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Article

Simulation of Batch Slow Pyrolysis of Biomass Materials Using the Process-Flow-Diagram COCO Simulator

by
Chaiyot Tangsathitkulchai
1,*,
Natthaya Punsuwan
2 and
Piyarat Weerachanchai
3
1
School of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand
2
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ubon Ratchathani University, Ubon Ratchathani 34190, Thailand
3
Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637141, Singapore
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Processes 2019, 7(11), 775; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7110775
Submission received: 21 September 2019 / Revised: 21 October 2019 / Accepted: 21 October 2019 / Published: 24 October 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Progress in Thermochemical Conversion of Solid Fuels)

Abstract

The commercial COCO simulation program was used to mimic the experimental slow pyrolysis process of five different biomasses based on thermodynamic consideration. The program generated the optimum set of reaction kinetic parameters and reaction stoichiometric numbers that best described the experimental yields of solid, liquid and gas products. It was found that the simulation scheme could predict the product yields over the temperature range from 300 to 800 °C with reasonable accuracy of less than 10% average error. An attempt was made to generalize the biomass pyrolysis behavior by dividing the five biomasses into two groups based on the single-peak and two-peak characteristics of the DTG (derivative thermogravimetry) curves. It was found that this approximate approach was able to predict the product yields reasonably well. The proposed simulation method was extended to the analysis of slow pyrolysis results derived from previous investigations. The results obtained showed that the prediction errors of product yields were relatively large, being 12.3%, 10.6%, and 27.5% for the solid, liquid, and gas products, respectively, possibly caused by differing pyrolysis conditions from those used in the simulation. The prediction of gas product compositions by the simulation program was reasonably satisfactory, but was less accurate for predicting the compositions of liquid products analyzed in forms of hydrocarbons, aromatics and oxygenated fractions. In addition, information on the kinetics of thermal decomposition of biomass in terms of the variation of fractional conversion with time was also derived as a function of temperature and biomass type.
Keywords: biomass pyrolysis; cassava pulp residue; coconut shell; process simulation model; palm shell; palm kernel cake; longan fruit seed biomass pyrolysis; cassava pulp residue; coconut shell; process simulation model; palm shell; palm kernel cake; longan fruit seed

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MDPI and ACS Style

Tangsathitkulchai, C.; Punsuwan, N.; Weerachanchai, P. Simulation of Batch Slow Pyrolysis of Biomass Materials Using the Process-Flow-Diagram COCO Simulator. Processes 2019, 7, 775. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7110775

AMA Style

Tangsathitkulchai C, Punsuwan N, Weerachanchai P. Simulation of Batch Slow Pyrolysis of Biomass Materials Using the Process-Flow-Diagram COCO Simulator. Processes. 2019; 7(11):775. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7110775

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tangsathitkulchai, Chaiyot, Natthaya Punsuwan, and Piyarat Weerachanchai. 2019. "Simulation of Batch Slow Pyrolysis of Biomass Materials Using the Process-Flow-Diagram COCO Simulator" Processes 7, no. 11: 775. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7110775

APA Style

Tangsathitkulchai, C., Punsuwan, N., & Weerachanchai, P. (2019). Simulation of Batch Slow Pyrolysis of Biomass Materials Using the Process-Flow-Diagram COCO Simulator. Processes, 7(11), 775. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7110775

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