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Design Of A Fluidized Bed Reactor For Biomass Pyrolysis

Bamido, Alaba O
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535372231547049

Abstract Details

2018, MS, University of Cincinnati, Engineering and Applied Science: Mechanical Engineering.
Global warming is caused by the buildup of heat trapping gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. These gases retain heat from the sun, which makes the environment warmer. The use of biomass as a fuel fossil can help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When fossil fuels such as coal, gas and crude oil, which are locked underground, are burnt in oxygen, they release an enormous amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Aside burning of fossil fuel, decaying plant residues also contribute to the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Biomass derived fuels minimize dependence on underground fossil fuel thereby preventing excessive amount of carbon dioxide to be released to the atmosphere. Biomass is regarded as a renewable fuel because it can be replenished over a short period of time and is an active component of the carbon cycle. During plants (biomass) life, significant amount of CO2 is absorbed through photosynthesis. At death, these CO2 is released back to the atmosphere therefore ensuring no new carbon dioxide is produced. Pyrolysis of biomass offers many environmental benefits, most importantly, the reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere. Aside the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the biochar obtained from the pyrolysis of biomass can be used for soil amendment. Biochar in the soil improves soil fertility, reduces erosion and leaching of soil nutrients. Conventional ways of processing biomass involves a centralized system where all the biomass in a region are gathered at a specific location and transported to a commercial pyrolyzing plant where they are processed. A major disadvantage of this method is the use of a large area of land for construction of the biomass pyrolysis plant. It is also strenuous, bulky, immobile, and requires adequate planning and logistics for successful operation. This research project solves many of the above-mentioned issues. A small size and mobile fluidized bed reactor is designed and validated in this work. The design outlined only shows a first iteration of the overall design process. Parameters such as design pressure and temperature were chosen from arbitrary but reasonable estimates. The advantages of a fluidized bed pyrolysis reactor over other reactor types are: simple design, easy to repair when faulty, uniform temperature of particles, efficient mixing of particles and relatively cheap manufacturing cost. Solidworks was used to design the reactor geometry and ANSYS FLUENT was used for the thermochemical conversion analysis. ANSYS STATIC STRUCTURAL was also used for the Thermal and structural analysis. In addition, a cost estimate for the design is also presented.
Jude Iroh, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Michael Alexander-Ramos, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Je-Hyeong Bahk, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Ronald Huston, PhD (Committee Member)
95 p.
Mechanical Engineering
Biomass; Fast Pyrolysis; Fluidized bed; Reactor; Design

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bamido, A. O. (2018). Design Of A Fluidized Bed Reactor For Biomass Pyrolysis [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535372231547049

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bamido, Alaba. Design Of A Fluidized Bed Reactor For Biomass Pyrolysis. 2018. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535372231547049.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bamido, Alaba. "Design Of A Fluidized Bed Reactor For Biomass Pyrolysis." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535372231547049

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1535372231547049
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© 2018, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Design Of A Fluidized Bed Reactor For Biomass Pyrolysis by Alaba O Bamido is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.