Potential Application of Canola Hull Fuel Pellets for the Production of Synthesis Gas and Hydrogen

Ramin Azargohar (), Sonil Nanda, He Cheng and Ajay K. Dalai ()
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Ramin Azargohar: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
Sonil Nanda: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
He Cheng: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada
Ajay K. Dalai: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 22, 1-15

Abstract: The production of biopellets from agricultural residues is an effective method to overcome the expected shortage in the supply of fuel pellets in the future. This work focused on the new potential applications of fuel pellets to produce liquid and gas fuels through thermochemical and hydrothermal biomass-to-gas technologies. The outcomes also provide a basis to compare the effects of steam and hydrothermal gasification techniques on the properties of product and byproduct, as well as their potentials. For steam gasification, the syngas yield increased from 10.7 to 27.8 mmol/g (on a dry and ash-free basis) by a rise in the gasification temperature at a constant steam-to-biomass ratio. In the case of hydrothermal gasification, there was no carbon monoxide, and hydrogen was the main gas product, and with an increase in the temperature, the hydrogen yield rose from 0.4 mmol/g to 3.17 mmol/g with temperatures from 350 to 650 °C. CO had the largest share in the gas product from steam gasification, which was between 23.3 and 31.3 mol%. The range of the molar ratio of H 2 /CO for the steam gasification (1.13–1.40) showed the necessity of the further purification of gas products to utilize them as feed for liquid fuel production using the Fischer–Tropsch process. Examination of the mineral content of biochar that remained after the gasification techniques showed large essential elements in them compared with heavy metals, which shows potential for soil amendment. The results highlight the possibility of converting an agricultural residue into a value-added product with potential applications in the energy sector and agriculture.

Keywords: canola hull; biopellets; steam gasification; supercritical water gasification; biochar; hydrogen (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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