Thermodynamic analysis of the transformation of biomass in fuels using global optimization techniques

• Grant number: 11/20666-8
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2012
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Process Industries
• Principal Investigator: Reginaldo Guirardello
• Grantee: Antonio Carlos Daltro de Freitas
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Química (FEQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

There is a growing interest in alternative sources of clean, safe and renewable energy, and in technologies for processing these sources into fuels. Among these processes, the supercritical water gasification (SCWG) reaction, for hydrogen production, and the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis reaction, for liquid fuels production, have occupied a prominent role. In this context, this project aims to perform thermodynamic analysis of reactions involved in the transformation of biomass into fuels, using for it, global optimization techniques. Methodologies will be applied to minimize Gibbs energy, in systems with constant pressure and temperature, and entropy maximization, in systems with constant pressure and enthalpy. The problems will be formulated in the form of nonlinear programming, and the proposed methodology will be implemented and solved in the software GAMS. The thermodynamic analysis of the transformation of different sources of biomass such as ethanol, glycerol, glucose, cellulose, lignin, sugar cane bagasse and microalgal biomass in hydrogen or syngas, through the SCWG reaction will be performed first. Later, the use of syngas produced will be thermodynamically evaluated for the production of liquid fuels such as methanol, ethanol, DME, gasoline and diesel, by the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction. We hope to contribute to a further elucidation of the more favorable reaction conditions for each of the cases examined, also considering strategies to increase the conversion of reactants and the productivity of the desired products, as well as the realization of the energy characterization of each one of the processes.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FREITAS, ANTONIO C. D.; GUIRARDELLO, REGINALDO. Use of CO2 as a co-reactant to promote syngas production in supercritical water gasification of sugarcane bagasse. JOURNAL OF CO2 UTILIZATION, v. 9, p. 66-73, MAR 2015. Web of Science Citations: 7.

FREITAS, ANTONIO C. D.; GUIRARDELLO, REGINALD. Comparison of several glycerol reforming methods for hydrogen and syngas production using Gibbs energy minimization. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY, v. 39, n. 31, p. 17969-17984, OCT 22 2014. Web of Science Citations: 33.

FREITAS, ANTONIO C. D.; GUIRARDELLO, REGINALDO. Thermodynamic analysis of methane reforming with CO2, CO2 + H2O, CO2 + O-2 and CO2 + air for hydrogen and synthesis gas production. JOURNAL OF CO2 UTILIZATION, v. 7, p. 30-38, SEP 2014. Web of Science Citations: 19.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

FREITAS, Antonio Carlos Daltro de. Thermodynamic analysis of biomass transformation in fuels using global optimization techniques. 2015. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Engenharia Química.