Parametric modeling and performance assessment of a novel cogeneration system of biomass chemical looping gasification driven by solar energy

Biomass chemical looping gasification (BCLG) is a promising gasification technology. In this study, a solar energy-assisted BCLG cogeneration system combined with a gas turbine and an organic Rankine cycle system was proposed and simulated using Aspen Plus software. The effects of gasification temperature (TG), steam-to-biomass ratio (rS/B), and oxygen-to-biomass ratio (lambda O/B) on the BCLG process were studied using pine sawdust, bagasse, and rice husk as gasification fuels. The results showed that pine sawdust, having higher C and H content, was the best gasification fuel, and its best simulation conditions were TG = 700 degrees C, rS/B = 0.5, and lambda O/B = 0.18. The effect of the compressor pressure ratio (epsilon) on the BCLG-GT system was studied. The results showed that there was an optimal epsilon value for the best system performance. A solar energy source was introduced to explore the influence of solar radiation intensity (SI) on the Solar-BCLG-GT system. The results showed that as the SI increased, the network of the system improved but the efficiency decreased. Nevertheless, the energy efficiency of the new system was 3.27% higher than that of the BCLG-GT system under an annual average SI of 600 W/m2. Finally, the ORC was introduced to explore the influence of different organic fluids on the novel Solar-BCLG-GT-ORC system. The results showed that a BCLG-GT power generation system without solar drive produces 1082.7 kW, which is higher than the 332.8 kW generated by traditional BFPP power plants. The energy efficiency and exergy efficiency of the BCLG-GT system are 27.91% and 24.74%, respectively, surpassing the 9.55% and 8.33% of BFPP plants. Additionally, the cogeneration system driven by solar energy achieves energy efficiency and exergy efficiency of 31.18% and 29.07%, respectively. Compared to the BCLG-GT system without solar drive, these represent increases of 3.27% and 4.33%, respectively, demonstrating its considerable potential for future development.