Techno-Economic Study and Environmental Analysis for the Production of Bio-methanol Using a Solar-Aided Dual-bed Gasifier

• Published in: Waste and biomass valorization Vol. 14; no. 12; pp. 4155 - 4171
• Main Authors: Yakan à Nwai, Christian, Patel, Bilal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.12.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Alternative fuels; Biorefineries; Charcoal; Economic analysis; Energy conversion; Energy conversion efficiency; Engineering; Environment; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Environmental impact; Gasification; Industrial Pollution Prevention; Lignocellulose; Methanol; Moisture content; Original Paper; Production costs; Refining; Renewable and Green Energy; Solar energy; Stover; Waste Management/Waste Technology; Water content; Biorefineries; Technoeconomic analysis; Solar-aided gasification; Methanol synthesis
• ISSN: 1877-2641; 1877-265X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12649-023-02115-6

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of utilizing solar energy as a heat source for gasification reactions during the production of methanol from corn stover. For this purpose, two biorefinery scenarios were modelled: a standalone scenario where gasification was performed in a conventional dual-bed gasifier, and a solar-aided scenario where solar energy was used to drive the gasification reactions. In the solar-aided scenario, biochar was exported as a co-product rather than combusted. Results obtained revealed that the incorporation of solar energy could enhance the net gasification efficiency by 10 to 24%, depending on the biomass moisture content. Also, the biorefinery energy conversion efficiency was found to be 48% for the standalone scenario and 61% for the solar-aided scenario. Moreover, the export of biochar as a co-product resulted in a 35% decrease in potential environmental impact. Furthermore, the methanol production costs could be 0.31 $/litre for the standalone scenario and 0.50 $/litre for the solar-aided scenario. While the minimum biochar selling price was estimated to be 13.04\ $/GJ (0.37 $/kg). These results suggest that the adoption of solar-aided gasification could be one way to advance the circular bioeconomy concept, where lignocellulose is used to produce not only fuels but also bio-products capable of gradually substituting fossil-based alternatives. Graphical Abstract