International Journal of Power and Energy Research

Download PDF (463.9 KB) PP. 93 - 102 Pub. Date: July 25, 2017

DOI: 10.22606/ijper.2017.12002

• Nurul ‘Ain Hashim
  Centre of Electrical Energy System (CEES), POWER Department, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
• Norzanah Rosmin^*
  
  Centre of Electrical Energy System (CEES), POWER Department, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
• Aede Hatib Musta’amal
  
  Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
• Ir Baharruddin Ishak
  
  Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Protection Unit of Distribution Division, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
• J. P. Barton
  
  Centre of Renewable Energy System Technology (CREST), Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicester, England, United Kingdom

This paper presents the syngas performance of oil palm fronds (OPF) using a downdraft gasification method. So far, no biogas-OPF based power plant project has been developed in Malaysia even though the production of OPF is enormous. Initially, the empirical formula of OPF is determined before the gasification system can be modeled. The model of the gasification system in a downdraft gasifier is based on four zones; the drying zone, the pyrolysis zone, the oxidation zone and the reduction zone. The main advantage of the proposed method in this work is that the chemical reactions that occur in each zone are balanced using “kilogram” terms, thus eliminating the typical “mass” equations. Using “kilogram” terms overcomes the ambiguous process of chemical reaction during mole separation in each sub-model. In this study, the composition, calorific value (CV) and energy of syngas produced from OPF downdraft gasification are analyzed using Matlab/Simulink software. The model also takes into consideration the OPF moisture content as well as air fuel ratio. It is found that the CV of syngas reduced from 8.5 MJ/m3 to 6.387 MJ/m³ and the energy reduced from 2.224 kWh/m³ to 1.774 kWh/m³ as the moisture content increased from 5% to 20%. The CV also reduced from 8.132 MJ/m³ to 4.137 MJ/m³ and the energy reduced from 2.259 kWh/m³ to 1.149 kWh/m³ when air fuel ratio increased from 0.26 to 0.6.

Downdraft, gasification, oil palm fronds, syngas, Simulink.

[1] M. Z. Jaafar, W. H. Kheng, and N. Kamaruddin, “Greener energy solutions for a sustainable future: Issues and challenges for Malaysia,” Energy Policy, vol. 31, no. 11, pp. 1061–1072, 2003.

[2] S. M. Atnaw and S. A. Sulaiman, “Modeling and simulation study of downdraft gasifier using oil-palm fronds,” in ICEE 2009 - Proceeding 2009 3rd International Conference on Energy and Environment: Advancement Towards Global Sustainability, 2009, pp. 284–289.

[3] Energy Commission, “Renewable Energy Power Plant Project in Malaysia,” 2014.

[4] S. M. Atnaw, S. A. Sulaiman, and S. Yusup, “Downdraft gasification of oil palm fronds,” Trends Appl. Sci. Res., vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 1006–1018, 2011.

[5] S. M. Atnaw, S. A. Sulaiman, and S. Yusup, “Prediction of calorific value of syngas produced from oil-palm fronds gasification,” in 2011 National Postgraduate Conference - Energy and Sustainability: Exploring the Innovative Minds, 2011, pp. 2–5.

[6] F. M. Guangul, S. A. Sulaiman, and A. Ramli, “Study of the effects of operating factors on the resulting producer gas of oil palm fronds gasification with a single throat downdraft gasifier,” Renew. Energy, vol. 72, pp. 271–283, 2014.

[7] S. A. Sulaiman, S. M. Atnaw, and M. N. Z. Moni, “Experimental Study on Temperature Profile of Fixed - Bed Gasification of Oil-Palm Fronds,” Int. J. Technol., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 35–44, 2012.

[8] S. M. Atnaw, S. A. Sulaiman, and S. Yusup, “Syngas production from downdraft gasification of oil palm fronds,” Energy, vol. 61, pp. 491–501, 2013.

[9] S. M. Atnaw, S. A. Sulaiman, and S. Yusup, “A Simulation Study of Downdraft Gasification of Oil-Palm Fronds using ASPEN PLUS,” J. Appl. Sci., vol. 11, no. 11, pp. 1913–1920, 2011.

[10] M. T. Mohamad Isa, “Electrical Energy Generation Of Biomass Gasification System Using Coconut Husks,” Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 2016.

[11] C. Dejtrakulwong and S. Patumsawad, “Four Zones Modeling of the Downdraft Biomass Gasification Process: Effects of Moisture Content and Air to Fuel Ratio,” Energy Procedia, vol. 52, pp. 142–149, 2014.

[12] R. Elneel, S. Anwar, and B. Ariwahjoedi, “Prediction of heating values of oil palm fronds from ultimate analysis,” J. Appl. Sci., vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 491–496, 2013.

[13] A. Melgar, J. F. Perez, H. Laget, and A. Horillo, “Thermochemical equilibrium modelling of a gasifying process,” Energy Convers. Manag., vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 59–67, 2007.

[14] T. Waldheim, L. Nilsson, “Heating value of gases from biomass gasification,” 2001.

[15] S. Pandey, B. Baral, S. Karki, and A. Upreti, “Prediction of Syngas Composition from Biomass Gasification using Thermodynamics Equilibrium Model,” Rentech Symp. Compend., pp. 5–8, 2013.