High-temperature pyrolysis modeling of a thermally thick biomass particle based on an MD-derived tar cracking modelShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Chemical Engineering Journal, ISSN 1385-8947, E-ISSN 1873-3212, Vol. 417, article id 127923Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Biomass pyrolysis in the thermally thick regime is an important thermochemical phenomenon encountered in many different types of reactors. In this paper, a particle-resolved algorithm for thermally thick biomass particle during high-temperature pyrolysis is established by using reactive molecular dynamics (MD) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. The temperature gradient inside the particle is computed with a heat transfer equation, and a multiphase flow algorithm is used to simulate the advection/diffusion both inside and outside the particle. Besides, to simulate the influence of intraparticle temperature gradient on the primary pyrolysis yields, a multistep kinetic scheme is used. Moreover, a new tar decomposition model is developed by reactive molecular dynamic simulations where every primary tar species in the multistep kinetic scheme cracks under high temperature. The integrated pyrolysis model is evaluated against a pyrolysis experiment of a centimeter-sized beech wood particle at 800–1050 °C. The simulation results show a remarkable improvement in both light gas and tar yields compared with a simplified tar cracking model. Meanwhile, the MD tar cracking model also gives a more reasonable prediction of the species yield history, which avoids the appearance of unrealistically high peak values at the initial stage of pyrolysis. Based on the new results, the different roles of secondary tar cracking inside and outside the particle are studied. Finally, the model is also used to assess the influence of tar residence time and several other factors impacting the pyrolysis.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier B.V. , 2021. Vol. 417, article id 127923
Keywords [en]
Biomass pyrolysis, MD tar cracking model, Multistep kinetic scheme, Particle-resolved simulation, Thermally thick, Biomass, Coal tar, Computational chemistry, Computational fluid dynamics, Heat transfer, Molecular dynamics, Thermal gradients, Computational fluid dynamics methods, Decomposition model, Heat transfer equations, High-temperature pyrolysis, Pyrolysis experiments, Reactive molecular dynamics, Thermally thick regimes, Pyrolysis
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-51486DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2020.127923Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85097774775OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-51486DiVA, id: diva2:1516290
Note
Funding details: Energimyndigheten, 46439-1; Funding details: Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas, Dnr 2017-00677; Funding details: P34721-3; Funding details: Norges Forskningsråd; Funding details: 267916; Funding text 1: This work is financially supported by the Swedish Energy Agency (project number 46439-1), the Swedish Research Council Formas (project number Dnr 2017-00677), the Research Council of Norway (GASPRO - Fundamental insight into biomass gasification using experiments and mathematical modelling, 267916), the Swedish Centre for Biomass Gasification (SFC, project number P34721-3) and the Centre for Combustion Science and Technology (CECOST).
2021-01-112021-01-112023-06-08Bibliographically approved