IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v125y2017icp327-336.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy efficient thermochemical conversion of very wet biomass to biofuels by integration of steam drying, steam electrolysis and gasification

Author

Listed:
  • Clausen, Lasse R.

Abstract

A novel system concept is presented for the thermochemical conversion of very wet biomasses such as sewage sludge and manure. The system integrates steam drying, solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) and gasification for the production of synthetic natural gas (SNG). The system is analyzed by thermodynamic modelling and the analysis shows that the system can handle mechanically dried biomasses with a water content of 70 wt% and an ash content of up to 50 wt% (dry basis). A high tolerable ash content is an advantage because very wet biomasses, such as sewage sludge and manure, have a high ash content. The analysis shows that the total efficiency of the novel system is 69–70% depending on the biomass ash content, while the biomass to SNG energy ratio is 165%, which is near the theoretical maximum because electrolytic hydrogen is supplied to the synthesis gas. It is proposed to combine the novel system with an anaerobic digester for conversion of biomasses with high nitrogen content, such as sewage sludge. The organic nitrogen in the sewage sludge will be mineralized in the digester instead of ending up as N2 in the SNG product.

Suggested Citation

  • Clausen, Lasse R., 2017. "Energy efficient thermochemical conversion of very wet biomass to biofuels by integration of steam drying, steam electrolysis and gasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 327-336.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:125:y:2017:i:c:p:327-336
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2017.02.132
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544217303158
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2017.02.132?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gassner, M. & Maréchal, F., 2008. "Thermo-economic optimisation of the integration of electrolysis in synthetic natural gas production from wood," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 189-198.
    2. Clausen, Lasse R. & Houbak, Niels & Elmegaard, Brian, 2010. "Technoeconomic analysis of a methanol plant based on gasification of biomass and electrolysis of water," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2338-2347.
    3. Gil-Lalaguna, N. & Sánchez, J.L. & Murillo, M.B. & Atienza-Martínez, M. & Gea, G., 2014. "Energetic assessment of air-steam gasification of sewage sludge and of the integration of sewage sludge pyrolysis and air-steam gasification of char," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 652-662.
    4. Clausen, Lasse R., 2015. "Maximizing biofuel production in a thermochemical biorefinery by adding electrolytic hydrogen and by integrating torrefaction with entrained flow gasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 94-104.
    5. Clausen, Lasse R. & Elmegaard, Brian & Ahrenfeldt, Jesper & Henriksen, Ulrik, 2011. "Thermodynamic analysis of small-scale dimethyl ether (DME) and methanol plants based on the efficient two-stage gasifier," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 5805-5814.
    6. Ud Din, Zia & Zainal, Z.A., 2016. "Biomass integrated gasification–SOFC systems: Technology overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1356-1376.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Antar, Elie & Robert, Etienne, 2024. "Thermodynamic analysis of small-scale polygeneration systems producing natural gas, electricity, heat, and carbon dioxide from biomass," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    2. Clausen, Lasse R. & Butera, Giacomo & Jensen, Søren Højgaard, 2019. "Integration of anaerobic digestion with thermal gasification and pressurized solid oxide electrolysis cells for high efficiency bio-SNG production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    3. Pecchi, Matteo & Baratieri, Marco, 2019. "Coupling anaerobic digestion with gasification, pyrolysis or hydrothermal carbonization: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 462-475.
    4. Anna Grzegórska & Piotr Rybarczyk & Valdas Lukoševičius & Joanna Sobczak & Andrzej Rogala, 2021. "Smart Asset Management for District Heating Systems in the Baltic Sea Region," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-25, January.
    5. Gadsbøll, Rasmus Østergaard & Clausen, Lasse Røngaard & Thomsen, Tobias Pape & Ahrenfeldt, Jesper & Henriksen, Ulrik Birk, 2019. "Flexible TwoStage biomass gasifier designs for polygeneration operation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 939-950.
    6. Sigurjonsson, Hafthor Ægir & Clausen, Lasse R., 2018. "Solution for the future smart energy system: A polygeneration plant based on reversible solid oxide cells and biomass gasification producing either electrofuel or power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 323-337.
    7. Clausen, Lasse R. & Butera, Giacomo & Jensen, Søren Højgaard, 2019. "High efficiency SNG production from biomass and electricity by integrating gasification with pressurized solid oxide electrolysis cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1117-1131.
    8. Saheli Biswas & Shambhu Singh Rathore & Aniruddha Pramod Kulkarni & Sarbjit Giddey & Sankar Bhattacharya, 2021. "A Theoretical Study on Reversible Solid Oxide Cells as Key Enablers of Cyclic Conversion between Electrical Energy and Fuel," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sigurjonsson, Hafthor Ægir & Clausen, Lasse R., 2018. "Solution for the future smart energy system: A polygeneration plant based on reversible solid oxide cells and biomass gasification producing either electrofuel or power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 323-337.
    2. Clausen, Lasse R., 2015. "Maximizing biofuel production in a thermochemical biorefinery by adding electrolytic hydrogen and by integrating torrefaction with entrained flow gasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 94-104.
    3. Dossow, Marcel & Dieterich, Vincent & Hanel, Andreas & Spliethoff, Hartmut & Fendt, Sebastian, 2021. "Improving carbon efficiency for an advanced Biomass-to-Liquid process using hydrogen and oxygen from electrolysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    4. Anetjärvi, Eemeli & Vakkilainen, Esa & Melin, Kristian, 2023. "Benefits of hybrid production of e-methanol in connection with biomass gasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    5. Lythcke-Jørgensen, Christoffer & Clausen, Lasse Røngaard & Algren, Loui & Hansen, Anders Bavnhøj & Münster, Marie & Gadsbøll, Rasmus Østergaard & Haglind, Fredrik, 2017. "Optimization of a flexible multi-generation system based on wood chip gasification and methanol production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 337-359.
    6. Clausen, Lasse R. & Butera, Giacomo & Jensen, Søren Højgaard, 2019. "Integration of anaerobic digestion with thermal gasification and pressurized solid oxide electrolysis cells for high efficiency bio-SNG production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    7. Antar, Elie & Robert, Etienne, 2024. "Thermodynamic analysis of small-scale polygeneration systems producing natural gas, electricity, heat, and carbon dioxide from biomass," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    8. Song, Guohui & Xiao, Jun & Yan, Chao & Gu, Haiming & Zhao, Hao, 2022. "Quality of gaseous biofuels: Statistical assessment and guidance on production technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    9. Clausen, Lasse R. & Butera, Giacomo & Jensen, Søren Højgaard, 2019. "High efficiency SNG production from biomass and electricity by integrating gasification with pressurized solid oxide electrolysis cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1117-1131.
    10. Buttler, Alexander & Kunze, Christian & Spliethoff, Hartmut, 2013. "IGCC–EPI: Decentralized concept of a highly load-flexible IGCC power plant for excess power integration," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 869-879.
    11. Xiao, Zhihua & Yuan, Xingzhong & Jiang, Longbo & Chen, Xiaohong & Li, Hui & Zeng, Guangming & Leng, Lijian & Wang, Hou & Huang, Huajun, 2015. "Energy recovery and secondary pollutant emission from the combustion of co-pelletized fuel from municipal sewage sludge and wood sawdust," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 441-450.
    12. Gassner, Martin & Maréchal, François, 2009. "Thermodynamic comparison of the FICFB and Viking gasification concepts," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 1744-1753.
    13. Zhen, Xudong & Wang, Yang, 2013. "Study of ignition in a high compression ratio SI (spark ignition) methanol engine using LES (large eddy simulation) with detailed chemical kinetics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 549-558.
    14. Liu, Zhongzhe & Singer, Simcha & Tong, Yiran & Kimbell, Lee & Anderson, Erik & Hughes, Matthew & Zitomer, Daniel & McNamara, Patrick, 2018. "Characteristics and applications of biochars derived from wastewater solids," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 650-664.
    15. Bello, Yusuf H. & Ahmed, Mahmoud A. & Ookawara, Shinichi & Elwardany, Ahmed E., 2022. "Numerical and experimental investigation on air distributor design of fluidized bed reactor of sawdust pyrolysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    16. Adnan, Muflih A. & Hossain, Mohammad M. & Kibria, Md Golam, 2020. "Biomass upgrading to high-value chemicals via gasification and electrolysis: A thermodynamic analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1367-1379.
    17. Wang, Guoqiang & Wang, Feng & Li, Longjian & Zhang, Guofu, 2013. "Experiment of catalyst activity distribution effect on methanol steam reforming performance in the packed bed plate-type reactor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 267-272.
    18. Lee, Jechan & Kim, Soosan & You, Siming & Park, Young-Kwon, 2023. "Bioenergy generation from thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass-based integrated renewable energy systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    19. Syed-Hassan, Syed Shatir A. & Wang, Yi & Hu, Song & Su, Sheng & Xiang, Jun, 2017. "Thermochemical processing of sewage sludge to energy and fuel: Fundamentals, challenges and considerations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 888-913.
    20. Baena-Moreno, Francisco M. & Sebastia-Saez, Daniel & Pastor-Pérez, Laura & Reina, Tomas Ramirez, 2021. "Analysis of the potential for biogas upgrading to syngas via catalytic reforming in the United Kingdom," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:125:y:2017:i:c:p:327-336. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.