(2020) Energy_Power generation using rice husk derived fuels from CO₂-assisted catalytic pyrolysis over Co/Al₂O₃

Jung S., Kwon D., Park Y.-K., Lee K.H., Kwon E.E.

(Elsevier Ltd) Energy ISSN: 3605442 Vol.206 Issue. Article No.118143 DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.118143

The new energy conversion platform for CO₂/biomass waste into syngas was constructed through pyrolysis of rice husk to achieve two goals: (1) energy production and (2) CO₂ reduction. First part of this study involves a fundamental understanding of effectiveness of CO₂ on syngas production experimentally. In the presence of CO₂, gas phase reactions between CO₂ and volatile organic compounds, evolved from rice husk pyrolysis, led to CO formation. The improvement of syngas generation was achieved through additional thermal energies and catalytic pyrolysis. The second part evaluated theoretical power generations from an ideal turbine cycle using rice husk derived fuels (syngas and hydrocarbon mixtures). Different H₂/CO ratios obtained from various pyrolysis and purge gas conditions (N₂/CO₂ ratio) had influence on the stoichiometric fuel to air ratio, lower heating value, and specific heat of rice husk fuels. This resulted in the variation of power generation performances. The power generations from rice husk fuels were up to 1.5 times higher than those from natural gases when fed into the turbine cycle with fixed amount of air. Both experimental and theoretical results suggest that this renewable platform for syngas production could be a considered sustainable way for waste valorizations and energy productions. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

This work is financially supported by Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) as Graduate School specialized in Climate Change.