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A fuel gas from rice husk gasification "a producer gas" has a good potential as a compressed producer gas (CPG) fuel. However, cleaning of the producer gas has to be performed to reduce tar content before compressing into cylinder. The present work aims to investigate performance of spray scrubber on tar removal and energy density of CPG from rice husk gasification. The performance of the scrubber is evaluated at different adsorbent and spray pressure. The adsorbents used are water and waste of cooking oil under spray pressure of 2, 4, 6, and 8 bar. The data taken during the experimental work are producer gas and adsorbent temperatures, gas composition, and gravimetric tar. The data are used to analyze performance of the scrubber in terms of tar removal and cooling effectiveness, and energy density of CPG. The results show that water spray scrubber has higher effectiveness than waste of palm oil scrubber. Pressure of the spray also impacts scrubber's performance in reducing tar content. Scrubber's effectiveness improves as stepping up spray pressure. At spray pressure of 6 bar for water scrubber and 8 bar for waste of cooking oil scrubber, the gravimetric tar was 83.33 mg/Nm3 and 83 mg/Nm3 which are suitable for vehicular fuel. The highest tar removal effectiveness of the scrubber is found at spray pressure of 8 bar which are 0.94 and 0.75 for water spray scrubber and waste palm oil scrubber. The highest energy density of the CPG of 2.57 MJ/Nm3 is obtained at water spray pressure of 6 bar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current article concentrates on the preparation of methyl ester blends from both karanja and mahua oil as well as generation of producer gas via. waste coconut shell through gasification technique, followed by its implementation into a diesel engine in order to evaluate its emission parameters when utilized in conjunction with standard diesel. Tests have been carried out with different engine workloads alongside a uniform gas flow rate on a kirloskar TV1, 1-cylinder, 4-stroke, direct injection diesel engine, both for diesel and dual fuel operational categories. Considering diesel mode and dual fuel modes that utilize gaseous fuels, a comparison of exhaust emissions across different horsepower levels are demonstrated. The aim of the current investigation is to mitigate harmful emissions, for which waste coconut shell could be utilized effectively as that of gaseous fuel for turbocharged direct injection diesel engine. The test results depicted improved engine emissions for dual fuel mode in contrast to single fuel mode of operation operated in natural aspirated mode. Results depicted diminished nitric oxide (72.86%↓) and smoke opacity (35.14%↓) with slight increment in carbon monoxide (7.26%↑); carbon dioxide (3.52%↑) and unburnt hydrocarbon (6.96%↑) emissions at all loads for the prepared blends. Hence, authors finally concluded that non-edible oil methyl ester blended diesel with inducted gaseous fuel (KB20+P.gas) and (MB20+P.gas) can be considered as a suitable approach for partial substitution of conventional diesel in modern engines with little or no modifications, thereby ensuring environmental security and sustainable energy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paddy parboiling in rice industries is an energy-intensive process that requires huge attention for energy conservation, fuel economy, and sustainability. Thus, several research initiatives have been undertaken to adopt a suitable energy conversion system in such industries to improve thermal efficiency and reduce environmental impact. In this study, exergy performance and exergy-based sustainability indicators have been investigated on a reversible bed paddy dryer coupled with a rice husk-fuelled downdraft gasifier. The experiment was conducted at the optimum operating conditions such as an equivalence ratio of 0.2 in the gasifier and a drying air temperature of 80℃ in the dryer. The exergy efficiency of the reversible bed dryer and the gasifier were 65.53% and 70.92% respectively. The lowest exergy efficiency of 35.29% was seen in the combustion chamber since a huge exergy destruction of 2.75 kW occurred. Therefore, the combustion chamber has a high potential improvement of about 1.66 kW. Due to less exergy destruction, the gas cooler and air duct showed high exergy efficiency of 62.36% and 76.2% respectively and the lowest values in exergy-based sustainability indicators. The assessment of environmental and sustainability factors on each component showed that the combustion chamber has a high waste exergy ratio of 0.688, environment effect factor of 1.95, exergy destruction coefficient of 0.69, and exergy sustainability index of 0.51. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of waste biomass-derived producer gas in dual-fuel engines has attracted a lot of interest as a sustainable energy option that encourages waste reduction as well as cleaner energy production. This research proposed a glass-box modeling strategy that combined the robust Huber and Tweedie regression approaches with SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) analysis to estimate the performance and emissions of the test engine. The research demonstrated robustness over heteroscedasticity by using Huber and Tweedie regression methods, which are critical factors in real-world engine functioning. The Huber method consistently outscored both the LR and Tweedie-based prediction models in a comparison of prediction techniques for various parameters. Huber obtained remarkably high R2 values as 0.941 to 0.984, in addition to quite low root mean squared error. SHAP analysis helped in revealing the degree and direction of individual features' effect on the model. The engine load was observed to be having the most profound effect on the final model output. This study contributed to the development of waste biomass utilization in dual-fuel engines by providing a reliable prognostic tool for developing and running such systems in sustainable practices. [Display omitted] • Using waste biomass-derived producer gas for diesel engines improves sustainability. • ML with SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) enhances prediction interpretability. • LR and Tweedie-based models reach high R-squared values and low RMSE. • SHAP pinpoints engine load as the key factor influencing the output power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper briefly elaborates upon the combination of waste palm and waste sunflower oil methyl ester as post-mixed biodiesel blends being injected into a four-stroke compression ignition engine, which is also fueled with inducted bamboo leaf generated producer gas (BLP.gas) that includes gaseous components of CO (carbon monoxide), H 2 (hydrogen), CH 4 (methane), and C x H y (hydrocarbons). The objective of the present research is to evaluate the overall performance, emission, and combustion behavior of a Kirloskar TAF1 modified dual-fuel diesel engine fueled with induced bamboo leaf-derived gaseous fuel at a fixed mass flow rate of 21.69 kg/h and injected mixed biodiesel-diesel blends. Initially, diesel fuel and post-mixed methyl ester were examined in dual-fuel mode with a fixed gas flow rate for different loads. It can be seen from the analysis that brake thermal efficiency got reduced by 4.66% and brake-specific fuel consumption increased by 5.26% for PMOME20 (20% post-mixed oil methyl ester + 80% diesel fuel) + BLP. gas with respect to diesel fuel at extreme loading conditions. Moreover, smoke opacity, carbon monoxide, and unburnt hydrocarbons were reduced by 11.22%, 20.44%, and 10.36%, respectively. On the other hand, oxides of nitrogen were reduced by 19.17% at maximum load for PMOME20 + BLP. gas in dual-fuel operation in contrast to that of petroleum diesel. In light of this, the current research concluded that the use of biodiesel and BLP. gas for dual-operative engines may be regarded as an appropriate option for reducing pollutant environment and petroleum fuel scarcity. • Influence of mixed biodiesel blends with induced bamboo leaf gaseous fuel were investigated. • NOx and smoke opacity showed trade-off curve of 19.11% and 11.22% lower emission for PMOME20+BLP.gas than diesel. • CO 2 emission for PMOME20+BLP.gas was 38.77% higher than diesel at peak load. • PMOME20+BLP.gas at peak load increased In-CP by 6.15% in contrast to diesel. • HRR and ID for PMOME20+BLP.gas decreased by 72.29% and 9.06% in contrast to diesel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of a CO2 reactive medium and of a volume in the range 200–600 mL on the yield of basic components (CO, CO2, H2, and CH4) of a producer gas in microwave heating of biomass has been investigated. The dependences of the moderate and maximum concentrations of the gases on the volume of carbon dioxide fed to the chamber of a microwave reactor have been determined. Trends of variation in the concentrations of the enumerated gases with time have been obtained. Times of the onset of release of the concentrations of the gas components and their duration with variation of the CO2 volume fed to the chamber have been established. The influence of the feed of reactive gases on the mass of the char has been investigated. It has been shown that the injection of CO2 into the reactor chamber exerts a positive influence on the intensification of microwave pyrolysis of the biomass, with the result that the yield of volatiles of the formed gas mixture rises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with an eddy dissipation concept model (EDC) and a skeletal reaction mechanism (SK17) to analyze the impact of hydrogen addition on the premixed combustion mode of producer gas (PG) fuel in a cyclonic flow combustion chamber. The results, validated against measured wall temperature data, demonstrate a minor discrepancy between simulation and experiment. The studied result showed that injection of hydrogen into PG fuel combustion elevates the temperature of the combustion process, which can be indicated by the average temperature across the combustion chamber, outlet temperature of exhaust gas, and reactive radical species. However, increasing H2 injection over 20% results in strongly increasing CO formations. Compared to a fixed thermal input case, hydrogen injection with a variable input power resulted in a higher combustion temperature and increased emissions of both CO and NO. The maximum CO emission reached approximately 1246 ppm, while NO peaked at around 75 ppm, both observed at a 30% hydrogen injection rate. The key finding of this study revealed that direct injection of hydrogen to the combustion under the condition of a given equivalence ratio is unfavorable due to insufficient oxygen for the reaction, leading to an increase in CO emissions. The optimal condition would be a hydrogen injection below 20%, which produces low CO and NO emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic waste (PW) poses risks to human health and the environment, but it is now being viewed as a potential energy resource through waste-to-energy conversion, particularly using the efficient gasification technology. This technology can replace traditional fossil fuels by generating power. However, gasifying only plastic faces challenges like agglomeration and the production of toxic components. Co-gasification is a solution that provides benefits such as improved yield, cold gas efficiency, consistent feedstock supply, and cost-effective production. To expedite technology adoption, an efficient and cost-effective system with optimal parametric performance is required. Because, different types of feed stock, gasification technology, and operation condition significantly trades off the quality of producer gas. So far, several studies have been performed into gasification of individual PW, but few reports on co-gasification of PW with coal-biomass. Therefore, it must be reviewed the pros and cons of co-gasification in order to use producer gas as a fuel with very promising solution of waste to energy conversion. Hence, this review aims to attend PW co-gasification with coal and biomass and the consequence of these feedstock proportions on gasification performance. Specially, this review summarizes the effects of several operating parameters: gasifying agents, feed material like PW, coal, biomass, and their blending fraction on the producer gas composition. Moreover, it explores the impact on co-gasification performance, like carbon conversion, cold gas efficiency, gas yield, tar content, and calorific value. Thus, this review will provide altogether co-gasification parametric study as a prerequisite for further technology improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the present research is to use the standard turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent dissipation (k-e) model to do a numerical modelling and simulation of the gasification chamber or reactor which was used to gasifier Lafia-Obi bituminous coal. The numerical modelling and simulation were implemented with the aid of AutoCAD and Ansys softwares. The gasifier/reactor geometry was modelled using AutoCAD and then imported to Ansys workbench for simulation. Results show the modelled reactor geometry comprising a height of 0.9m, diameter of 0.5m and volume of 0.177m3. Simulation results show mass fraction of producer gas components comprising of 16% carbon monoxide, 14% hydrogen, 2.7% methane and 18% carbon dioxide. The producer gas yield is in conformity with standard producer gas yield. Temperature profile around the modelled gasifier/reactor was displayed with a maximum of 960K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lignocellulosic biomass is a clean and renewable energy source due to its abundance, wide distribution, and CO2 neutrality. Biomass gasification technology can convert the biomass into producer gas which can be used as clean fuels in boiler or engine for heating and electricity supply. It is of great important to achieve the goal of “carbon neutrality” and “emission peak” in China. However, the lignocellulosic biomass has the major drawback of high content of water, high content of oxygen element, and low heating value, resulting in a lower gasification efficiency and higher content of tar. Torrefaction pretreatment can effectively upgrade biomass into high-grade fuels with a lower content of oxygen element and higher energy density. First, the torrefaction pretreatment was employed to improve the quality of maize straw at different torrefaction temperatures (200, 220, 240, 260, 280 and 300 ℃). The properties of the raw and torrefied maize straw was analyzed by the ultimate analysis, proximate analysis, X-Ray diffractometer, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, and thermo gravimetric analyzer. Then, the torrefied maize straw was gasified in a home-made small-scale fixed-bed gasification reactor. The effect of torrefaction temperature on the properties of gasified products (producer gas, char, and tar) was investigated. Results showed that the contents of oxygen element and volatiles gradually decreased with the increase of torrefaction temperature from 200 to 300 ℃, while the contents of carbon element and fixed carbon increased, resulting in an increase of the calorific value from 17.26 MJ/kg to 25.50 MJ/kg. With the increase of torrefaction temperature, the mass yield of producer gas decreased, while the H2 content in producer gas increased from 13.85% to 22.56%. The highest lower-heating-value (LHV) of producer gas was 9.36 MJ/Nm3, achieving at the torrefaction temperature of 220 ℃. Higher torrefaction temperature resulted in a higher mass yield of bio-char. In addition, the contents of carbon element and fixed carbon increased with the increase of torrefaction temperature, while the volatile fraction and ash decreased, and the calorific value increased from 22.74 MJ/kg to 24.52 MJ/kg. Higher torrefaction temperature resulted in a lower mass yield of tar. The tar was mainly composed of aromatics, phenols, and aliphatic hydrocarbons, among which the relative content of aromatics and phenols is much higher than that of aliphatic hydrocarbons. With the increase in torrefaction temperature, the content of aromatics first increased, and then decreased, while the content of phenols first decreased and then increased. Therefore, the torrefaction pretreatment is a well-established approach to improve the quality of biomass by removing oxygen element. In addition, the gasification performance of biomass is also improved after torrefaction pretreatment, resulting in an increase of the LHV of producer gas and the reduction of the yield of tar.

Purpose. The research purpose is to determine the efficiency parameter of the coal gasification process based on the analysis of the composition of combustible gases (Н2, СН4, СО) and the producer gas calorific value, depending on the methods of supplying the blast mixtures to the gasifier oxidative zone. Methodology. A laboratory setup is used to perform experimental research into underground coal seam gasification. Its constituent segments are a stand, branches for supplying blast and gas-outlet mixtures, as well as a flow control system. This setup makes it possible to model the coal seam occurrence according to the mining-geological conditions of its occurrence. When determining the gasification process efficiency, two methods of supplying the blast mixture are tested: through a blast injection well and combined method (blast injection well + controlled pipeline). The generated producer gas calorific value has been determined analytically according to the “additivity rule”, taking into account the concentration of each combustible gas and its calorific value. Findings. The underground gasifier efficiency when changing the method of supplying the air mixture has been substantiated. Based on qualitative data on the concentration of combustible gasifier gases at the outlet of a modeled underground gasifier, conditions for increasing their concentration have been characterized and time intervals have been determined, through which their decrease occurs with increasing outgassed space. Originality. It has been revealed that the use of combined blast method in an underground gasifier causes a double supply of oxidizing agent to the gasification zone. This intensifies the gasification process by expanding the gasification reaction zones both along the length of the gasification column and along the seam thickness. Also, the combined method of supplying the blast mixture is characterized by improved thermal stability and gas formation parameters. Practical value. The research results make it possible to quickly make technological decisions for changing the operating modes of the underground gasifier, as well as determine the optimal method for supplying air mixtures, which improves the quality and calorific value of the producer gas. When changing the blast supply method to a combined method, the average concentration of Н2, СН4 and СО combustible gases increases by 3.85 %, and the calorific value increases by an average of 0.53 MJ/m3 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass conversion using air gasification suffers from the high N 2 gas dilution. Using steam as gasifying agent eliminates this issue, but heat must be supplied efficiently using external sources. This study investigated biomass steam gasification in a new annular reactor design with a gas heating jacket. This experimental study used two steam injection configurations: bottom and top to evaluate the effect of gasification temperature and steam to biomass (S/B) ratio on H 2 % using wood pellets. Temperature varied in the range of 300–600 °C for bottom injector, while S/B varied from 1.7 to 2.6. Peak H 2 % was 27.7% and higher heating value (HHV) of gas was 7 MJ/Nm3. Using top injector enhanced the heat transfer which elevated the temperature range (700–950 °C) and reduced S/B ratio in the range of 1.3–2.2, achieving H 2 % of 44% at the optimum steam flow rate of 30 g/min with HHV of 12.7 MJ/Nm3. Tar contamination was reduced from 13.6 g/m3 to 7.4 g/m3 with the increase of S/B. The effect of different fuels including coconut shells charcoal (CSC), palm kernel shells (PKS), and Empty fruit bunch (EFB) on H 2 % was also investigated. H 2 % was 47.7% for CSC, followed by 46.3% for PKS and 44.7% for EFB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, biomass fuelled engines have gathered major interest due to rapid depletion and rising price of conventional fuels. Biomass gasification has a better conversion efficiency compared to other conversion techniques. Also, Producer gas can be used directly in diesel engines without any modifications. In this study, the performance parameters of a variable compression ratio CI engine fuelled with diesel-producer gas combination derived from rice husk, coconut shell, and rubber shell have been experimentally and theoretically investigated. During experimentation, brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), brake specific energy consumption and biomass consumption (BMC) are obtained by varying compression ratio and brake power (BP). A new theoretical model based on the finite-time thermodynamics is developed and validated with experimental results. The experimental results show that rubber shell powered DF engine showed the maximum diesel savings of 48%. It is also observed that, among the three selected feedstock, the rubber shell-based dual fuel engine had the highest BTE of 19.80% followed by the coconut shell and rice husk as 19.44% and 19.13%, respectively. Similarly lowest BMC of 3.53 kg/h was observed for rubber shell driven engine. In addition, the rubber shell derived producer gas had a lower BSFC of 0.64 kg/kWh on dual fuel mode than rice husk and coconut shell. It is also predicted that the optimum BTE and diesel savings as 19.18% and 48% are obtained at the compression ratio and BP of 18 and 2.56 kW, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial replacement of conventional fuel in IC engines with gaseous biofuels from biomass is one of the best options to implement biomass in decentralized power generation. In this work, a compression ignition engine, which is generally used in small-scale power generation, has been tested to work on diesel and producer gas of cocoa pod husks (CPH). The engine was modified to work with dual-fuel as well as multiple compression ratios. The central composite design has been used for the optimization of operating and performance parameters. At CR 18, performance parameters such as BTE and DRR were high, whereas the BSFC and SEC were low. During the DF mode, the overall diesel replacement was 72.57%. Moreover, the brake thermal efficiencies were 22.18% and 27.17% for CR 12 and CR 18, respectively. At optimum conditions, the CO, NOx, HC, and smoke emissions were 0.17 vol%, 250.06 ppm, 19.94 ppm, and 22.81%, respectively. The performance of the engine showed that CPH could be a potential feedstock to supply cleaner gaseous fuel for the dual-fuel operation. Moreover, the prediction from the study suggested that response surface methodology could be an appropriate approach to evaluate the optimum working conditions of dual-fuel engine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manuscript provides a concise overview of a four-stroke compression ignition engine, which is powered by blends of waste palm oil and waste sunflower oil methyl ester diesel. This engine operates in a dual-fuel mode with the utilization of inducted producer gas generated from bamboo leaves. This study presents a comprehensive summary of the performance, combustion, and emission characteristics of post-mixed fuels, investigated using a Kirloskar TAF1 diesel engine operating in dual-fuel mode. The primary research focus spun around the dual-fuel operation of diesel and post-mixed oils across various load conditions while maintaining a consistent gas flow rate. The findings of the study highlighted interesting trends. Particularly, the post-mixed oil methyl ester (PMOME 20+ BLP.gas) exhibited a 5.26% increase in brake-specific fuel consumption and a 4.66% reduction in brake thermal efficiency under heavy load conditions when compared to pure diesel operation. Notably, the post-mixed blend showcased improvements in smoke opacity, carbon monoxide, and unburnt hydrocarbon emissions, registering reductions of 11.22%, 20.44%, and 10.36%, respectively. Conversely, oxides of nitrogen witnessed a reduction of 19.17% during peak load conditions for the PMOME 20+ BLP gas blend, a noteworthy improvement in comparison to emissions of petroleum diesel. Based on these observations, the current research suggests that integrating renewable fuels into dual-fuel engines holds promise as a viable approach for both economic advancement and the essential addressing of the looming scarcity of conventional petroleum diesel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial number of off-grid olive oil mills in Morocco are powered by diesel-fired generators, which hugely contribute to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In this research work, a biomass gasification combined heat and power (CHP) plant fueled with local by-products was explored as a renewable alternative to electrify off-grid olive oil mills in this country. The case study considered a gasification CHP plant with a rated power of 80 kWe, in order to enable adaptation of the producer gas flow rate to abrupt changes in the power generation unit under dynamic operation. A downdraft gasifier and a producer gas conditioning unit were modeled under steady state operation using Cycle-Tempo, while the power generation unit was modeled in the Thermoflex simulation environment under partial and full load operation. Olive cake pellets and olive pruning chips were evaluated as biomass feedstock, with moisture contents ranging from 5% to 20% (wet basis). The results from the simulation of the gasification CHP plant showed net electrical efficiencies and CHP efficiencies around 18% and 35%, respectively. Finally, a profitability assessment of the gasification CHP plant was developed for 2 months of continuous operation, together with a sensitivity analysis. The results for the baseline scenario reveal a payback period of 7–8 years and a 68.5% accumulated profit based on the capital investment, which suggest that biomass gasification CHP plants can represent an economically feasible and sustainable solution for the electrification of off-grid areas in Morocco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was completed in two phases. The first phase consists of the design and fabrication of a small-capacity updraft gasifier followed by the production of producer gas from the wood by biomass gasification and momentarily storing the gas in a tube. The second phase consists of the use of producer gas as a supplementary fuel in a petrol engine with minor modification on the engine's suction side. The main objective of this study was to produce a producer gas via wood gasification process through the fabricated small updraft gasifier and find its potential as a supplementary fuel along with petrol fuel in conventional SI engine. Through the experimental investigation, the performance and emission characteristics of the engine running on dual fuel mode were evaluated; the result was compared with the engine running on pure petrol. The result reveals that a reduction in engine efficiency as 1–1.5% in the entire load spectrum but de-rating of engine power was compensated by an improved emissions level in dual fuel mode in terms of reduction in HC, CO, and NO emission of 27%, 22%, and 19% respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, methods to increase efficiency in producer gas have become major issues in biomass gasification research. Producer gas is a renewable energy source that does not take as much time to obtain as fossil fuels. It is typically a mixture of combustible gases like carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane, and non-combustible gases like carbon dioxide and nitrogen. A high percentage volume of combustible composition in the producer gas output will have a high calorific value or heat of combustion. These combustible gases are determined by the design of the gasifier. In today's era of Industrial Revolution 4.0 and Society 5.0, the use of simulation is highly prioritised in all aspects of engineering, especially in gasification applications. Simulation is a useful tool for learning about the governing principles and optimal operating points of the gasification process. Artificial intelligence (AI), is a major focus of Industry Revolution 4.0. In this project, the producer gas composition prediction is studied by computer simulation. The goals are to predict the output producer gas using an algorithm and to compare the trained prediction result with actual experiment data for rice husk gasification. This simulation was created with MATLAB software's artificial neural network (ANN). Three parameters (the height of the gasifier, the diameter of the gasifier, and the weight of the rice husk) are set as input data, and six types of the composition of producer gas (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen) are set as output data. The algorithm is trained, tested, and verified with the experiment data. It is then used to predict the output gas composition from the parameters of a gasification experiment that has been used before in UiTM's laboratory. The simulation results of producer gas composition between prediction and actual values revealed a relative error of 1.159 %, 0.370 %, and 0.330 %. These results were less than 9% and were found to give a very good fit to the neural network algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Maize production due to its many climate friendly properties have been center of research and development in terms of yield, water per hectare requirement, and so forth. • Out of agricultural stubble waste, corncob showed highest potential for beneficiation amongst traditional cash crops. Corncob beneficiation products and their applications span from bio fuels to mattress, with over 3500 products. • With processes such as gasification, pyrolysis, combustion and so forth, we can use this agricultural waste product for energy generation. • With applications such as bio-oil, ethanol blending, poultry feed, bio char, methanol, and so on maize was found to be the answer to many global problems. Increased global energy consumption and energy generation constraints using non-renewable energy sources have stressed countries and major industries to practice and develop cleaner, sustainable, readily available and predictable source of energy. On the other hand, agricultural waste or stubble burning presents a major problem for developing countries like India as it alone produces 516 million tons of agricultural waste in the year 2017-2018, out of which 116 million tons waste was burnt producing 176.1 Mt Carbon dioxide, 10 Mt of Carbon monoxide, and other harmful greenhouse gases. Though 13% of India's total energy is produced by the biomass, a lot of scope and potential in waste biomass is still left unexplored. Research and development in biomass (agricultural waste) conversion to energy is the potential solution to both problems. Out of all agricultural waste biomass, corncob was the center of research for this review paper. This review paper covers global and Indian scenario in the generation of corn cob, its beneficiation and uses in multiple industries, characteristics of corn cob, technologies available and used for the biomass conversion, limitations faced by the industry in corn cob's beneficiation, future potential developments, pledged goals and projected targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable and sustainable fuel usage in diesel engines ensures energy security and overseas exchange savings besides conveying both socioeconomic and environmental concerns. This research presents experimental work that has been done on single-cylinder, 4-stroke, diesel engine of direct injection run in DF mode using PG derived from sugar cane bagasse renewable and sustainable fuels. A 45° gas venture is designed and developed to provide a stoichiometric mixture of gas and air entry into the intake manifold of the DF engine during suction stroke. A compressed mixture of air and gas is ignited by injecting diesel into the engine cylinder at 205 bar pressure and at different timings of injection. The effect of timing of injection on the DF engine performance is studied by varying it from 23 to 31obtdc in steps of 4obtdc. Experimental investigation showed that 27oBTC resulted in improved BTE with reduced emissions of hydrocarbon, smoke, and CO while NOx, peak pressure increased. It is noticed that the operation of producer gas lowers the power derating by 20% and the DF engine could run up to 80% load with increased nitric oxide (NOx) emissions. The developed DF engine worked satisfactorily with acceptable performance and emission norms and assisted in partially substituting the fossil diesel fuel with a substitution of 60-70% by the PG operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gasification is an attractive method to convert lignocellulosic biomass into a combustible gas mixture for electricity and power generation. To control the tar concentration in the produced gas to be within the allowable limit of downstream applications, it is important for a gasification system to be integrated with a tar removal process. In this study, an integrated gasification system consisting of a downdraft gasifier and a secondary catalytic tar‐cracking reactor was designed and tested for the gasification of pelletized oil palm empty fruit bunch. To further purify the producer gas, the system was also integrated with a cyclone, a water scrubber, and a carbon‐bed filter. Biomass was fed at a rate of 5 kg/h, while the air equivalence ratio (ER) and the gasification temperature were set at 0.1 and 800°C, respectively. In total, 5 kg of the specially developed low‐cost Fe/activated carbons (AC) catalyst was used in the hot gas catalytic tar‐cracking reactor. Results indicate that our integrated gasification system was able to produce a clean burnable gas with a lower heating value (LHV) of 9.05 MJ/Nm3, carbon conversion efficiency (CCE) of 79.4%, cold gas efficiency (CGE) of 89.9%, and H2 and CH4 concentrations of 29.5% and 10.3%, respectively. The final outlet gas was found to only contain 32.5 mg/Nm3 of tar, thus making it suitable for internal combustion engine (ICE) application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of producer gas (PG), hydrogen (H2), and neem oil methyl ester-blended fuel (NeOME B20) flow rate optimization on dual fuel (DF) engine performance were examined in the current work. PG and H2 were used as primary fuels, while NeOME B20 was used as a secondary pilot fuel in the DF engine. The DF engine's performance and pollution levels were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and the results were compared with experimental values. The full factorial design (FFD) has been used to minimize the number of experiments. The design of experiments (DOEs) with an experimental design matrix of 27 distinct combinations were taken into consideration. The primary goal of the effort is to optimize different fuel flow rates for better brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and lower tail pipe exhaust pollutants. The developed RSM model is validated with experimental results for the selected fuel flow rates using a desirability approach. Experiments were carried out at a constant speed of 1500 rpm, compression ratio (CR) of 17.5, injector opening pressure (IOP) 240 bar, six-hole nozzle with 0.2 mm diameter, and injection timing (IT) of 27° before top dead center (bTDC). The flow rates of NeOME B20, PG, and H2 varied from 0.4 to 0.8 kg/h, 7 to 9 kg/h, and 0.029 to 0.059 kg/h, respectively. Optimum flow rates for NeOME B20, PG, and H2 were found to be 0.8, 7, and 0.044, kg/h respectively for the maximized break thermal efficiency (BTE) and reduced exhaust emission levels. However, a marginal increase in NOx was noticed. In addition, the delay period and combustion duration were reduced, and the cylinder pressure (CP) and heat release rate (HRR) were increased for the optimal condition with a desirability of 0.998. Overall, DF operation with selected fuel combinations was found to be smooth and satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the greatest issues facing the globe today is the production of hazardous waste products and producer gas (PG) from biomass gasification. PG must be cleaned of tar and other solid pollutants because it is frequently utilized to produce energy in the thermal and power sectors. PG from biomass is a great source for renewable energy, but it contains tar and particulate matter (T&P). Hence, treatment method of T&P is very important. Downdraft biomass gasifier is a thermo-chemical conversion method which minimizes the quantity of T&P to tolerable limit. The present work aims to achieve an effective gas cleaning using jet impingement scrubber to clean PG from biomass gasifier before entering it to an engine or burner applications. The development of jet impingement scrubber is to produce fine mist to capture very fine T&P in PG cleaning. The downdraft biomass gasifier was used to gasify the silver oak wood pieces of 2 to 6 kg/h. A maximum pressure drop of water level was observed 62 mm for jet impingement scrubber correspondingly the cleaned PG flow rate was 0.00338 m3/s. Particle removal efficiency of the jet impingement scrubber her been determined to be 75%. The concentration of T&P sampling apparatus was constructed as per European CEN standard. Tars absorbed on the particles are extracted using isopropanol by gravimetric analysis (g/m3) in PG. The particulate matter present in PG was collected by thimble filter. The concentration of T&P content obtained at jet impingement scrubber exit is 1.2 g/m3 and 0.85 g/m3. After cleaning the PG with jet impingement scrubber, the PG was burnt in a burner. The temperature of the cleaned PG increased by removing moisture to 240–310°C as it burned with a nice blue flame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative fuels are renewable sustainable and address socio-economic and environmental concerns. In this circumstance, this work is conducted in two stages. The first stage of the work involves, the preparation of nanoparticle (NP) blended fuels by adding 20, 40 and 60 ppm of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) particles in dairy scum oil methyl ester (DiSOME) biodiesel using a mechanical homogenizer and ultrasonicator. Then, the steadiness characteristics of nanoparticle–mixed biodiesel fuels were studied under static state. In the next stage of the work, the effect of nanofluids on the attributes of combustion and emissions of aengine with 1-cylinder 4-stroke DI-direct injection),CI-compression ignition)which is run on DF-dual-fuel mode using DiSOME and PG-producer gas, has been examined. Investigation results indicated that at 80% load, DiSOME-PG combustion with 40 ppm of MWCNT nanoparticles provided 5.7% increased BTE, 23.5% decreased smoke opacity, 21.8% decreased HC, 22.4% decreased CO and 20.1% amplified NOx emissions related to the same fuel mixer but not with NPs. Adding NPs increased HRR - heat release rate and CP - cylinder pressure.

The use of new and renewable energy for the application on gas burners is beneficial for the environment. This study aims to determine the effect of excess air during the combustion of producer gas from biomass gasification to release heat used as a fuel gas burner. Simulations are carried out by applying mass and energy balance, showing that an increase in excess air will decrease the non-adiabatic and adiabatic flame temperature. The result showed that an increase in excess of air reduces the amount of heat released to the environment for the same flame temperature. The maximum adiabatic flame temperature is at 1725.430C, while the non-adiabatic ranges from 600 to 8000C. Furthermore, heat is released in the range of 20.1 kW to 28.8 kW, and excess air from 0 to 40%.

The study presents the results of research on using fixed-bed, activated carbon (AC) adsorbers in the cleaning of heavily tar-laden producer gas from the gasification of biomass. The efficiency of removal of organic compounds as well as the remaining adsorption capacity of the bed were determined using a spectrum of commonly applied diagnostic methods, including qualitative and quantitative analyses of the adsorbed compounds and changes in the pore volume of the bed material (IN, MN). The authors compare these lab quantifications with a simple technique which is based on the analysis of the changes in the position of temperature front in the bed. The main benefit of the latter is the possibility of performing the diagnostics of the bed "online" and using low-cost temperature measurements. The test was performed using a commercially available AC Desotec AIRPEL 10-3 and real producer gas obtained through the gasification of alder chips. For tar, VOC and C2–C5 compounds, the removal efficiencies reached respectively 74.5%-wt., 52.8%-wt., and 85.5%-wt. Obtained results indicate that depending on the final application of the gas, the use of dry adsorption systems is an interesting alternative to the well-established but complicated, cumbersome, and costly wet scrubbers. Moreover, a concept for in situ regeneration of the adsorbent, coupled with direct reforming of the tars, is presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of the reaction medium (steam) and the amount supplied to the reactor (~200, 400, or 600 mL) on the yield of the basic gas components (CO, CO2, H2, and CH4) in microwave pyrolysis of sawdust is investigated. The dependence of the mean and maximum gas concentrations on the volume of steam supplied to the chamber of the microwave generator is determined. Trends in the gas concentrations over time are identified. The onset and duration of gas emission are established with variation in the volume of steam supplied to the reactor. The optimal supply of reaction medium to the chamber is determined, such that biomass pyrolysis is intensified and the gas yield is a maximum. If excessive steam is supplied to the chamber, the yield and composition of the producer gas become worse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of new and renewable energy for the application on gas burners is beneficial for the environment. This study aims to determine the effect of excess air during the combustion of producer gas from biomass gasification to release heat used as a fuel gas burner. Simulations are carried out by applying mass and energy balance, showing that an increase in excess air will decrease the non-adiabatic and adiabatic flame temperature. The result showed that an increase in excess of air reduces the amount of heat released to the environment for the same flame temperature. The maximum adiabatic flame temperature is at 1725.430C, while the non-adiabatic ranges from 600 to 8000C. Furthermore, heat is released in the range of 20.1 kW to 28.8 kW, and excess air from 0 to 40%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biomass waste producer gas has a good potential as renewable sources fuel of either spark ignition (SI) or compression ignition (CI) engine. Several biomass wastes have been utilised as a feedstock of gasification process to produce producer gas. High heating value and low tar content producer gas should be obtained in biomass gasification. The producer gas has to be cleaned up to remove tar when it is used for the engines. The present paper aims to review a thermo-chemical conversion of a biomass into a producer gas, tar removal method and utilisation of a producer gas as fuel of internal combustion engine. Many previous published works are studied, cited and summarised in the present work. The review indicates that performance of a gasifier is affected by gasifier design and operating parameters, i.e. feedstock properties and size, gasification medium, equivalence ratio and gasification temperature. Tar removal can be approached using primary or secondary technique. Modification of the intake system of either SI or CI engine is required when the engine is fuelled with a producer gas.

Leaf waste has the potential to be converted into energy because of its high availability both in the world and Indonesia. Gasification is a conversion technology that can be used to convert leaves into producer gas. This gas can be used for various applications, one of which is using it as fuel for gas turbines, including ultra-micro gas ones, which are among the most popular micro generators of electric power at the time. To minimize the risk of failure in the experiment and cost, simulation is used. To simulate the performance of gas turbines, the thermodynamic analysis tool called Cycle-Tempo is used. In this study, Cycle-Tempo was used for the zero-dimensional thermodynamic simulation of an ultra-micro gas turbine operated using producer gas as fuel. Our research contributions are the simulation of an ultra-micro gas turbine at a lower power output of about 1 kWe and the use of producer gas from leaf waste gasification as fuel in a gas turbine. The aim of the simulation is to determine the influence of air-fuel ratio on compressor power, turbine power, generator power, thermal efficiency, turbine inlet temperature and turbine outlet temperature. The simulation was carried out on condition that the fuel flow rate of 0.005 kg/s is constant, the maximum air flow rate is 0.02705 kg/s, and the air-fuel ratio is in the range of 1.55 to 5.41. The leaf waste gasification was simulated before, by using an equilibrium constant to get the composition of producer gas. The producer gas that was used as fuel had the following molar fractions: about 22.62% of CO, 18.98% of H2, 3.28% of CH4, 10.67% of CO2 and 44.4% of N2. The simulation results show that an increase in air-fuel ratio resulted in turbine power increase from 1.23 kW to 1.94 kW. The generator power, thermal efficiency, turbine inlet temperature and turbine outlet temperature decreased respectively from 0.89 kWe to 0.77 kWe; 3.17% to 2.76%; 782 °C to 379 °C and 705°C to 304 °C. The maximums of the generator power and thermal efficiency of 0.89 kWe and 3.17%, respectively, were obtained at the 1.55 air-fuel ratio. The generator power and thermal efficiency are 0.8 kWe and 2.88%, respectively, with the 4.64 air-fuel ratio or 200% excess air. The result of the simulation matches that of the experiment described in the literature.

A new catalyst composition comprised of Ni, Ru, and MgO was investigated with a focus on improving methanation performance for sub-stoichiometric H 2 /CO-ratio producer gas from biomass gasification. The catalyst was loaded on an alumina support by wet impregnation for testing the catalytic methanation activity for syngas (CO/H 2) and producer gas (CO/CO 2 /H 2) in a fixed-bed reactor. The optimum addition of promoters Ru and MgO to the main Ni catalyst was determined by maximizing the CO conversion and CH 4 yield in the methanation reactions. The optimization experiments were conducted on a low-surface-area alumina support. With 10% Ni loading, the highest activity and stability was achieved with the addition of 1.5%MgO and 0.5–1.0% Ru as promoters. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) of Ni in pretreated Mg-Ni and Ni-Ru-Mg catalysts indicated the presence of approximately 30% of Ni in metallic state on the Al 2 O 3 support. Bulk reduction, measured by TPR, was nearly 40% in the Mg-Ni-Ru catalysts. The MgO promoter enhanced the methanation activity, while the Ru component was mainly responsible for improvement in catalytic stability in the low H 2 /CO-ratio (1.82) feed gas. The effect of the presence of H 2 O in the feed gas showed no significant change in the methanation activity of the catalyst. The Ni-Ru-Mg catalyst showed much higher stability in comparison to a promoted Ni-based commercial catalyst. The CO in the low H 2 /CO-ratio feed gas was primarily responsible for catalyst deactivation due to coke formation. Experiments with high-surface-area commercial alumina supports with the Ni-Ru-Mg catalyst demonstrated CO conversion activity comparable to a commercial catalyst but eliminated deactivation due to coke formation at the low H 2 /CO-ratio producer gas commonly found in the gasification of biomass. Methanation activity and stability in producer gas with low H 2 /CO ratio (1.82) over Ni based catalyst is greatly improved by the combination of MgO and Ru promoters [Display omitted] • A new Ni based catalyst combining MgO and Ru promoters for methanation of CO +H 2 and Producer gas was developed. • MgO promoter provides higher dispersion of Ni and increased activity. • Ru promoter provides higher stability in producer gas with low H 2 /CO ratio. • Time-on-Stream methanation of producer gas with the Ni-Ru-MgO catalyst demonstrated high stability compared to a commercial catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]