Comparative Techno-Economic and Exergetic Analysis of Circulating and Dual Bed Biomass Gasification Systems

In this work, the techno-economic and exergy analyses of two gasification technologies with integration into heat and power combined cycles are presented: i). Circulating fluidized bed (CFB) and ii). Dual fluidized bed (DFB) systems. As feedstock, lignocellulosic biomass (sugarcane bagasse, SCB) was considered. The gasification process of the fluidized-bed systems (circulating and dual bed) and the syngas conversion were performed using Aspen Plus((R)) software. The process design includes biomass drying and gasification, syngas cleaning, combustion, power generation, and heat recovery. The SCB-DFB system has the lowest irreversibility rate and, as a result, the highest overall performance and power generation (achieving 32% in the gasification system and 53% of exergy efficiency when coupled with the combined cycle). From the techno-economic assessment, the SCB-DFB system has the lowest total production costs per unit of energy. Hence, the dual fluidized bed systems could be a more competitive technology for the agro-industrial sector to generate power from lignocellulosic materials.

Automated summary

This study presents a comparative analysis of two gasification technologies, circulating fluidized bed (CFB) and dual fluidized bed (DFB) systems, in terms of techno-economic and exergy analyses when using lignocellulosic biomass (sugarcane bagasse) as feedstock. The results show that the SCB-DFB system has the lowest irreversibility rate, highest overall performance, and power generation efficiency, making it a more cost-effective option for power generation from lignocellulosic materials in the agro-industrial sector.