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Assignment -2
Design of Twin-bed Flash
Pyrolysis process
Biomass is widely available and cheaper compared to fossil fuels. Moreover, it minimizes over
dependence on traditional electricity. Biomass is also responsible for reducing the amount of waste in
landfills and it can be used to create a diverse type of products [2].
Biomass conversion routes are usually classified into combustion, gasification and pyrolysis processes.
In combustion, biomass is burned under an excess of O2 to produce heat and electricity. In gasification,
biomass is transformed in the presence of lower fractions of O2 or steam, into a gas mixture consisting
mainly in H2 and CO, that must be further treated to meet the specifications depending on the
applications for the syngas produced. Some of the most common are heat generation for motors or
turbines operation, methane preparation, and production of biofuels through Fisher-Tropsch synthesis.
[3] Pyrolysis processes, consisting in the thermal decomposition of biomass occurring in the absence
of oxygen, are conducted under an inert atmosphere to produce solids (charcoal), liquids (bio-oils) or
high heating values gases and in a thermodynamic cycle to produce electricity [4]. The elementary steps
of biomass thermal degradation in pyrolysis processes give rise to several types of primary chemical
species that, depending on the operating conditions of the reactor, can derive in secondary reactions,
both homogeneous and heterogeneous. The type, velocity and characteristics of the reactions will be a
function of the biomass thermal decomposition chemistry, and of the external and internal heat and
mass transfers efficiencies inside the particles, influenced by the the residence time distributions of solid
and gas phases, and heat and mass transfer resistances at the gas-solid interface inside the reactor [3].
There are three different pyrolysis processes: slow pyrolysis, fast pyrolysis, and flash pyrolysis. Fast
pyrolysis produces the most bio-liquid of all three processes, and, therefore, is the most common
thermal process for converting biomass to bio-oil. Fast pyrolysis yields 70% bio-liquid, 15% bio-char,
and 15% bio-gas and is characterized by moderate temperatures of about 500°C and short residence
times of less than 2 seconds [5].
To ensure that fast pyrolysis occurs, there must be a very high heat flux to the biomass and a very short
biomass particle residence time. Because of this, a fluidized bed reactor is the best selection for these
conditions. Hot sand can be used as the heating agent.
In a fluidized bed reactor, the dried biomass particles are fed into the pyrolysis reactor together
with an excess flow of sand, acting as a circulating heat carrier material. The biomass and sand
are mixed within the pyrolysis reactor and converted into pyrolysis oil vapors, gas and char. The
resultant vapors and gasses pass through cyclones before entering the condenser, where they are
quenched by re-circulated oil. A cleaning procedure is needed for the pyrolysis gases recycled to
the fluidized bed and the remaining gases can be combusted to generate heat, or, depending on
the output values, electricity generation. [6].
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Figure 1 – Twin-Bed Flash Pyrolysis
The twin bed proposed for the develop of this report is considered to be of high commercial
potential for the thermal treatment of biomass and its transformation into mostly liquid
hydrocarbons as bio-oil, together with char and gas [7].
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CALCULATIONS
PYROLYSER
The inlet to the pyrolizer are biomass, sand and recycled gas. The composition of the recycle gas is
found out at 580°C. We must calculate the mass flow rate of sand in the pyrolizer by mass and energy
balances. The input biomass (10% moisture) contains 10 MW thermal energy. Using the LHV value[8],
we find the biomass flow rate as 0.655 kg/s.
We consider the fraction of biomass product from the pyrolizer is 70% biooil, 15% biochar and 15%
gas[9].
Heat needed = Heat Lost by Sand from 850 to 500 C + Heat Supplied by Recycle Gas
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The overall mass balance of the pyrolizer is given in the following table:
Inlet Mass Flow Rate (kg/s) Outlet Mass Flow Rate (kg/s)
Sand 1.994
Total 2.746
The pyrolizer is taken to be a Circulating Fluidised Bed (CFB). The sizing of the pyrolizer
requires the Archimedes number
Umf ∗ dp ∗ ρg
Remf = = (C12 + C2 ∗ Ar)0.5 − C1 = 1.096
μ
Where C1 and C2 are given the values 27.2 and 0.048. From this, the minimum fluidising
velocity was found to be 0.89 m/s. The drag coefficient of the particles is:
a1
CD = = 9.55
Reb1
Using the drag coefficient, we can find the free gas stream velocity as 6.67 m/s. The terminal
velocity is
Ar 0.666 μ
Ut = ( ) ∗ = 2.75 m/s
7.5 dp ∗ ρg
Assuming superficial velocity is twice the terminal velocity, it is calculated as 5.49 m/s. The
free stream gas velocity is given as:
0.5
μ 4 ∗ dp
U=( ∗ ) + Usuperficial = 6.66 m/s
dp ∗ ρg 3 ∗ CD
At terminal velocity we find the Reynolds number to be 33.95. Transport velocity is calculated
as 4.03 m/s. The difference between superficial velocity and transport velocity is calculated as
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V, which is 1.46 m/s. From the graph, we find flux and hence, the area and diameter of the
pyrolyzer which are 0.22 m2 and 0.532 m respectively. The length of the column is 7.26 m.
To calculate the residence time of the biomass particles inside the pyrolyzer, the reaction
kinetics of the biomass to biochar, biogas and char will be used, to ensure the time inside the
pyrolyzer will be enough for the reactions to take place.
An estimation can be performed proposing the amount of char across the complete pyrolysys
reaction to be constant, obtaining the equation(7):
𝑚𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟 1
𝑘 = 𝑘1 + 𝑘2 + 𝑘3 = 𝑘1 + 𝑘2 + ∗ (𝑘1 + 𝑘2) ∴ 𝑘2 = 2.438 ( ) ∴ 𝑘3
1 − 𝑚𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟 𝑠
1
= 0.313 ( )
𝑠
5
With the rate constants calculated, the overall compositions across the whole reaction can be
solved by a differential equation solver such as Matlab:
We see that at t=1.741s, the overall biomass conversion is >99.5%. Therefore, to have a
virtually complete combustion, the residence time in the reactor will be defined as 1.8
seconds.
COMBUSTOR
Char and sand from the cyclone separator enter the combustor operated at 850°C. The sand
particles are taken as group B Geldart particles. Air is used as the fluidising agent. We consider
the flue gases formed are CO2, O2, N2 and H2O.
The reaction taking place involving char and air in the combustor is as follows:
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C6.01 H1.5 O0.54 + 0.01 N2 + x( O2 + 3.76 N2 ) → a CO2 + b H2 O + (3.76x + 0.01)N2
Taking the char as our starting point, the mass balance is performed. We assume the
composition of wood char where at 0% moisture the ash content is 2.34 %.
On performing mass balance, we calculate the mass flow rates of each component entering and
leaving the combustor, which is tabulated below:
Component Amount Per kg of Total Mass Flow
Char (kg/s)
Air 15.247 1.455
CO2 3.204 0.306
H 2O 0.164 0.016
N2 11.703 1.117
O2 1.185 0.113
Since we are working with a bubbling fluidized bed combustor, the minimum fluid velocity at
which the bed just becomes fluidized will be obtained from the next equation where first the
outcome of the Reynolds number was obtained using the constants C1 and C2, which
correspond to 27.2 and 0.048 respectively.
Umf ∗ dp ∗ ρg
Remf = = (C12 + C2 ∗ Ar)0.5 − C1 = 5.14
μ
And for the Archimedes number calculation the follow equation was used:
From the Reynolds number at minimum fluidisation, the minimum fluidising velocity is
obtained to be 0.185 m/s. Since we have Group B particles, the minimum fluidising velocity is
same as the minimum bubbling velocity, which is also 0.185 m/s.
Now considering the value of the Reynolds Number, the terminal velocity of particles is taken
in the intermediate region (0.14<Re<500).
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Ar 0.666 μ
Ut = ( ) ∗ = 14.85 m/s
7.5 dp ∗ ρg
μ
Transport velocity Utr = 1.45 ∗ ∗ Ar 0.484 = 3.61 m/s
dp ∗ ρg
The superficial gas velocity (U) is assumed to be 4 times the minimum fluidising velocity.
Hence U = 0.74 m/s.
The inlet streams into the combustor are sand, char and air. The volumetric flow rate of the
inlet stream is calculated to be 1.18 m3/s. On dividing by superficial velocity, we find the area
of the combustor as 1.61 m2 and hence, the diameter is 1.43 m.
To calculate the transport disengaging height (TDH), we require the value of the equivalent
volume diameter (db). It is calculated from several other parameters like minimum bubble size
and initial bubble size and is found to be 0.433m.
1
TDH = 4.47 ∗ d2b = 2.94 m
We also know that the bed height (Hb) of the column is a product of residence time and
superficial gas velocity. The bed height is found to be 1.48 m.
Therefore, the height and diameter of the combustor are calculated to be 4.42 m and 1.43m
respectively.
CYCLONE SEPARATOR
The cyclone separator separates the bio-oil and biogas from the sand and char particles. The
outlet components of the pyrolizer pass through the separator. The sand and char are sent to
the combustor for generating the flue gas and sand recirculation. The bio-oil and biogas are
further cleaned and cooled for commercial use.
QUENCH COOLER
The cooler reduces the temperature of the fluid components from 8000C to 1500C. The bio-oil
is collected separately. Furthermore bio-oil is obtained from the electrostatic precipitator.
ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR
The fluid mixture is further purified and the bio-oil and biogas are completely separated. A
part of the biogas is used as fluidising gas for the pyrolyser It is operated at 1500C [12].
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Recycled gas is passed through the heat exchanger to increase its temperature from 1500C to
5800C before entering the pyrolizer.
SANKEY DIAGRAM
MASS BALANCE
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ENERGY BALANCE
CONCLUSION
From the given 10MW thermal input of biomass (pruning wood with 10% moisture), we were able to
successfully design a twin bed pyrolysis reactor scheme which yields the required amount of bio-oil
and biogas.
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APPENDIX 1 – MASS AND ENERGY BALANCES
PYROLYSER
Inlet biomass contains 10% moisture. LHV of biomass at 10% moisture is 15.27 MJ/kg.
10 MW
Therefore, mass of biomass = = 0.655 kg/s
LHV
We assume the biomass has 70% biooil, 15% biochar and 15% gases.
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Cp biomass 1.37 kJ/kg.K
Qneeded = 0.589 ∗ (773 − 293) ∗ 1.37 + 0.0655 ∗ 2260 + 0.0655 ∗ 2.1 ∗ (773 − 293)
= 0.602 MJ/s
The composition of the recycle/fluidising gas is found and accordingly we calculate its Cp
Heat needed = Heat Lost by Sand from 850 to 500 C + Heat Supplied by Recycle Gas
Qneeded − QRG
msand = = 1.994 kg/s
Cpsand ∗ ΔT
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COMBUSTOR
Subsequently, from the reaction equations and the stoichiometry, we calculate the amount of
air required and the components of the flue gas obtained upon combustion.
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The stoichiometric coefficients are calculated by balancing the equation
C 6.01 C a
H 1.5 H 2b
O 0.54+2*x O 2a+b
N 0.02+3.76*2*x N 0.02+3.76*2*x
a 6.01
b 0.75
kg
Amount of ash = 0.098 ∗ 0.0026 = 0.002548
s
Using the reaction equations, the number of components of the flue gas and air required are
calculated.
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CYCLONE SEPARATOR
The cyclone separator is used to separate the fluid components (biogas and bio-oil) from the
solid particles (sand and char).
This setup separates the bio-oil and biogas from the fluid phase
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APPENDIX 2 – SIZING
PYROLYSER
Since the recycle gas is used as the fluidising medium, we consider the properties of the recycle
gas. The viscosity and density of the gas is found similar to the method used for the Cp.
Archimedes Number:
= 1491.26
Umf ∗ dp ∗ ρg
Remf = = (C12 + C2 ∗ Ar)0.5 − C1
μ
a1
CD = = 9.55
Reb1
0.5
μ 4 ∗ dp
U=( ∗ ) + Usuperficial = 6.66 m/s
dp ∗ ρg 3 ∗ CD
Terminal Velocity:
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Transport Velocity:
μ 0.484
3.41 ∗ 10−5
Utr = 1.45 ∗ ∗ Ar = 1.45 ∗ ∗ 1491.260.484
dp ∗ ρg 0.00041 ∗ 1.027
= 4.03 m/s
G = 11.9 kg/m2 s
Therefore,
4 ∗ A 0.5
Diameter of Pyrolyser = ( ) = 0.532 m
3.14
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COMBUSTOR
For the sizing calculations, sand particles are considered to be Group B Geldart particles with
particle size 0.41 mm[12], sphericity 0.75 and density 2500 kg/m3. Using this, we can calculate
the necessary parameters required to calculate the dimensions of the combustor.
Umf ∗ dp ∗ ρg
Remf = = (C12 + C2 ∗ Ar)0.5 − C1
μ
Archimedes number,
For a bubbling fluidised bed, the minimum fluidising velocity is same as he minimum bubbling
velocity.
The Reynolds Number lies in the range 0.4<Re<500. Hence we can find the terminal velocity
from this regime.
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μ
Transport velocity Utr = 1.45 ∗ ∗ Ar 0.484
dp ∗ ρg
1.802 ∗ 10−5
= 1.45 ∗ ∗ 6373.450.484 = 3.61 m/s
0.41 ∗ 10−3 ∗ 1.225
The inlet streams are sand, char and air. The overall volumetric flow rate of the inlet
components is calculated by dividing the mass flow rate of each component by the
corresponding densities.
4 ∗ 1.612 0.5
Diameter = ( ) = 1.433 m
π
To calculate Transport Disengaging height, we require the equivalent volume diameter (db):
(−0.3 ∗ Z)
db = dbm − [(dbm − db0 ) ∗ exp ( )]
D
π 0.4
dbm = 0.65 ∗ [ ∗ D2 ∗ (U − Umf )]
4
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π 0.4
dbm = 0.65 ∗ [ ∗ 1.4332 ∗ (0.74 − 0.185)] = 0.62 m
4
2.78 ∗ (U − Umf )2
db0 =
g
(−0.3 ∗ 1.48)
db = 0.62 − [(0.62 − 0.086) ∗ exp ( )] = 0.433 m
1.433
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REFERENCES
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bioenergy_final_11.pdf
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Biomass and Waste, Bridgwater, A.V. (ed.), CPL Press, Newbury, 1-18 (2003).
[4] https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7813-7_984
[5] Bridgewater, A. V., Meier, D., and Radlein, D., 1999, “An Overview of Fast Pyrolysis
of Biomass”, Organic Geochemistry, 30.
[6] Rasul, M., Jahirul, M., Recent Developments in Biomass Pyrolysis for Bio-Fuel
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Centre for Plant and Water Science, Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Health.
Rockhampton, Queensland 4702, Australia. ISBN: 978-1-61804-110-4
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Engineering (ECCE-6) Copenhagen, 16-20 September 2007
[8] https://phyllis.nl/Browse/Standard/ECN-Phyllis#pruning%20wood
[9] Energy from Biomass provided Academic Material for Second Quarter 2018-2019.
University of Twente.
[10] https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01113107/document
[11] Basu, P. Combustion and Gasification in Fluidized Beds. Taylor & Francis. 2006
[12] Wanwisa R., Phattharanid T., Sasithorn S., Pornpote P., Benjapon C.
Computation of Biomass Combustion Characteristic and Kinetic Parameters by using
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DOI:10.4186/ej.2015.19.2.41
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