Testing the gasification efficiency of hazelnut shells
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I was informed about the BRISK project by Professor Hayati Olgun of Ege University, and felt the need to look for an institute where I could perform gasification of waste biomass which would coincide with the tasks in an on-going project that I was involved in. I finally decided to go to the Italian national agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development (ENEA) through the BRISK Transnational Access programme. The aim was to test the gasification efficiency of hazelnut shells in a fixed bed (updraft) gasifier and obtain a hydrogen rich gas which could be used as a potential feedstock for Fischer-Tropsch processes and fuel cell. The reason we chose hazelnut shells is due to the fact that Turkey produces 625,000 tonnes of hazelnuts every year, accounting for approximately 75% of worldwide production which in turn yields high amounts of lignocellulosic bio- waste. Indeed, the woody shell constitutes approximately 55% of the nut weight and is currently used as a feedstock in low efficient burners. When I reached the facility in May 2015, I was introduced to the working principles of various processes by Dr. Francesco Zimbardi and the experimental set-ups were prepared in advance by the experienced team at the institute. Investigations of the updraft biomass gasification process were performed at two facilities that run together at the ENEA Trisaia Research Centre; PRAGA and HENRY. Continued on next page Melih Soner Çeliktaş of the Ege University Solar Energy Institute in Izmir, Turkey reflects back on his visit to BRISK partner ENEA in Italy. ENEA is the Italian national agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development. 1 Testing the gasification efficiency of hazelnut shells CASE STUDY Biofuels Research Infrastructure for Sharing Knowledge Figure 1: Updraft fixed bed gasifier control room. Figure 2: Gasification material (hazelnut).
Transcript of Testing the gasification efficiency of hazelnut shells
I was informed about the BRISK project by Professor Hayati Olgun of Ege University, and felt the need to look for an institute where I could perform gasification of waste biomass which would coincide with the tasks in an on-going project that I was involved in. I finally decided to go to the Italian national agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development (ENEA) through the BRISK Transnational Access programme. The aim was to test the gasification efficiency of hazelnut shells in a fixed bed (updraft) gasifier and obtain a hydrogen rich gas which could be used as a potential feedstock for Fischer-Tropsch processes and fuel cell. The reason we chose hazelnut shells is due to the fact that Turkey produces 625,000 tonnes of hazelnuts every year, accounting for approximately 75% of worldwide production which in turn yields high amounts of lignocellulosic bio-waste. Indeed, the woody shell constitutes approximately 55% of the nut weight and is currently used as a feedstock in low efficient burners. When I reached the facility in May 2015, I was introduced to the working principles of various processes by Dr. Francesco Zimbardi and the experimental set-ups were prepared in advance by the experienced team at the institute. Investigations of the updraft biomass gasification process were performed at two facilities that run together at the ENEA Trisaia Research Centre; PRAGA and HENRY.
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Melih Soner Çeliktaş of the Ege University Solar Energy Institute in Izmir, Turkey reflects back on his visit to BRISK partner ENEA in Italy. ENEA is the Italian national agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development.
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Testing the gasification efficiency of hazelnut shells
CASE STUDY
Biofuels Research Infrastructure
for Sharing Knowledge
Figure 1: Updraft fixed bed gasifier control room.
Figure 2: Gasification material (hazelnut).
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The PRAGA plant worked on the updraft gasification principle with a capacity of 150 kWth, whereas HENRY was the hydrogen enrichment section, capable of converting up to 20 Nm3/h of the produced gas to hydrogen rich gas. During the experimental trials, Dr. Nadia Cerone provided tremendous support and we have evaluated the influence of the air/steam-fuel ratio variation on the optimal temperature in the main reaction zones and product quality, the load on the capacity of the gasifier, the pressure drop across the bed, along with the composition of the gaseous products, quantity and quality of tars and ash as main process parameters. At the end of the visit, the ENEA team and I discussed the results obtained while enjoying the Turkish figs and Italian coffee. As for the outcomes of this visit - the established scientific and personal contacts will help us to develop bilateral projects and mobility in the near future. We have already started to work on our results in order to prepare a publication in a Science Citation Index (SCI) journal. Finally, I would like to convey my special thanks to the coordinators of the BRISK Transnational Access project (KTH in Sweden), and the friendly ENEA research team who were highly professional and helpful at all times.
www.briskeu.com
Testing the gasification efficiency of hazelnut shells...continued
CASE STUDY
Biofuels Research Infrastructure
for Sharing Knowledge
Figure 3: Monitoring of gasification.
Contact Francesco Zimbardi E: [email protected] W: www.enea.it
Figure 4: Running an experiment on the updraft fixed bed gasifier.
Figure 5: The gasification team.
