Decarbonization of a tissue paper plant: Advanced numerical simulations to assess the replacement of fossil fuels with a biomass-derived syngas.

Numerical simulations based on Computational Fluid Dynamic techniques are performed to analyze the possibility of feeding a biomass-derived syngas into the combustion chamber upstream of the hoods for tissue-paper drying, to replace fossil fuels and thus decarbonize the plant. It was observed that, in the context of Favre-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations simulation, syngas requires detailed kinetics and finite-rate approaches, as the fast-chemistry ones, largely employed in the industrial practice for conventional fuels, lead to unreliable results. The actual chamber, originally designed to be fed with liquid petroleum gas, does not operate properly when fueled with syngas, with incomplete oxidation of carbon monoxide. Numerical simulations have proven how very few modifications of the chamber can be devised to permit feeding efficiently the syngas, obtaining low pollutant emissions and meeting the desired requirements in terms of flow and thermal uniformity for the drying process. The solution proposed in the present study, with the effective use of a biomass-derived syngas to feed the drying section of a tissue paper plant, will allow saving approximately 8500 ton/y of CO 2 emissions in comparison with today's fossil fuel carbon footprint. [Display omitted] • Use of syngas from biomass gasification to decarbonize a tissue paper plant. • CFD simulations to comprehend the behavior of chamber and hood fed with bio-syngas. • Need for detailed kinetics to model with CFD the bio-syngas combustion. • Modification of the combustion system needed to limit CO with the bio-syngas. • Reduction of 8500 ton/y of CO 2 emissions in comparison to today's LPG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]