Small-scale production of synthetic natural gas by allothermal biomass gasification

• Published in: International journal of energy research Vol. 37; no. 11; pp. 1318 - 1330
• Main Authors: Tremel, Alexander, Gaderer, Matthias, Spliethoff, Hartmut
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2013; Wiley; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Biomass; biomass gasification; Conversion; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Exothermic reactions; Fluidized beds; Gasification; Methanation; Natural energy; Natural gas; process simulation; small scale; SNG; substitute natural gas; synthetic natural gas; United States; North America; America; Fluidized bed reactor; Fluidized bed combustion; substitute natural gas; Heat pipe; process simulation; Biomass; Injection; Heated pipe; Modeling; SNG; synthetic natural gas; Calorific value; Simulation; Integrated system; Gasification; Software; small scale; Natural gas; biomass gasification
• ISSN: 0363-907X; 1099-114X
• DOI: 10.1002/er.2933

SUMMARY The gasification of biomass can be coupled to a downstream methanation process that produces synthetic natural gas (SNG). This enables the distribution of bioenergy in the existing natural gas grid. A process model is developed for the small‐scale production of SNG with the use of the software package Aspen Plus (Aspen Technology, Inc., Burlington, MA, USA). The gasification is based on an indirect gasifier with a thermal input of 500 kW. The gasification system consists of a fluidized bed reformer and a fluidized bed combustor that are interconnected via heat pipes. The subsequent methanation is modeled by a fluidized bed reactor. Different stages of process integration between the endothermic gasification and exothermic combustion and methanation are considered. With increasing process integration, the conversion efficiency from biomass to SNG increases. A conversion efficiency from biomass to SNG of 73.9% on a lower heating value basis is feasible with the best integrated system. The SNG produced in the simulation meets the quality requirements for injection into the natural gas grid. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.