Simulation of Gasification of Livestock Manure with Aspen Plus

Abstract

Gasification is a flexible technology where all types of organic waste including biomass from manure can be used as feed to the reactor. The recovery of energy from solid waste offers several benefits including substantial reduction in the total quantity of waste and reduction in environmental pollution. In the gasification process carbonaceous feedstock is fluidized with steam, air or oxygen to at temperature about 800-900°C. The most suitable application of the product gas from the reactor is dependent on the quality and composition of the gas. The producer gas can be used in gas engines or turbines to produce electricity or it can be used in production of liquid fuel for transport. In this study, livestock manure is analyzed regarding moisture and ash content and heating values. Bomb Calorimeter is used to measure heating values, moister dryer to measure the water content and muffle furnace for determination of ash content. Different types of manure have been tested and a few are considered as possible feedstock to a gasification reactor. Gasification of manure is simulated using the data obtained from the analysis. The simulations are performed using the process simulation software Aspen Plus. Reaction equations and kinetics found in literature are included in the Aspen Plus simulations. The focus has been to study the heating values and fractions of the different components in the product gas. The results are discussed and different modifications of the process parameters in the simulations are considered.