• Energy Research

The growing threats of global warming and climate change are two of the main concerns of world society. The culprits are greenhouse gas emissions, which mainly result from the combustion of fossil fuels (i.e. the consumption and production of energy from oil, coal and natural gas), a well-known issue at the centre of many climate change debates. The European Parliament has endorsed the EU target of zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 [1]. It is therefore essential to provide for sustainable energy development strategies such as biomass. The valorization of biomass makes it possible to alleviate environmental problems. we are able to obtain energy from what was, until recently, considered to be waste. this article assesses the contribution that chestnut skin biomass makes, in energy, environmental and economic terms, to the production process of the company Monsurgel Lda. The results show that the chestnut skin can contribute to an energy saving with a good investment payback time and also an environment contribution with the CO2 reduction. Proceedings of the 29th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 26-29 April 2021, Online, pp. 515-521

AbstractThis study proposes the energy conversion of vine prunings to supply energy to local wineries, with a focus on the Riunite & CIV branch winery located in Carpi (Modena, Italy), exploring the possibility of generating both electricity and heat through biomass gasification. A Matlab-Simulink model is used to evaluate the energy savings that can be achieved when an energy storage system is coupled with the combined heat and power generation system. Within this context, the results showed that it is possible to save $$\approx $$ ≈ 30% of the electricity and $$\approx $$ ≈ 60% of the thermal energy demanded by the winery. However, the economic viability of the project is hindered by high investment and operation costs. DPB is strongly affected by the cost of biomass and the energy prices, resulting in a profitable investment for electricity prices higher than 0.30 $$\div>$$ ÷ > 0.57 €/kWh according to the different scenarios investigated.

Abstract This work discusses the advantages that can be obtained from the integration of landfill gas with biomass gasification. The case study presented consists of a landfill located in the province of Reggio Emilia, in the north of Italy. Landfill gas from municipal-waste fuels four internal combustion engines with overall nominal power of 2 MW, the electricity is sold back to the grid, while the thermal power is used for the heating of an industrial greenhouse compartment for basil production. Within the same facility, green waste is collected from the surrounding municipalities then chipped and sieved. Fine particles are disposed into a composting plant close by, while the sieved fraction is sold to the market for electricity production in large-scale boiler-based power plants. The idea here presented and discussed consists of the implementation of a gasifier to convert the sieved fraction of green waste into a syngas fuel directly on site. Syngas is blended with the landfill gas and then fed to the gas engines. In this work green waste gasification is tested in a commercial small-scale gasifier, proving that sifted green waste is a suitable fuel for this application. A specific consumption of 1.2 kg/kWh and a total electrical efficiency of 16.22% were measured. The sizing of the full-scale gasification facility is based on both the experimental results and data about the local availability of green waste. The economic return of the investment is then discussed. Finally, a further level of integration between gasification and the existing site is proposed: gasification-derived biochar is investigated as soil amendment for the on site company at the landfill that grows basil commercially. Results of 55 days in vivo tests show an increase in the biomass production of the basil of 53% compared to the control test group.

The syngas produced by fixed bed gasifiers contains high quantities of particulate and tars. This issue, together with its high temperature, avoids its direct exploitation without a proper cleaning and cooling process. In fact, when the syngas produced by gasification is used in an Internal Combustion engine (IC), the higher the content of tars and particulate, the higher the risk to damage the engine is. If these compounds are not properly removed, the engine may fail to run. A way to avoid engine fails is to intensify the maintenance schedule, but these stops will reduce the system profitability. From a clean syngas does not only follow higher performance of the generator, but also less pollutants in the atmosphere. When is not possible to work on the gasification reactions, the filter plays the most important role in the engine safeguard process. This work is aimed at developing and comparing different porous filters for biomass gasifiers power plants. A drum filter was developed and tested filling it with different filtering media available on the market. As a starting point, the filter was implemented in a Power Pallet 10 kW gasifier produced by the California-based company "ALL Power Labs". The original filter was replaced with different porous biomasses, such as woodchips and corn cobs. Finally, a synthetic zeolites medium was tested and compared with the biological media previously used. The Tar Sampling Protocol (TSP) and a modified "dry" method using the Silica Gel material were applied to evaluate the tars, particulate and water amount in the syngas after the filtration process. Advantages and disadvantages of every filtering media chosen were reported and discussed.

Abstract The paper presents a numerical analysis of combustion, carried out on a compression ignition indirect injection engine fueled by both Diesel and syngas, the latter obtained from biomass gasification and introduced in the intake manifold. The computational fluid dynamics model includes an improved chemical kinetics scheme, tailored on the syngas-diesel dual fuel combustion. The model was validated by an experimental campaign, on the same engine. The syngas fuel was produced by a small scale gasifier running on wood chips. Several simulations were performed varying both the share of syngas and the Diesel start of injection angle. The total amount of heat released by combustion can increase up to 50%, along with the indicated work and the cylinder peak pressure. The start of injection angle should be modified in order to preserve the mechanical integrity of the engine, as well as to maximize its brake efficiency. The numerical analysis provides the guidelines for setting the injection strategy, as a function of the syngas share.

In this work, a simple model was created to estimate the benefits of replacing the LPG, currently used in flame weeding, with the syngas generated from a biomass gasification system. Results shown that 60.1 kg ha-1 of agri-pellet are enough to substitute 16.4 kg ha-1 of LPG when a gasification efficiency of 70 % is considered. The model shown a CO2 generation of 49.8 kg ha-1 for each treatment using the LPG device and 94.5 kg ha-1 for the biomass-powered weeder which is, however, a biogenic source of carbon with a neutral impact on the climate. Moreover, for the gasification facility, a 3.3 kg ha-1 co-production of char was considered which led to the possible stock of 9.6 kgCO2 ha-1 each treatment. Eventually, the proposed model suggests that a net saving of 58.5 kgCO2 ha-1 can be realized if LPG flame weeding treatment is replaced with a syngas-powered flame weeder. Proceedings of the 29th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 26-29 April 2021, Online, pp. 233-236

Abstract Weed control is an agronomic technique that must be carried out on almost any cultivation, to prevent undesired weeds from competing with crops for nutrients, water, and light and reducing the annual yield. Nowadays, agriculture is experiencing a transition to both sustainable and organic approaches that is driving the increase in non-chemical treatments. Within this framework, thermal methods are gaining attention due to their higher working speed and effectiveness when compared to mechanical ones but thermal devices are still fueled with fossils leading to considerable greenhouse gas emissions. This work investigates the advantages of substituting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) powered weeder with a portable gasification-based flame weeder fueled with woody biomass. Energy balance, carbon footprint and feasibility aspects are taken into account and the proposed solution is compared with the reference literature of LPG flame weeder. A flame weeder prototype is built starting from the gasification reactor of a commercial micro scale cogeneration unit. The gasifier is then fueled with A2-grade fir pellets and the syngas is burnt in a swirled flare designed for cross-flame weeding in woody crop rows. The biomass-fueled prototype is capable of a thermal flux directed towards the weeds of 208–247 kJ m−2 at a temperature that ranges from 850 to 980 °C. When compared to LPG systems applied to vineyards or orchards, the proposed solution reduces the fuel cost of the 72% and CO 2 emissions up to 118% considering the carbon-negative effect added by a 0.653 kg ha−1 of biochar production for each treatment. Results showed a specific fuel consumption of 52.2 kg ha−1 y−1 that can be self-sustained if vineyards prunings are used as fuel.

This paper exposes the first year of activities regarding an Italian regional project called REBAF (RecuperoEnergeticoBiomasse Alvei Fluviali = Energetic Recover of River Biomasses). The project concerns the modeling, realization and experimental validation of innovative pathways for the exploitation of grass and woodsy biomasses from river maintenance operations. The project is focused on the Secchia river situated in the mid North of Italy. The final goal is to make the river maintenance operations self-sustainability from the economic and environmental point of views. During the first year of the project, the typical biomasses of the Secchia river was recognized and quantified. Poplar was chosen as major representative of the wood biomasses. An evaluation about wood biomass quantity obtainable for every hectare of riverbanks maintenance was made. Several gasification tests of poplar wood chips from river maintenance was done in a small CHP gasifier. The biochar obtained was characterized and it was applied on field to some giant reed plantations in order to evaluate if there will be a productivity increase with biochar as soil amendant. In addition, a model to evaluate the giant reed annual productivity in the Secchia river banks was developed. Proceedings of the 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 52-57