Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications
Open Access

Gasification of biomass wastes under different operating conditions: Producer gas quality and biomass interchangeability

International Congress and Expo on Biofuels & Bioenergy

August 25- 27, 2015 Valencia, Spain

Juan J Hern�¡ndez

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Fundam Renewable Energy Appl

Abstract :

Forestry (pinus pinaster pruning), agricultural (grapevine tree pruning) and industry (dealcoholized marc of grape) wastes
can be considered as the main biomass sources for energy from the inland regions of Spain, the first being a typical waste
from forest maintenance and timber harvesting and the others being typical wastes from unirrigated agriculture and distillery
industry, respectively. Pruning of pine is made every five years (on average) with a production of around 5 tonnes per hectare,
and pruning of grave pine is made yearly with a production of 0.83 tons per hectare. The production of marc of grape is
around 0.14 kg/kg grape (on average). European and Spanish energy policies are encouraging the use of biomass for energy
purposes, with three targets: economic and social development of the countryside, elimination of wastes and reduction of CO2
emissions. However, such policies have not been successful yet in Spain owing to uncertainties in the guarantee of provision
of raw material, to fluctuations of the raw material prize and to administrative difficulties, leading to the discouragement
of investors. In this frame, biomass gasification constitutes an attractive option, and an alternative to the combustion of
biomass. The producer gas from gasification can be directly used in internal combustion engines for mechanical or electrical
energy production. One of the main advantages of gasification is the possibility to install small, low-cost and efficient gasifierengine
couples, which allows the biomass to be used close to source, and thus, the elimination of much of the storage and
transportation costs. Additionally, the combination of short-run forestry and agricultural wastes for supplying power plants
provides higher operation flexibility and minimizes the effect of seasonal supply variations. However, the gasifier design must
be optimised as a function of the physical and thermo chemical parameters of the biomass, while the engine design must be
optimised as a function of the producer gas composition. As a consequence, only where these compositions are substantially
similar, the original biomass wastes can be used in a flexible supply system. The producer gas compositions obtained from the
gasification of the above mentioned wastes in a circulating flow gasifier have been compared in order to determine whether
these wastes can be used in combination or interchangeably in gasification systems. Experimental tests were carried out not
only considering different fuels but also several operating conditions (equivalence biomass/air ratio, gasification temperature
and type of gasifying agent (air, air/steam mixtures).