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Biomass Gasification for Power Generation Applications: A Modeling, Economic, and Experimental Study

Abstract:

The present chapter has as a main objective the energetic valorization of olive tree wastes applied for distributed generation systems. These residues are not currently used and present a problem at the level of the mill (leaves) and the olive grove (prunings).This work presents the theoretical modeling of a downdraft gasifier, a gas cleaning and cooling stage, and an internal combustion engine as power generation unit. The simulation results show suitable producer gas composition (16.1% H 2 , 21.6% CO, and 2.5% CH 4 , mole fraction), lower calorific value (4.8MJ/kg), and gasification efficiency (70.7%). On the other hand, the experimental study of a real gasification power plant and its economic feasibility is carried out; the plant reached acceptable electric and cogeneration efficiencies: 14.8% and 48.6%, respectively. Finally, the economic investment achieved proper profitability with a payback period of 5 years.