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Solar Thermochemical Green Fuels Production: A Review of Biomass Pyro-Gasification, Solar Reactor Concepts and Modelling Methods

Author

Listed:
  • Stéphane Abanades

    (Processes, Materials and Solar Energy Laboratory, PROMES-CNRS, 7 Rue du Four Solaire, 66120 Font-Romeu, France)

  • Sylvain Rodat

    (Processes, Materials and Solar Energy Laboratory, PROMES-CNRS, 7 Rue du Four Solaire, 66120 Font-Romeu, France)

  • Houssame Boujjat

    (CEA-LITEN Solar and Thermodynamic Systems Laboratory (L2ST), F-38054 Grenoble, France)

Abstract

This paper addresses the solar thermochemical conversion of biomass or waste feedstocks based on pyro-gasification for the clean production of high-value and energy-intensive fuels. The utilization of solar energy for supplying the required process heat is attractive to lower the dependence of gasification processes on conventional energy resources and to reduce emissions of CO 2 and other pollutants for the production of high-value chemical synthetic fuels (syngas). Using concentrated solar energy to drive the endothermal reactions further allows producing more syngas with a higher gas quality, since it has not been contaminated by combustion products, while saving biomass resources. The solar-driven process is thus a sustainable and promising alternative route, enabling syngas yield enhancement and CO 2 mitigation, thereby potentially outperforming the performance of conventional processes for syngas production. This review presents relevant research studies in the field and provides the scientific/technical knowledge and background necessary to address the different aspects of the solar gasification process. An overview of the available solar concentrating technologies and their performance metrics is first introduced. The solar gasifier concepts and designs that were studied from lab to industrial scale are presented, along with their main benefits and limitations. The different management strategies proposed to deal with solar energy variations are also outlined, as well as the major pilot-scale applications and large-scale system level simulations. A specific emphasis is provided on the spouted bed technology that appears promising for the gasification process. Finally, the main modeling approaches of pyro-gasification and kinetics for simulation of gasifiers are described. This study thus provides a detailed overview of the efforts made to enhance the thermochemical performance of solar-assisted biomass gasification for synthetic fuel production.

Suggested Citation

  • Stéphane Abanades & Sylvain Rodat & Houssame Boujjat, 2021. "Solar Thermochemical Green Fuels Production: A Review of Biomass Pyro-Gasification, Solar Reactor Concepts and Modelling Methods," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-33, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:5:p:1494-:d:513349
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rodat, Sylvain & Abanades, Stéphane & Boujjat, Houssame & Chuayboon, Srirat, 2020. "On the path toward day and night continuous solar high temperature thermochemical processes: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
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    11. Houssame Boujjat & Sylvain Rodat & Stéphane Abanades, 2020. "Solar-hybrid Thermochemical Gasification of Wood Particles and Solid Recovered Fuel in a Continuously-Fed Prototype Reactor," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-15, October.
    12. Boujjat, Houssame & Rodat, Sylvain & Chuayboon, Srirat & Abanades, Stéphane, 2019. "Experimental and numerical study of a directly irradiated hybrid solar/combustion spouted bed reactor for continuous steam gasification of biomass," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Alvarez Rivero, M. & Rodrigues, D. & Pinheiro, C.I.C. & Cardoso, J.P. & Mendes, L.F., 2022. "Solid–gas reactors driven by concentrated solar energy with potential application to calcium looping: A comparative review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    2. Mahmoud G. Hemeida & Ashraf M. Hemeida & Tomonobu Senjyu & Dina Osheba, 2022. "Renewable Energy Resources Technologies and Life Cycle Assessment: Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-36, December.
    3. Curcio, Axel & Rodat, Sylvain & Vuillerme, Valéry & Abanades, Stéphane, 2022. "Design and validation of reactant feeding control strategies for the solar-autothermal hybrid gasification of woody biomass," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PC).
    4. Stéphane Abanades, 2022. "Redox Cycles, Active Materials, and Reactors Applied to Water and Carbon Dioxide Splitting for Solar Thermochemical Fuel Production: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-28, September.
    5. Zeng, Jia & Xuan, Yimin & Li, Qiang, 2023. "Direct solar-thermal scalable-decomposition of methanol flowing through a nanoparticle-packed bed reactor under outdoor environment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).

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