A review on the development and commercialization of biomass gasification technologies in China

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2003.12.010

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Volume 8, Issue 6, December 2004, Pages 565-580

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2003.12.010 Get rights and content

Abstract

With the fast economic growth, the energy demand in China has increased two-fold in the past three decades. Various energy resources have been exploited and utilized and biomass is one of the energy resources that is abundant and has been widely used in China for a long time. Biomass gasification is an efficient and advanced technology for extracting the energy from biomass and has received increasing attention in the energy market. In this paper the development of biomass gasification for various energy applications in China is reviewed and their prospects are discussed. Among the different biomass gasification technologies, biomass gasification and power generation is found to be the most promising biomass gasification technology that has great potential to be further developed in China.

Introduction

As the biggest agricultural country, China has an abundant biomass energy resource. About 0.65 billion tons of agricultural residues are produced per annum, which will be increased to 0.73 billion tons in 2010 [1]. This is equivalent to about 12,000 trillion kJ of energy. The quantity of forest residues in China is also enormous, reaches 37 million m³ (excluding forest firewood) and contains 580 trillion kJ of energy [2]. Taking a fraction of biomass resource out as feedstuff and some as stocks, the remaining amount of solid biomass suitable for energy generation can give rise to 8800 trillion kJ of energy. While along with the development of agricultural and forestry industry, especially with the exploitation and popularization of fast-grown firewood forest, the solid biomass resource in China will become more and more, having intense exploitation and utilization potential.

Gasification is a technology commonly used nowadays for extracting energy from biomass. Over the past decade, there has been great progress in the development of gasification technology in China. Many kinds of biomass gasification processes have been developed treating different materials for various purposes. The first generation is the up-draught fixed bed gasifier, with gasification efficiency over 75% and maximum energy output of about 10 million kJ/h. This system normally converts wood residues into gaseous fuel suitable as boiler fuel. The second generation is the down-draft fixed bed gasifier, with gasification efficiency around 75% and maximum energy output of 4 million kJ/h. This system is mainly used for treating crop straw and wood wastes for supplying domestic cooking gas, and for wood drying process in factories. The most recent one is the circulating fluidized bed (CFB) gasifier, with efficiency maintains at about 75% but the maximum energy output can be increased to 40 million kJ/h. This system has been operated successfully for treating wood and crop wastes to fuel boiler or to generate electricity.

Section snippets

Technology development

In recent years, there is a great achievement in the research and development of biomass gasification technology in China. Different technologies have been developed to suit different market demands. Obvious progress has been made in the following two aspects:

Investment and capital cost

The capital cost of biomass gasification system mainly comes from: (1) gasifier and gas cleaning system; (2) fuel gas utilization equipment; and (3) fittings and system construction. The economic data of different biomass gasification systems are shown in Table 4, Table 5, Table 6.

As can be seen from the tables, the unit capital cost of all the biomass gasification and heating systems quoted here are less than 50 US$/kW. This low cost is due to the fact that special collection, transportation

Application situation

As shown in Table 9, some biomass gasification technologies have been developed in recent years and put into application in a small scale. For example, about 160 sets of gasification system have been operated for domestic cooking by independent users or through centralized gas supply networks, 370 sets for wood drying processes and about 150 sets for electricity generations. The total biomass energy converted into fuel gas by gasification rose up to 0.9 trillion kJ. The energy output

Solving secondary pollution problems

The primary purpose of biomass gasification and power generation is to process wastes. Currently, because of better external conditions gasification and power generation has received much greater economic advantage, but the pollution issue has not yet been fully resolved and becomes the main barrier of popularizing of this technology. Ash and wastewater management is the key focus during the development of biomass gasification and power generation technology. From the technological point of

Conclusions

The development of biomass gasification technologies in China is discussed. There are three main kinds of biomass gasification systems used, respectively, for drying and heating, domestic cooking, and power generation. Among the different gasification technologies, the biomass gasification and power generation system is the most promising biomass technology that has great potential to be further developed. Though there is a great achievement in the research and development of this technology,

References (9)

X.L. Yin et al.
Design and operation of a CFB gasification and power generation system for rice husk
Biomass Bioenergy
(2002)
C.Z. Wu et al.
An economic analysis of biomass gasification and power generation in China
Biores Technol
(2002)
Rural Energy Statistical Yearbook of China. The National Bureau of Statistics of China, China Statistical Publishing...
China Forestry Developmnt Report 2001. The State forestry Administration of China, China Forestry Publishing House,...

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (116)

Experimental and numerical evaluation of coal-N conversion characteristic during preheating-combustion under O<inf>2</inf>/CO<inf>2</inf> atmosphere
2024, Fuel
High-temperature preheating and O₂/CO₂ combustion have been proven effective for de-NOx and CO₂ capture. In this study, we combined these two methods to investigate the transformation characteristics of volatile-N and to validate whether the reduction of nitrogen in volatile-N is enhanced during preheating of pulverized coal (PC) under the O₂/CO₂ atmosphere. The conversion of coal-N to NOx and its precursors during the preheating process under the O₂/CO₂ atmosphere was examined through experimental and numerical approaches. The results indicate that the gasification of CO₂ during the preheating stage increases the volatilization of coal-N. Subsequently, in a high-temperature, strongly reducing atmosphere, up to 52.21% of the coal-N is directly converted into N₂. Furthermore, the presence of CO₂ also participates in gas-phase reactions, leading to changes in the relative proportions of free radicals such as O, H, and OH. Additionally, it increases the concentration of CO, thereby facilitating the reduction of NO during the combustion stage. The experimental findings indicate a synergistic effect between preheating and O₂/CO₂ combustion in reducing NO formation. Furthermore, by implementing further air staging, the NO emissions can be reduced by an additional 49.60%, with NO emissions down to 109.70 mg·m⁻³.
Biochar production and its environmental applications: Recent developments and machine learning insights
2023, Bioresource Technology
Biochar production through thermochemical processing is a sustainable biomass conversion and waste management approach. However, commercializing biochar faces challenges requiring further research and development to maximize its potential for addressing environmental concerns and promoting sustainable resource management. This comprehensive review presents the state-of-the-art in biochar production, emphasizing quantitative yield and qualitative properties with varying feedstocks. It discusses the technology readiness level and commercialization status of different production strategies, highlighting their environmental and economic impacts. The review focuses on integrating machine learning algorithms for process control and optimization in biochar production, improving efficiency. Additionally, it explores biochar's environmental applications, including soil amendment, carbon sequestration, and wastewater treatment, showcasing recent advancements and case studies. Advances in biochar technologies and their environmental benefits in various sectors are discussed herein.
Multi-objective optimization and parametric study of a hybrid waste gasification system integrated with reverse osmosis desalination
2023, Chemosphere
The increasing population has created two fundamental issues on the islands (in this case, Kish Island): an expansion in waste production and handling and a rise in the need for freshwater for daily consumption. Waste gasification can be used to reduce waste and generate energy. Sea salt water can be converted into drinkable freshwater using energy. This article describes a computational code using a combination of EES (Engineering Equation Solver) and MATLAB software for a hybrid cycle that includes waste gasification and reverse osmosis to generate freshwater and power. Kish Island waste data was carefully collected onsite. An exergy evaluation has been conducted to verify the cycle's irreversibility. Lastly, optimization has been performed to identify the best operation mode. In terms of irreversibility, a gasifier is far more irreversible than any other type of plant equipment. Based on the parametric analysis, salt water and waste flow significantly impact freshwater production. Approximately 20,000 m³/day are consumed on Kish Island each day, so if the entire production power of the steam turbine is used in the reverse osmosis high-pressure pump, 2860 m³/day can be obtained each day (14% of the required amount).
Synthesis of zeolite-based porous catalysts from coal gasification fine slag for steam reforming of toluene
2023, Energy
In this paper, three-dimensional porous zeolite-based composite materials were synthesized from coal gasification fine slag (CGFS) via a feasible and simple NaOH activation and hydrothermal crystallization method. The composite materials were evaluated as catalysts for the catalytic reforming of biomass tar using toluene as a model compound. The results indicate that the structure and activity of the obtained zeolite-based catalysts are significantly influenced by the mass ratio of NaOH to CGFS. At NaOH to CGFS mass ratio of 0.5, a unique three-dimensional cage-like porous structure mainly composed of NaAlSiO₄ and ZSM-11 can be formed, and iron ions inherited from CGFS were reduced into metallic Fe on the surface of the material. Based on the developed pore structure and high surface activity, [email protected] showed excellent catalytic performance on toluene reforming, leading to the production of H₂-rich fuel gas. The conversion rate of toluene was around 73% and remained excellent stability in 210 min continuous experiment at 800 °C, and the average yield for H₂ reached as high as 3900 μmol/min. The excellent catalytic performance of NaOH-GSP confirmed that it had great potential as a low-cost catalyst for biomass tar conversion and has broad application prospects in biomass gasification.
Worldwide carbon neutrality transition? Energy efficiency, renewable, carbon trading and advanced energy policies
2023, Energy Reviews
Climate change and energy shortage crisis promptly necessitate achievement of sustainable development goals. However, there is no straightforward pathways for low-carbon transformation on building sectors, and energy/carbon trading and reverse promotion on decarbonization strategies are not clear. In this study, a literature enumeration method with dialectical analysis was adopted for state-of-the-art literature review and comparison. Low-carbon transformation pathways in buildings were holistically reviewed, with a series of integrated techniques, such as energy saving, clean energy supply, flexible demand response for high self-consumption, and even smart electric vehicle (EV) integration. Afterwards, energy/carbon flows and trading in building-related systems were provided, such as peer-to-peer energy trading, building and thermal/power grids, building and energy-integrated EVs, and carbon trading in buildings. Last but not the least, worldwide decarbonization roadmaps across regions and countries are analysed, to identify the most critical aspects and immediate actions on decarbonization. Results indicate that tradeoff strategies are required to compromise the confliction between insufficient feed-in tariff (FiT) incentives (low renewable penetration in the market) and great economic pressures (high investment in renewable systems). Low-carbon building pathway is further enhanced with first priority given to passive/active energy-saving strategies, onsite clean energy supply and then flexible demand response. Energy/carbon trading will significantly affect renewable energy utilization, and acceptance from end-users to actively install renewable systems or participate in EV interactions. Worldwide decarbonization pathways mainly focus on industries, transportation, buildings, renewable sources, carbon sink and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). This study can contribute to technical roadmaps and strategies on carbon neutrality transition in both academia and industry, together with advanced policies in grid feed-in tariff, energy/carbon trading and business models worldwide.
Food waste valorisation via gasification – A review on emerging concepts, prospects and challenges
2022, Science of the Total Environment
Disposing of the enormous amounts of food waste (FW) produced worldwide remains a great challenge, promoting worldwide research on the utilization of FW for the generation of value-added products. Gasification is a significant approach for decomposing and converting organic waste materials into biochar, bio-oil, and syngas, which could be adapted for energy (hydrogen (H₂) and heat) generation and environmental (removal of pollutants and improving the soil quality) applications. Employment of FW matrices for syngas production through gasification is one of the effective methods of energy recovery. This review explains different gasification processes (catalytic and non-catalytic) used for the decomposition of unutilized food wastes and the effect of operating parameters on H₂-rich syngas generation. Also, potential applications of gasification byproducts such as biochar and bio-oil for effective valorization have been discussed. Besides, the scope of simulation to optimize the gasification conditions for the effective valorization of FW is elaborated, along with the current progress and challenges in the research to identify the feasibility of gasification technology for FW. Overall, this review concludes the sustainable route for conversion of unutilized food into hydrogen-enriched syngas production.

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text