative fuels have become key areas of interest as a result of depleting fossil fuels. Among these is gasification of biomass; a process that converts biomass material into a rich fuel. Gasification relies on thermochemical principles, which break down the biomass into its basic constituents: producer gas, ash and tar. The presented study focuses on gas composition through a comparison between a mathematical simulation and experimental results. The equilibrium model was built upon a series of mass balances, equilibrium constants and an enthalpy balance to determine the volume % of H2, CO, CO2, H2O, CH4 and N2. Newton’s method was implemented to explore the effects which, temperature and moisture content have on the gas composition. Moisture content was varied from 0-50% with constant temperature of 800oC at 1 atm. Simulation results show that as moisture increases, N2 increases as well. For the second analysis, temperature was ranged from 600oC-1400oC. As the temperature increased, CO2 decreased while N2 and CO increased. Also, H2 max yield can be seen at approximately 800oC. Producer gas collected from the pilot-scale gasifier and analyzed using an Agilent 490 Micro GC. Results from the simulation have a high error. Adjustments need to be made to the model to gain a lower error percentage. However, gas evolution graphs are helpful because it shows the gas trends based on moisture level and temperature.

Jose Guadarrama
Education
University of California at Merced