Gasification of Empty Fruit Bunch Briquette in a fixed bed tubular reactor for H2 production.

- Bemgba Bevan Nyakuma -

Co-authors

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Mojtaba Mazangi, Tuan Amran Tuan Abdullah, Anwar Johari, Arshad Ahmad, Olagoke

Oladokun

Institute of Hydrogen Economy, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi

Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

• Introduction

• Materials & Methods

• Results & Discussion

• Conclusion

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Contents

Introduction

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• Palm oil waste valorisation has potential socioeconomic & environmental benefits for Malaysia.

• Current conversion technologies have become inefficient & outdated.

• bulky nature, high moisture and alkali content require expensive pre-treatment & processing

• Increase conversion efficiencies and meet global energy demands, sustainability & environmental standards.

• More efficient conversion techniques and fuels need to be explored.

Introduction

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• Biomass gasification is a promising route for the valorisationof palm waste.

• Gasification of EFB briquette can improve thermal conversion efficiency & reduce agglomeration.

• Solid uniform nature improves energy density, energy content, moisture, storage and handling.

• Thermochemical & physical properties of EFB Briquette have been investigated.

Aim of the study

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Investigate the gasification of EFB briquette in a fixed bed tubular reactor for hydrogen (H2) production.

Fuel characterization, gas composition, carbon conversion efficiency, cold gas efficiency & heating value of the

producer gas.

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Materials & Methods

• EFB briquette Felda Semenchu Sdn Bhd, Johor, Malaysia.

• Pulverized high speed grinding machine 1000 µm screen.

• Ultimate analysis LECO CHNS elemental analyser (ModelLECO 932).

• Proximate analysis ASTM D3173, D3174, D3175 standardtechniques.

• HHV Bomb calorimetry IKA Bomb Calorimeter (ModelC2000).

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Materials & Methods

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Results & Discussion

• Empirical formula of CH1.59O0.88 calculated ultimate analysis.

• Low moisture, ash content, but high volatile matter & fixed carbon.

• HHV = 17.57 MJ/kg lower than coal, due to the high oxygen content.

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Effect of temperature on product gas composition

• Temperature significantly influences yieldand composition of products.

• Effect of gasification temperature from

600 C - 700 C & ER = 0.4 investigated.

• Gas composition showing only the main gasification products H2, CO, CO2, CH4 is presented.

• H2 increased from 17.17 to 29.67 mol. %

• CO2 increased from 15.07 to 17.31 mol. %

• CH4 decreased from 6.39 to 6.29 mol. %

• CO decreased from 11.42 to 10.65 mol. %.

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Effect of temperature on product gas composition

Effect of temperature on gas composition can also be explained by Le Chatelier’s principle.

• H2 increased from 17.17 to 29.67 mol. %

• CO2 increased from 15.07 to 17.31 mol. %

• CH4 decreased (6.39 to 6.29 mol. %) & CO decreased (11.42 to 10.65 mol. %).

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Effect of temperature heating value of producer gas

• HHV can be calculated from the expression;

= [H2 % x 30.52 + CO % x 30.18 + CH4 % x 95 ) x 4.1868 ] (MJ⁄Nm3)

• Producer gas HHV from air gasification 4 to 7 MJ/Nm3.

• Producer gas HHV increased from 6.18 to 7.64 MJ/Nm3.

• Increase in HHV due to increase in gas comp. of combustible gases H2 & CO.

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• Gasification performance can be examined by cold gas efficiency (CGE) & carbon conversion efficiency (CCE).

CGE = (HHV product gas)/(HHV biomass) X 100 %

CCE = (C content CO + CO2 + CH4)/(C content in biomass) X 100 %

CCE determined molar gas composition of CO, CO2 and CH4 in the producer gas

CGE35.19 % to 43.50 %

However, CCE increased only marginally from 31.85 % to 32.84 % observed at 700 C.

Higher temperatures required to ensure higher CCE for EFB briquette gasification fixed bed tubular reactor.

Effect of temperature on gasification performance

Conclusion

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• EFB briquette fixed bed tubular reactor effects of temperature on gas composition, heating value, CCE, CGE

• H2 gas composition increased from 17.17 mol. % to 29.67 mol. % with increasing temperature from 600 C - 700 C at ER= 0.4; HHV of the producer gas increased from 6.18 MJ/Nm3 to 7.64 MJ/Nm3

• Cold gas efficiency increased from 35.19 % to 43.50 %; Carbon conversion efficiency (CCE) increased only marginally from 31.85 % to 32.84 %

• Significant quantity of char (~ 21 %) was produced per unit mass of EFB briquette.

• The results suggest that higher temperatures are required to increase the overall efficiency of EFB briquette gasification.

Thank you

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