New concept of solar-driven biomass gasification: An Eulerian-Lagrangian study

Solar-driven biomass gasification has attracted attention for its ability to achieve low carbon emissions and high efficiency. Understanding the fundamental principles governing hydrodynamics and thermochemical characteristics is crucial for optimizing, designing, and controlling different types of solar-driven gasification systems. However, conventional solar-driven biomass gasification based on indirect surface heating usually suffers intermittent and unstable performance due to seasonal changes and weather fluctuations. To address this problem, a novel concept of solar-driven gasification is simulated by a reactive multiphase particle-in-cell method coupled with thermochemical sub-models. The physical-thermal-chemical behaviors inside the gasifier are comprehensively discussed. Moreover, the effects of geometry configuration and particle size distribution on gasification performance were assessed. The new concept of biomass gasifier can achieve ideal hydrodynamics, heat and mass transfer, and gasification performance. The averaged mole fractions of C2H4, CH4, CO, CO2, and H2 are 2.56 %, 6.90 %, 6.65 %, 16.04 %, and 22.15 %, respectively. The heat transfer coefficient of particles exhibits a wide range, predominantly falling between 200 and 2000 W/(m2·K). Increasing particle size distribution presents a positive impact on gasification performance. The numerical results in this work contribute to a better understanding of the hydrodynamics and thermochemical behavior of the new concept of solar-driven biomass gasification.