Tande, LN, Resendiz-Mora, EG and Dupont, V orcid.org/0000-0002-3750-0266 (2021) Bioh2, Heat and Power from Palm Empty Fruit Bunch via Pyrolysis-Autothermal Reforming: Plant Simulation, Experiments, and CO2 Mitigation. Energies, 14 (16). 4767. ISSN 1996-1073
Abstract
Empty fruit bunch, a significant by-product of the palm oil industry, represents a tremendous and hitherto neglected renewable energy resource for many countries in South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The design and simulation of a plant producing pure hydrogen through autothermal reforming (ATR) of palm empty fruit bunch (PEFB) was carried out based on successful laboratory experiments of the core process. The bio-oil feed to the ATR stage was represented in the experiments and in the simulation by a surrogate bio-oil mixture of 11 organic compounds shown to be main constituents of PEFB oil from previous work, and whose combined elemental composition and volatility was determined to be as close as possible to that of the real PEFB bio-oil. The experiments confirmed that H2 yields close to equilibrium predictions were achievable using an in-house synthetised Rh-Al2O3 catalyst in a packed bed reactor. Initial sensitivity analysis on the plant revealed that feed molar steam to carbon ratio should not exceed 3 for the optimal design of the ATR hydrogen production plant. An overall plant efficiency of 39.4% was obtained for the initial design, this value was improved to 67.5% by applying pinch analysis to enhance the integration of heat in the design. The proposed design renders CO2 savings of about 0.56 kg per kg of raw PEFB processed. The proposed design and accompanying experimental studies together make a strong case on the possibility of polygeneration of H2, heat, and power from an otherwise discarded agricultural waste.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 by the authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
Keywords: | palm empty fruit bunch; hydrogen; pyrolysis; bio-oil; autothermal reforming |
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) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/R030243/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 02 Aug 2021 10:32 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:43 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/en14164767 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:176511 |