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9th International Conference on Applied Energy, ICAE2017, 21-24 August 2017, Cardiff, UK

Development of a Noval Ultra-small Biomass Gasification and

The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling
Power Generation System
Assessing
Ding Lu*, the Kunio feasibility
Yoshikawa,of usingFukuhara,
Minoru the heat Daidemand-outdoor
Xin, Li Muhan
temperature function for a long-term district heat demand forecast
School of Environment and Society, Tokyo Institute of Technology G5-8, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-Ku, Yokohama 226-8502, Japan.

I. Andrića,b,c*, A. Pinaa, P. Ferrãoa, J. Fournierb., B. Lacarrièrec, O. Le Correc

Abstract
a
IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research - Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
b
Small-scale, distributed and low Veolia Recherche
cost biomass&power
Innovation, 291 Avenue
generation Dreyfous are
technologies Daniel, 78520
highly Limay,in
required France
the modern society. There are
c
Département
big needs for these Systèmes
technologies in Énergétiques
the disaster et Environnement
areas of developed - IMT Atlantique,
countries and4un-electrified
rue Alfred Kastler,
rural44300
areasNantes, France countries.
of developing
This work aims to demonstrate the technical feasibility of a portable ultra-small power generation system based on the
gasification of carbonized wood pellet/briquette. A combined pretreatment process including carbonization and densification
were adopted to deal with various biomass materials. Pelletization/Briquetting of carbonized fuel realized the stable operation of
Abstract
an updraft gasifier. After purification with several secondary clean devices, tar content in syngas was reduced to 0.49 g·m-3 and
1.4 g·m-3 for carbonized pellet and carbonized briquette, respectively. The cold gas efficiency during carbonized wood briquette
District heating networks are commonly addressed in the literature as one of the most effective solutions for decreasing the
gasification was about 64.4%, and the corresponding overall efficiency of the engine was 19.0%. Moreover, the steady output of
greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector. These systems require high investments which are returned through the heat
25 kW power was continuously realized. Therefore, the comprehensive system covering biomass carbonization, densification,
sales. Due to the changed climate conditions and building renovation policies, heat demand in the future could decrease,
gasification, syngas purification, and engine system is feasible for portable, ultra-small power generation
prolonging the investment return period.
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
©The
2017 Thescope
main Authors. Published
of this paper isby
toElsevier Ltd.
assess the feasibility of using the heat demand – outdoor temperature function for heat demand
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 9th International Conference on Applied Energy.
Peer-review
forecast. Theunder responsibility
district of thelocated
of Alvalade, scientific
in committee of the 9thwas
Lisbon (Portugal), International
used as aConference
case study.onTheApplied Energy.
district is consisted of 665
buildings that vary in both construction period and typology. Three weather scenarios (low, medium, high) and three district
Keywords: small-scale power generation; densification; carbonized pellet; carbonized briquette; gasification.
renovation scenarios were developed (shallow, intermediate, deep). To estimate the error, obtained heat demand values were
compared with results from a dynamic heat demand model, previously developed and validated by the authors.
The results showed that when only weather change is considered, the margin of error could be acceptable for some applications
1. Introduction
(the error in annual demand was lower than 20% for all weather scenarios considered). However, after introducing renovation
scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered).
The Although wastecoefficient
value of slope and biomass powerongeneration
increased plantstheare
average within going
range of to be bigger
3.8% up to 8%andpermore centralized,
decade, “Mobile”toisthe
that corresponds
still the trend of modern technologies. Small-scale, distributed and low cost biomass power generation
decrease in the number of heating hours of 22-139h during the heating season (depending on the combination of weather and technologies
are highly required
renovation scenariosinconsidered).
the modernOn society. Many
the other hand,researchers have been
function intercept focusing
increased on the development
for 7.8-12.7% per decade of portable,on the
(depending
small-scale and distributed power generation facility from waste and biomass gasification for
coupled scenarios). The values suggested could be used to modify the function parameters for the scenarios considered, more than 20 years.[1-
and
improve the accuracy of heat demand estimations.

© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and
* Corresponding author. Tel.:+81-45-924-5507; fax:+81-45-924-5518.
Cooling.
E-mail address: dinglu101@163.com
Keywords: Heat demand; Forecast; Climate change
1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 9th International Conference on Applied Energy.

1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling.
1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 9th International Conference on Applied Energy.
10.1016/j.egypro.2017.12.046
292 Ding Lu et al. / Energy Procedia 142 (2017) 291–296
2 Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000

4] There are big needs for these technologies in the disaster areas of developed countries and un-electrified rural
areas of developing countries. If operated successfully, gasification process can therefore contribute to the
renewable and sustainable providing of a bio-syngas, which can be directly applied for power generation by
coupling with the biogas engine system. [5]
This paper is the first to use carbonized pellet/briquette for gasification power generation. The whole system from
biomass carbonization, densification, gasification, syngas purification, and power generation were analyzed,
respectively. The optimizations of carbonization and densification processes for making high quality pellet/briquette
were discussed, and tar remove efficiency, the cold gas efficiency and overall efficiency of engine were explored for
further verify the feasibility of this new technical route for small-scale power generation.

2. Descriptions of pilot unit for biomass gasification integrated with electricity generation

2.1. Pretreatment of Biomass Resources

In this project, biomass initially experienced a carbonization process with almost no auxiliary fuel consumption.
Then, carbonized pellet/briquette with high quality was produced with the biomass char for the corresponding
gasification. The schematic diagram of the pretreatment process is shown in Fig.1.

Fig. 1. The pretreatment system of biomass

The carbonizer is mainly composed of a combustion chamber and a carbonization chamber. Initially, 500 mL
kerosene was used to ignition raw wood in the combustion chamber for firing. When the temperature of the
carbonization chamber was lower than 200 oC, that is, in the drying and degassing stage, the heating of the whole
carbonizer was supported by adding raw wood in the combustion chamber with several batches. When biomass in
the carbonization chamber started to significantly release combustible volatiles including bio-oil, H2, CO, CH4 etc.,
these gases would be transferred into the combustion chamber for burning and further releasing heat. No more wood
was needed for heating the whole system from now on. After carbonization, the biomass char was crushed, and then
mixed homogeneously with binder and water, and finally was made into carbonized pellet/briquette. After fully
mixing, the moist powder was pressed in a pelletizer fixed with a pair of revolving rollers (F-5/11-175, Japan) or a
ball press machine (240-type, China) for making pellets and briquettes, respectively. In this project, the poval
solution (9.1 wt.%), corn starch solution (9.1 wt.%), syrup solution extracted from corn starch were tested as binder
for making high quality carbonized pellet/briquette.

2.2. Gasification and syngas purification systems

The schematic diagram of the gasification, syngas purification and power generation systems is shown in Fig.2.
The updraft gasifier which was composed of a conveyer, a screw feeder, a fixed bed reactor and ash discharging
parts was adopted. The outlet syngas went through the gas cleaning devices including cyclone separator, water
 Ding Lu et al. / Energy Procedia 142 (2017) 291–296 293
Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000 3

scrubber, heat exchanger, oil-scrubber, char filter and cloth filter, and then the clean syngas was burned in the burner
during the initial heating stage. When the low heating value of the syngas reached about 4 MJ·m-3, the syngas would
be switched to the inlet of a gas engine for the purpose of power generation. There were several key parameters
needed to be monitored carefully during the gasification process: 1. The height of pellet/briquette in the gasifier,
there was a sensor inside the gasifier for determining the height of the materials inside the gasifier. New
pellet/briquette needed to be added immediately into the gasifier once the sensor detected the materials were not full.
2. The top pressure inside the gasifier, the syngas pressure was controlled at a small vacuum degree of 10 Pa. It is
noted that the syngas was liable to leak out from the connection part of the gasifier and feeding system when the
pressure was higher than the atmospheric pressure. 3. The temperature distribution inside the gasifier and tar content
in the syngas before and after the gas clean up system were also recorded and analyzed.

Note: 1-Control panel; 2-Feeding hopper; 3-Gasifier; 4-Air blower; 5-Cyclone separator; 6-Water scrubber; 7-Heat exchanger; 8-Centrifuge; 9-Char filter;

10-Cloth filter; 11-Syngas blower; 12-Engine; 13-Burner.

Fig. 2. The biomass gasification and power generation systems

2.3. Power generation system

The KLD-6110 type gas engine was adopted in this study, and the maximum capacity of power generation is 30
kW. A resistive load was connected after the engine to indicate the efficiency of the output power by syngas. The
flow rate of air and syngas, and the mixing ratio of syngas to air should be adjusted properly to reach the maximum
output capacity of power by the engine. Moreover, the exhaust gas from the outlet of the engine was analyzed
considering the economic and environmental factors.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Analysis about pretreatment of biomass resources

The choosing of the optimal carbonization temperature should consider the following key factors: 1. In regards to
the feasibility of crushing of the carbonized char, when processing raw wood with large size, there was a great
portion of wood remaining non-carbonized when the temperature is relatively low. It was very difficult to crush
large size of raw wood or half-carbonized wood due to their high hardness; 2. In regards to the strength of the
carbonized pellet and briquette, the carbonization temperature should be favourable to produce carbonized
pellet/briquette with high strength to bear the static pressure and impact force when supplying these materials into
the gasifier. 3. In regards to the energy consumption during carbonization, if the first two conditions are met, a low
carbonization temperature should be better as it is not only favourable for reducing the energy and time
requirements as shown in Table 1, but also for keeping carbonized char with relatively high volatile content as
shown in Fig.3, which would increase the syngas production during the subsequent gasification process.
294 Ding Lu et al. / Energy Procedia 142 (2017) 291–296
4 Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000

Fig. 3. The volatile content remained in char versus carbonization temperature

Table 1. Char production and specific wood consumption at different temperatures

Carbonization Char
M1wood(kg) M2wood(kg) Total wood consumption(kg) SFC(kg·kg-1 ) Time(h)
Temperature(oC) yield(kg)
400 27.7 77.6 22.9 100.5 3.6 3.6
425 26.3 76.9 23.5 100.4 3.8 3.7
450 24.2 75.8 21.8 97.6 4.0 3.7
475 24.2 77.4 21.5 98.9 4.1 3.9
500 23.8 81.1 23.8 104.9 4.4 4.0
Note: SFC-specific wood consumption, kg wood/kg char, dry basis; M1wood-wood consumption in the carbonization chamber, dry basis, kg;
M2wood-wood consumption in the combustion chamber, dry basis, kg; Time-total time for one batch carbonization test.

Besides wood, raw bark and waste food mixed with raw wood were also carbonized in this carbonization system.
Mass balance is shown in Table 2. Pellet/briquette strength is the most important factor for optimizing the
palletization process. Fig.4 indicates that pellet strength increased with the increase of the carbonization temperature
from 400 oC to 500 oC using poval as a binder. Several binders including poval, syrup, corn starch and corn starch
mixed with bio-oil were tested for making high quality briquette, whose detail conditions are shown in Table 3.
Table 2. Mass balance of carbonization of various biomass materials at 400 oC
Mass Balance Raw wood Waste food mixed with wood Bark
Material input for carbonization [kg] 88.2 80.5 22.1
Water content in material for carbonization, % 12.0 44.9 20.0
Dry Wood input for combustion [kg] 22.9 51.0 18.8
Char production [kg] 27.7 5.98 4.76
Char production %, dry basis 35.6 13.5 26.9

Table 3. The detail conditions for making high quality briquette

Briquette making method Binder solution concentration(wt.%) Optimal ratio Briquette strength(kgf)
char: poval solution 9.1 10:4.5 23.3
char: poval solution: bio-oil 9.1 10:3.5:1 24.0
char :corn starch solution 9.1 10:4.5 23.1
char :corn starch solution: bio-oil 9.1 10:3.5:1 24.1
char: syrup: water ＞99.9% 10:3.5:1 23.5
char: syrup: water: bio-oil ＞99.9% 10:3.5:0.8:0.2 24.5
Note: Briquette strength denotes the average force at break of briquette according to the similar method reported in ref.[6]. kgf denotes
kilogram-force.
 Ding Lu et al. / Energy Procedia 142 (2017) 291–296 295
Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000 5

4.5 410
Pellet strength
4.0 Bulk density 405

Compressive strength/kgf

Bulk density/(kgm )

3.5 400

3.0 395

2.5 390

2.0 385

1.5 380
400 420 440 460 o
480 500
Carbonized temperature/ C
Fig. 4. Effect of the carbonization temperature on the quality of woody pellet using poval as a binder
Note: compressive strength denotes the average force at break of pellet

3.2. Analysis about updraft gasification of carbonized pellet/briquette and syngas purification

Fig.5 shows that the accumulation amount of syngas presented well linear relationship with the reaction time,
which proved that this gasification system was very stable during the gasification process of carbonized wood pellet.
Fig.5 also indicates that the CO content almost kept constant after operation for 3h, and the corresponding low
heating value of syngas was above 4.0 MJ·m-3, which was a key factor for the utilization of syngas for power
generation. The similar stable system was also realized during the gasification of carbonized wood briquette as
shown in Fig.6.
Tars and dust can easily cause corrosion and erosion of cylinder walls and pistons in engines. During the
gasification of carbonized pellet, cyclone separator, water scrubber, centrifuge and cloth filter were adopted to
remove the dust and tar components in syngas. Tar content in syngas was 0.73 g·m-3 at the exit of the gasifier, which
was significantly lower than tar values by using raw biomass in updraft gasifier.[7] After cleaning, the tar content in
syngas was 0.49 g·m-3, and the tar removal efficiency was 32.9%. During the gasification of carbonized briquette,
cyclone separator, water scrubber, char filter, and cloth filter were adopted as purification system. The tar content at
the exit of the gasifier and at the inlet of the engine is 2.6 g·m-3 and 1.4 g·m-3, respectively, and the tar removal
efficiency was 46.2%. When oil-scrubber was further adopted, the tar removal efficiency increased to 50.0%.
70
400
inlet air 60
350 outlet syngas H2
O2
Gas compositions/vol.%

50
N2
Total amount of gas/m3

300
CH4
250 40 CO
CO2
200 30

150
20

100
10
50
0
0 0 2 4 6 8
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Reaction time/h
Reaction time/h
Fig. 5. Variation of the accumulation volumes and compositions of syngas with time for carbonized pellet
296 Ding Lu et al. / Energy Procedia 142 (2017) 291–296
6 Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000

600 70

60
500
H2
Total amount of syngas/m3 O2
50

Gas compositions/vol.%
400 N2
CH4
40 CO
300 CO2
30
200
20

100
10

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2 3 4 5 6 7
Reaction time/h Reaction time/h

Fig. 6. Variation of the accumulation volumes and compositions of syngas with time for carbonized briquette

3.3. Analysis about power generation

Through calculation, the average low heating value of syngas during stable power generation stage was
5.03MJ·m-3, which is suitable for power generation by using a gas engine. The overall thermal efficiency of the
engine set was about 19.0%, and the maximum output power was 25 kW by using carbonized briquette.

4. Conclusions

Various biomass resources with different moisture contents and shapes can be dealt with in our carbonization and
densification system with lower energy consumption. Tar content in the syngas from the outlet of the gasifier
decreased significantly when carbonized pellet/briquette was used. Moreover, the tar removal efficiency can be
further improved by coupling with several secondary purification devices including water scrubber, bio-oil scrubber,
char filter, and cloth filter. Although low heating value of syngas limited the capacity of power generation, 25 kW
power output can still be realized continuously by gasifying carbonized briquette. From the above, the
comprehensive system covering carbonization, densification, gasification, syngas purification, and engine system is
feasible for small-scale power generation by using carbonized biomass in an updraft fixed bed gasifier at a suitable
equivalence ratio.

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by Innovative Science and Technology Initiative for Security, ATLA, Japan.

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