Gasification of heavy fuel oils: A thermochemical equilibrium approach

Abstract Combustion of heavy fuel oils is a major source of production of particulate emissions and ash, as well as considerable volumes of SO x and NO x . Gasification is a technologically advanced and environmentally friendly process of disposing heavy fuel oils by converting them into clean combustible gas products. Thermochemical equilibrium modeling is the basis of an original numerical method implemented in this study to predict the performance of a heavy fuel oil gasifier. The model combines both the chemical and thermodynamic equilibriums of the global gasification reaction in order to predict the final syngas species distribution. Having obtained the composition of the produced syngas, various characteristics of the gasification process can be determined; they include the H 2 :CO ratio, process temperature, and heating value of the produced syngas, as well as the cold gas efficiency and carbon conversion efficiency of the process. The influence of the equivalence ratio, oxygen enrichment (the amount of oxygen available in the gasification agent), and pressure on the gasification characteristics is analyzed. The results of simulations are compared with reported experimental measurements through which the numerical model is validated. The detailed investigation performed in the course of this study reveals that the heavy oil gasification is a feasible process that can be utilized to generate a syngas for various industrial applications.

[1]  J. Grace,et al.  Equilibrium modeling of gasification: a free energy minimization approach and its application to a circulating fluidized bed coal gasifier , 2001 .

[2]  A. Demirbas,et al.  Potential applications of renewable energy sources, biomass combustion problems in boiler power systems and combustion related environmental issues , 2005 .

[3]  Alfons G. Buekens,et al.  Modelling of Biomass Gasification , 1985 .

[4]  D. Thistle,et al.  Spills of fuel oil #6 and Orimulsion can have indistinguishable effects on the benthic meiofauna. , 2003, Marine pollution bulletin.

[5]  Carlos Roberto Altafini,et al.  Prediction of the working parameters of a wood waste gasifier through an equilibrium model , 2003 .

[6]  Jean-Marie Seiler,et al.  Study about the kinetic processes of biomass steam gasification , 2007 .

[7]  R. Milne,et al.  Oxygen-enriched anthracite gasification , 1982 .

[8]  Philippe Mathieu,et al.  Performance analysis of a biomass gasifier , 2002 .

[10]  Saburo Hara,et al.  Gasification characteristics of extra-heavy oil in a research-scale gasifier , 2005 .

[11]  Pedro Ollero,et al.  Air–steam gasification of biomass in a fluidised bed: Process optimisation by enriched air , 2009 .

[12]  J. Berger.  Statistical Decision Theory and Bayesian Analysis , 1988 .

[13]  K. N. Seetharamu,et al.  Prediction of performance of a downdraft gasifier using equilibrium modeling for different biomass materials , 2001 .

[14]  A. Sharma,et al.  Equilibrium modeling of global reduction reactions for a downdraft (biomass) gasifier , 2008 .

[15]  James O. Berger,et al.  Statistical Decision Theory and Bayesian Analysis, Second Edition , 1985 .

[16]  L J Circeo,et al.  An ecotoxic risk assessment of residue materials produced by the plasma pyrolysis/vitrification (PP/V) process. , 2002, Waste management.

[17]  Marcio L. de Souza-Santos,et al.  Solid Fuels Combustion and Gasification: Modeling, Simulation, and Equipment Operations , 2004 .

[18]  Rikard Gebart,et al.  CFD modelling of black liquor gasification: Identification of important model parameters , 2007 .

[19]  S. Channiwala,et al.  A UNIFIED CORRELATION FOR ESTIMATING HHV OF SOLID, LIQUID AND GASEOUS FUELS , 2002 .

[20]  Wilfrid Francis,et al.  Fuels and Fuel Technology: A Summarized Manual , 1980 .

[21]  Don W. Green,et al.  Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook , 2007 .

[22]  Animesh Dutta,et al.  Thermodynamic Equilibrium Model and Second Law Analysis of a Downdraft Waste Gasifier , 2007 .

[23]  A. Bridgwater.  The technical and economic feasibility of biomass gasification for power generation , 1995 .

[24]  E. C. Lingafelter.  Elements of Physical Chemistry (Glasstone, Samuel) , 1960 .

[25]  Hiroaki Watanabe,et al.  Numerical simulation of coal gasification in entrained flow coal gasifier , 2006 .