Optimum Utilization of Biomass for the Production of Power and Fuels using Gasification

The state of Qatar strives to diversify its energy portfolio whilst minimizing potential impacts on the environment from released wastes of multiple sectors. The current energy portfolio utilizes fossil fuels to drive the power sector which releases GHG's into the atmosphere. There has been significant progress in diversifying the global energy mix in order to limit GHG emissions. Biomass, which is a CO₂ neutral organic fuel, serves as a potential energy source for the generation of sustainable heat and power. The objective of this paper is to model a system that utilizes waste biomass from Qatar built environment to generate a high-energy product gas that contains hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane. There is a strong sustainable development component where there is a reduction in biomass waste and consumption of raw material as natural gas consumption is reduced. As such, the biomass can be utilized to generate a valuable product, whilst reducing GHG's and Qatar's dependency on reserves of natural gas. Gasification is considered as the preferred option for the processing of biomass where the product gas mixture (syngas) can be used to power generators/gas-turbines and produce clean energy since the process is carbon neutral. The syngas can be also used in the petrochemical industry to produce ammonia and methanol and reduce local dependency on natural gas. In this study, a computer simulation model of the biomass gasifier was developed using Aspen Plus considering Qatar's biomass characteristics. The results demonstrated the possibility to utilize domestic feedstock in Qatar such as date palm residues amongst others to generate syngas. Furthermore, the study determines the optimum blends of biomass feedstocks which are to be utilized in the existing gasification processes.