Exergoeconomic analysis of a simulated system of biomass gasification-based power generation with surplus syngas storage in a rural zone in Colombia

Forests cover two-thirds of Japan’s land area, and woody biomass is attracting attention as one of the most promising renewable energy sources in the country. The Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Act came into effect in 2012, and since then, woody biomass power generation has spread rapidly. Gasification power generation, which can generate electricity on a relatively small scale, has attracted a lot of attention. However, the technical issues of this technology remain poorly defined. This paper aims to clarify the problems of woody biomass gasification power generation in Japan, specifically on the challenges of improving energy utilization rate, the problem of controlling the moisture content, and the different performance of power generation facilities that uses different tree species. We also describe the technological development of a 2 MW updraft reactor for gasification and bio-oil coproduction to improve the energy utilization rate. The lower heating value of bio-oil, which was obtained in the experiment, was found to be about 70% of A-fuel oil. Among the results, the importance of controlling the moisture content of wood chips is identified from the measurement evaluation of a 0.36 MW-scale downdraft gasifier’s actual operation. We discuss the effects of tree species variation and ash on gasification power generation based on the results of pyrolysis analysis, industry analysis for each tree species. These results indicate the necessity of building a system specifically suited to Japan’s climate and forestry industry to allow woody biomass gasification power generation to become widespread in Japan.

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Exergy and Exergoeconomic Analysis of a Combined Cooling, Heating, and Power System Based on Solar Thermal Biomass Gasification

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12122418 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 2418 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jin Wu ◽

Jiangjiang Wang ◽

Jing Wu ◽

Chaofan Ma

Keyword(s):

Energy Level ◽

Internal Combustion Engine ◽

Cost Allocation ◽

Combustion Engine ◽

Biomass Gasification ◽

Internal Combustion ◽

Hot Water ◽

Exergy Loss ◽

Exergoeconomic Analysis ◽

Combined Cooling

The purpose of this paper is to improve the utilization of renewable energy by exergy and exergoeconomic analysis of the novel combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system, which is based on solar thermal biomass gasification. The source of heat to assist biomass and steam gasification is the solar heat collected by a dish collector, and the product gas being fuel that drives the internal combustion engine to generate electricity and then to produce chilled/hot water by a waste heat unitization system. The analysis and calculation of the exergy loss and exergy efficiency of each component reveal the irreversibility in the heating and cooling conditions. Then, the exergoeconomic costs of multi-products such as electricity, chilled water, heating water, and domestic hot water are calculated by using the cost allocation method based on energy level. The influencing factors of the unit exergy cost of products are evaluated by sensitivity analysis, such as initial investment cost, biomass cost, service life, interest rate, and operating time coefficient. The results reveal that the internal combustion engine takes up 49.2% of the total exergy loss, and the most effective method of products cost allocation is the exergoeconomic method based on energy level and conforms to the principle of high energy level with high cost.

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