Volume 11 Issue 3
Design, Optimization and Energetic Efficiency of Producing Hydrogen-Rich Gas from Biomass Steam Gasification
Po-Chih Kuo andWei Wu
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
Abstract
In this article, the conceptual design of biomass steam gasification (BSG) processes using raw oil palm (ROP) and torrefied oil palm (TOP) are examined in an Aspen Plus simulator. Through thermodynamic analysis, it is verified that the BSG process with torrefied feedstock can effectively enhance the hydrogen yield. When the heat recovery design is added into the BSG process, the system energetic efficiency (SEE) is significantly improved. Finally, an optimization algorithm with respect to SEE and hydrogen yield is solved, and the optimum operating conditions are validated by simulations.
Keywords: steam biomass gasification; hydrogen production; system energetic efficiency; thermodynamic analysis; optimization