Thermochemical conversion of Napier Grass for production of renewable syngas

Mohamad Syazarudin Md Said*, Wan Azlina Wan Abdul Karim Ghani, Tan Hong Boon, Siti Aslina Hussain, Denny Kok Sum Ng

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)
212 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Fuel resource diversification is a global effort to deviate from non-renewable fossil fuels. Biomass has been identified as an alternative solid biofuel source due to its desirable properties and carbon neutrality. As reported in the literature, biomass can positively contribute towards combating climate change while providing alleviation for energy security issue. As part of efforts to diversify biomass resources, this work intends to explore the potential of Napier grass, one type of energy crop, for the production of renewable syngas via gasification. This energy crop is originally from Africa, which is highly productive with low cost (40 tonnes per year per hectare). Limited studies were conducted to analyze the potential of such an energy crop as a fuel source, which is the subject of this work. In order to analyze the full potential of such energy crop, the physical and chemical characteristics of this biomass was first analyzed. To determine the productivity of syngas from this biomass, fluidized bed gasifier was used in this work. The effects of gasification process parameters (i.e., equivalence ratio and temperature) on product yield and producer gas compositions were examined. Besides, the effects of equivalence ratio towards higher heating value of syngas and carbon conversion efficiency were analyzed. Based on the ultimate analysis results, the molecular formula of Napier gas was CH1.56O0.81N0.0043. Meanwhile, the higher heating value of such biomass was determined as 16.73 MJ/kg, which was comparable to other biomasses. It is noted that in this work, the volatile matter was determined as 85.52% and this promoted gasification process remarkably. The dynamics of the reactions involved were observed as a significant variation in product yield and biogas components were recorded at varying equivalence ratio and gasifier operating temperature.

Original languageEnglish
Article number705
JournalProcesses
Volume7
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Oct 2019

Keywords

  • Energy crop
  • Gasification
  • Napier grass
  • Renewable energy
  • Solid biofuel

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Bioengineering
  • Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous)
  • Process Chemistry and Technology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Thermochemical conversion of Napier Grass for production of renewable syngas'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this