Simulation and Performance Analysis of Integrated Gasification-Syngas Fermentation Plant for Lignocellulosic Ethanol Production

This study presents a new simulation model developed with ASPEN Plus of waste biomass gasification integrated with syngas fermentation and product recovery units for bioethanol production from garden waste as a lignocellulosic biomass. The simulation model includes three modules: gasification, fermentation, and ethanol recovery. A parametric analysis is carried out to investigate the effect of gasification temperature (500-1500 degrees C) and equivalence ratio (0.2-0.6) on the gasification performance and bioethanol production yield. The results reveal that, for efficient gasification and high ethanol production, the operating temperature range should be 700-1000 degrees C, as well as an equivalence ratio between 0.2 and 0.4. At optimal operating conditions, the bioethanol production yield is 0.114 kg/h per 1 kg/h input garden waste with 50% moisture content. It is worth mentioning that this parameter increases to 0.217 kg(bioethanol)/kg(garden waste)under dry-based conditions.