17^th World Congress on Biofuels and Bioenergy April 03-04, 2023 Barcelona, Spain

Biography:

Paulo Brito has a degree in Chemical Engineering (IST, Portugal), an MSc in Corrosion Science and Engineering (UMIST, UK), an MBA (INDEGISCTE) and a PhD in Chemical Engineering focused on Electrochemistry (IST, Portugal). He is a Coordinating Professor with Tenure and Aggregation at IPPortalegre’s Technology and Management School (ESTG) and coordinates VALORIZA (Research Center for Endogenous Resource Valorization). His main research interests are related with bioenergy, waste management and thermochemical valorization, materials’ corrosion, galvanic energy production and production of renewable gases (hydrogen and methane) from thermochemical processes. He has published more than 200 works in papers, books and proceedings.

Abstract:

The Alentejo region (Portugal) is known for its agricultural production. This intensive production is associated with high waste generation, making biomass wastes an attractive option as feedstock for energy production. Gasification is one of the most significant technologies in biomass conversion. It is a process that takes place at high temperatures (700-1200°C), having as a main product a combustible gas called syngas. Syngas (which is largely composed by CO, H₂, CO₂, CH₄, etc.) can be used in diesel engines. When the diesel engine is not modified, syngas can be used during the engine’s ignition phase. On the other hand, the engine can be converted into DDF (Diesel Dual Fuel) [Figure 1] mode and syngas can either be used together with diesel fuel or as a substitute. The SynDiesel project intends to analyze and determine the techno-economic feasibility of using biomass wastes, particularly those of agricultural and agro-industrial origin, for syngas production and syngas use in DDF engines. The results obtained so far, indicate that Alentejo’s most promising biomass waste samples in terms of quantity and chemical characterization are olive tree prunings, common wheat, durum wheat, barley, oats, triticale, fava beans and lupine. To produce syngas, gasification operating conditions are being optimized in a range of 600–700°C. As of now, typical cold gas efficiency for the studied biomass waste samples were in the range of 62–74%, giving good prospects on syngas quality (20% CO, 17% H₂). Before using the syngas in the DDF engine, syngas cleaning procedures will be studied and implemented to comply with emission regulation, particularly 50 mg/Nm³ in the case of particles and 100 mg/Nm³ for tars. Overall, this project will increase participation of agro-industrial biomass in the energy mix, namely mobility and electric energy. Moreover, these technologies will undoubtedly contribute to the decarbonization process, since using a part of agricultural waste can achieve reductions up to 35% in diesel consumption of agricultural machines.

Biography:

Damien Dussol has been passionate about energies since his Master in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in 2016. That led him naturally to the French Institute of Petroleum and New Energies where he obtained his PhD with a thesis related to the transformation of ethanol into butadiene, a key compound of the Oil & Gas industry, traditionally produced from petroleum. After a postdoc studying the Haber-Bosch process in a BASF daughter company, he started to work as a chemistry specialist at Sakowin Green Energy, France, a pioneer of the energy transition.

Abstract:

At present our society is facing two related challenges: depletion of hydrocarbon fuel resources and the worrying prospects of global climate change associated with enormous volumes of fossil-derived CO₂ emissions. Currently the global predominant energy sources are fossil-based, i.e. coal, oil, natural gas and their usage results in the release of Ì´32 billion metric tons of CO₂/year in the atmosphere. As such, the development of new alternative ways to produce and store energy as well as new industrial technologies must be based on environmentally responsible solutions. One of the best options to produce carbon-free energy is the decarbonization of fuel energy. In this perspective, it is expected that hydrogen (H₂) will play an important role in the world’s future. Hydrogen, one of the most abundant elements on Earth, has the potential to dramatically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. A potential source of H₂ is biomethane also known as ‘renewable natural gas’, a gas with high potential of reducing the release of greenhouse gases. Biomethane can be decomposed into H₂ and solid carbon. Microwave sustained plasma appears to be an excellent candidate for the activation of the thermodynamically stable methane molecule, as it is an excellent power transfer medium (electrons to molecules) and is compatible with sustainable electricity. This work concerns the characterization of methane discharges in a 2.45 GHz microwave reactor sustained at atmospheric pressure for the development of an efficient source for H₂ production. The experimental protocol takes into consideration various gas mixture constituents and operating conditions, e.g., flow rate, microwave input power, as to optimize the decomposition of methane molecule into H₂ and solid carbon. The economics of microwave-assisted plasma methane decomposition as a hydrogen source are evaluated.

Biography:

Catarina Nobre is an auxiliary researcher at VALORIZA@IPPortalegre. She has a degree in Biochemistry (FCT-UAlg), an MSc in Energy and Bioenergy (FCT-NOVA) and a PhD in Energy and Bioenergy (FCT-NOVA). Her main research interest’s focus on thermochemical conversion processes applied to lignocellulosic biomass waste, municipal solid waste and waste-derived fuels, production of liquid biofuels and more recently, in the production of renewable gases (hydrogen and biomethane). As a result of her research activities, she has contributed to about 60 publications, including scientific articles, book chapters, conference papers, theses, abstracts and posters.

Abstract:

The “Montado” ecosystem is composed mainly by Quercus species. It’s wastes, e.g. acorn wastes are mostly used for animal feed or left behind in the fields. In Portugal, 55% of these wastes (especially in the North and Alentejo regions) do not have any type of valorization. Due to their physical-chemical composition and relative abundance (average annual production of 400,000 t/y) acorn wastes, are a very interesting feedstock to use in energy recovery technologies, particularly thermal conversion processes aiming at producing renewable gases (e.g., syngas, hydrogen or biomethane).

The present study aimed to investigate the gasification potential of “Montado” wastes, such as lignocellulosic materials and acorn wastes. Firstly, all of the feedstock was cleaned in a mechanical process using sieves and dried in a rotary dryer. These processes made it possible to separate the crumb from the by-products (acorn husks, lignocellulosic components, and leaves) through their density. The drying process reduced 25 wt.% moisture content from the feedstock. Feedstocks were then characterized (ultimate and thermogravimetric analysis) and subjected to gasification tests (600, 650 and 700 °C) to understand the influence of temperature on syngas quality, namely in H2 production potential. The results showed that increasing temperature increases the syngas heating value from 5.2 to 5.6 MJ/m3. The H2 concentration also increased from 15.5 to 17.6 vol.%. The highest cold gas efficiency (CGE) was obtained at the highest testing temperature with a value of around 70 %. Overall, these tests indicate that “Montado” wastes can be used as feedstock in gasification, yielding good quality syngas, with potential to further clean and purify for H2 production. Further testing varying other operational parameters (e.g, feeding rate, ER) is still needed to validate this approach, as well as a techno-economic assessment to study the feasibility of these wastes in syngas and renewable gases production.