Sequential Modular Simulation of Hydrodynamics and Reaction Kinetics in a Biomass Bubbling Fluidized-Bed Gasifier Using Aspen Plus

A sequential modular simulation (SMS) approach was used to simulate hydrodynamics and detailed kinetics of a fluidized-bed biomass gasifier in Aspen Plus. The kinetics of tar cracking reactions was taken into account in the simulation. The effects of operating conditions including temperature, equivalence ratio (ER), and steam-to-biomass ratio (SBR) on the composition and the lower heating value (LHV) of the effluent gas were studied and compared with experimental data. The model predictions well agreed with the experimental data. The increase of the bed temperature significantly decreased the tar content and increased the hydrogen content of the product gas. At ER = 0.3, the increase of the temperature from 973 K to 1123 K resulted in the increase of H₂ molar concentration in the product gas from 7.6% to 11.3% and CO molar concentration from 13.1% to 17.0%. At a temperature of 1073 K, the optimum ER value was 0.3 and the increase in ER from 0.2 to up to 0.3 increased the amount of fuel gases but further increases in ER shifted the system kinetics toward the combustion regime. At 1073 K and ER = 0.3, with an increase in SBR from 0 to 1.0, H₂ and CO₂ concentrations increased from 9.3% and 13.3% to 10.8% and 14.7%, respectively, and CO concentration decreased from 15.8% to 12.9%. The analysis showed the SMS model with four stages gives the most satisfactory predictions, via comparison with the experimental data.