Biomass Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle for heat and power at ethanol plants

• Published in: Energy conversion and management Vol. 50; no. 7; pp. 1682 - 1690
• Main Authors: De Kam, Matthew J., Vance Morey, R., Tiffany, Douglas G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-07-2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Biomass; Combined cycle; Combined heat and power; Combined power plants; Combustion; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Ethanol production; Exact sciences and technology; Gasification; Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy; Natural energy; Renewable; Sustainable; Renewable; Combined cycle; Ethanol production; Model; Gasification; Combustion; Biomass; Sustainable; Combined heat and power
• ISSN: 0196-8904; 1879-2227
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2009.03.031

Biomass Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (BIGCC) technology can be used to generate process heat and significant amounts of electricity at dry-grind ethanol facilities by utilizing the ethanol process co-products and other biomass sources. These systems can reduce fuel costs for ethanol plants, improve the renewable energy balance of dry-grind ethanol production, and provide reliable renewable electricity for process use and for sale to the local utility. An Aspen Plus model of the dry-grind ethanol process is used as the basis for a subsequent gasification system model. A twin fluidized bed steam gasification configuration based on the SilvaGas process is used to generate synthesis gas. The results show that a dry-grind ethanol facility with a capacity of 190 million liters per year could produce 30.4
MW
e of power while supplying all its process heat needs using ethanol co-products and corn cobs. This configuration results in a three fold improvement in the amount of renewable energy produced per unit of fossil energy used compared to a conventional ethanol production process using natural gas.