Modeling and utilization of biomass-to-syngas for industrial multi-energy systems

Excessive consumption of fossil fuels in the industry sector has caused high operating costs and severe environmental pollution, advocating a cost-effective and sustainable substitute for fossil fuels. This paper proposes an enhanced utilization mechanism of biomass-to-syngas (B2S) to provide various types of steam flows in industrial multi-energy systems (MESs).

In this mechanism, the available generations from renewable energy sources (RESs) can be harvested to assist in the biomass gasification in a B2S gasifier for enhancing the syngas yield and its calorific value. A thermodynamic interaction model for B2S is formulated to capture gasification temperature dynamics under high-temperature steam injections and optimally control the thermochemical behaviors of biomass drying, pyrolysis, and gasification.

A B2S based energy hub framework with its multi-energy coupling matrix is formulated for mapping the input biomass-wind-solar energy into electricity, syngas, and various types of steam carriers to satisfy industrial energy demands. A hierarchical multi-timeframe dispatch scheme is developed for the energy-efficient conversion and utilization of multi-energy carriers to minimize the system operation costs.

Comparative studies are implemented to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed methodology on system operational economy and sustainability.