Yun, HAH orcid.org/0000-0002-6009-7575, Ramírez-Solís, S orcid.org/0000-0003-1951-0724 and Dupont, V orcid.org/0000-0002-3750-0266 (2020) Bio-CH4 from palm empty fruit bunch via pyrolysis-direct methanation: Full plant model and experiments with bio-oil surrogate. Journal of Cleaner Production, 244. 118737. ISSN 0959-6526
Abstract
A promising, cleaner alternative process of thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to biomethane is proposed and rigorously investigated via modelling and experiments for the first time. Using a conventional nickel on calcium aluminate catalyst, operated in bench scale at 1 atm, 400 °C, and with a feed molar steam to carbon ratio of 2, the Low Temperature Steam Reforming of acetic acid, representing a single compound bio-oil surrogate, achieves a promising 81.9% fuel carbon conversion to gases with a methane yield of 15.7 wt% of the feed. This compares to 21 wt% methane yield at equilibrium, thus demonstrating encouraging first time performance and scope for future catalyst optimisation. A comprehensive Aspen Plus model is developed for the first time for an industrial plant producing biomethane from palm empty fruit bunch (50 wt% initial moisture), an under-used agro-industrial waste produced in vast amounts in South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Dependency on external heating is completely eliminated by heat recovered from combusting 25% of the gas product. Based on the simulation results of the autothermal plant, a final gas product consisting of 99.2 wt% of CH4 and 0.8 wt% of H2 is predicted with a plant thermal efficiency of 80.6%, i.e., comparable to modelled efficiencies found in the literature for wood gasification to biomethane plants that generate syngas as a necessary intermediate.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the CC-BY 4.0 licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | Synthetic natural gas (SNG); Biomethane; Palm empty fruit bunch (PEFB); Pyrolysis; Methanation; Acetic acid; Nickel |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC EP/K000446/1 EPSRC EP/R030243/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 08 Oct 2019 15:17 |
Last Modified: | 17 Dec 2024 14:58 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118737 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:151870 |