Experimental assessment of a pilot-scale gasification plant fueled with olive pomace pellets for combined power, heat and biochar production

This research work examines the performance of an experimental gasification plant fueled with exhausted olive pomace pellets for the concurrent production of electricity, heat and biochar in the olive oil industry. The gasification plant consists of an air-blown downdraft fixed-bed gasifier that gen...

ver descrição completa

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Aguado-Molina, Roque, Escámez, Antonio, Jurado, Francisco, Vera, David
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Data de publicação:2023
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Jaén
Repositório:RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén
OAI Identifier:oai:ruja.ujaen.es:10953/4666
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/10953/4666
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Downdraft gasifier
Producer gas
Spark-ignition engine
Distributed generation
Bioenergy
Biochar
Descrição
Resumo:This research work examines the performance of an experimental gasification plant fueled with exhausted olive pomace pellets for the concurrent production of electricity, heat and biochar in the olive oil industry. The gasification plant consists of an air-blown downdraft fixed-bed gasifier that generates a lean fuel gas, termed producer gas, in a self-sustaining autothermal process. After conditioning of the producer gas in a cooling and cleaning unit, a four-stroke spark-ignition engine coupled to an electric generator is eventually used as power generation unit. An extensive experimental assessment of this facility was performed under partial and nominal load operation and was supplemented by a physicochemical analysis of the carbonaceous solid material discharged from the gasifier. The mass and energy balances of the gasification plant were calculated, including the carbon conversion efficiency and diverse energy conversion efficiencies. The results revealed an overall stable operation of the gasification plant in terms of composition and heating value of the producer gas and cogenerative production of electricity and heat in the engine–generator set. Under nominal operating conditions, the net electrical efficiency of the gasification plant was 12%–13%, with an average carbon conversion efficiency of the biomass feedstock into producer gas just above 80% and an average cold gas efficiency close to 70%.