Techno-environmental analysis of the biomass gasification and Fischer-Tropsch integrated process for the co-production of bio-fuel and power

The present study focuses on the performance analysis of a biomass-to-liquid (BTL) process for the co-production of green diesel and electricity. The BTL process consists of biomass gasification and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, and rice straw is investigated as the biomass feedstock. The modeling of the BTL process is performed using Aspen Custom Modeler (ACM). BTL processes with different configurations, i.e., with and without a tar removal unit based on steam reforming and autothermal (ATO) reforming, are compared. The amounts of green diesel and electricity produced and the overall potential environmental impact (PEI) derived from the Waste Reduction (WAR) algorithm are used as technical and environmental performance indicators and subjected to the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis. The simulation results demonstrate that the BTL process with ATO reforming is the most practical configuration, and the process offering maximum internal heat recovery and minimum external utility requirements is proposed. Based on the parametric analysis of key operating parameters (i.e., gasifying temperature, FT operating temperature and pressure), the optimal operating conditions of the BTL process providing the highest AHP index are identified. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.