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Efficiency Assessment of Gasification Waste from the Pistachios Processing

Efficiency Assessment of Gasification Waste from the Pistachios Processing

Authors: 
Zalazar García, D. I. Y. - Presenter, Instituto de Ingeniería Química. Facultad de Ingeniería. Universidad Nacional de San Juan
Romera, S. B., Instituto de Ingeniería Química. Facultad de Ingeniería. Universidad Nacional de San Juan, San Juan, Argentina,
Feresin, G. E., Instituto de Biotecnología. Facultad de Ingeniería. Universidad Nacional de San Juan
In San Juan pistachio production has grown in recent years due to the great interest in the consumption of pistachio nut, which has health benefits. Production waste from industrialization represents a problem, because it is accumulated and stored in acceptable ways occupying space and generating unpleasant odors among others. Gasification of waste for energy represents advantages from the economic point because it gives added value to these materials, on the one hand and on the other, environmentally can say that the balance of C is zero because it is residual biomass. This process involves the conversion of waste, in a substoichiometric atmosphere in a fuel gas, which can be used as fuel for electricity power generation or as a chemical for the manufacture of methanol, oils, etc. The aim of this work was to study the performance of the gasification process residue pistachio steam, as it improves yields syngas production, based on thermodynamic analysis to improve the gas composition using an equilibrium model to predict the gas composition based on the minimization of Gibbs free energy. The simulation was performed using two types of residues pistachio stems, leaves, fleshy exocarp (R1) on one side and the lignocellulosic mesocarp (R2) on the other. The prediction model was developed using Mathcad software. The thermodynamic equilibrium model applied to predict the composition process, allowed syngas comprising CO, CO2, H2, CH4 and N2, and the process efficiency. Performance was evaluated taking into account the process operating conditions such as temperature, humidity of each residue, ER (actual equivalent ratio moles oxygen / mol biomass fed to the reactor) and SBR (waste steam / biomass ratio). One exergo-economic analysis was also performed. Values energy costs depending on the generated power were allocated. The analysis was applied to different operating conditions, whose values were obtained from an equilibrium model in residue R1 and R2. The results indicated that the higher the temperature, the performance of gasification is decreased by 2% every 50°C rise in the range between 450 and 700°C for R1 and 1% between 450 and 1000 ° C for R2 respectively, which also involve lower costs of exergy. The maximum yield was 89.2% at 450°C and 72.7% at least 1000°C for R1 and 89.4% and 78.1% for R2. Regarding the process performance to changes in equivalent ratios (ER:, values between 0.1 and 0.9 were tested, implying better performance of the process near 0.1 for both residues. Furthermore, the process behavior with respect to moisture variation no significant changes of its efficiency in both residues. According to the changes molar proportions of gasifying agent (superheated steam), a corresponding optimum value at steam / biomass ratio = 4 (SBR) was obtained, although substantially constant for both waste. Economic analysis suggests that the gasification process is desirable because it provides solution to the problem of environmental pollution with low operating costs.