CO-GASIFICATION OF ALGAE WITH MICROPLASTICS AS A HANDLING ALTERNATIVE TO PRODUCE HYDROGEN-RICH SYNGAS: A MODELLING STUDY

Seaweed is of importance to the environment due to properties such as its CO2 sequestration capabilities. Microplastics found in microalgae restrict their applications, (e.g. food production is not possible with contaminated algae), hence, alternative handling methodologies are required. At first glance, algae and plastics might not appear suitable for energy recovery technologies due to characteristics, however, with co-gasification, where different feedstocks are gasified together, results are promising. This work presents a model to simulate the air co gasification of sargassum (Chlorella Vulgaris, Sargassum Fluitans and Sargassum Natans) with a plastic mixture (composed of polyethylene, polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate). The effect of the gasification temperature (650-850°C), equivalence ratio (0.25-0.45) and plastics/biomass ratio (0.0 - 1.0) in the produced gas Lower Heating Value, tar concentration, Cold Gas Efficiency and H2/CO ratio was assessed. Results indicate that the Lower Heating Value increases with temperature and plastics/biomass ratio, while the Cold Gas Efficiency is negligibly affected. Moreover, the tar concentration increases with the presence of plastics, varying between circa 20 (at MR=0.0) and 50 g/Nm3 (at MR=1.0). Finally it was found that the addition of plastics to algae during gasification reduces the variability in the produced syngas composition, simplifying the syngas post-processing. © 2023 ETA-Florence Renewable Energies.

CO-GASIFICATION OF ALGAE WITH MICROPLASTICS AS A HANDLING ALTERNATIVE TO PRODUCE HYDROGEN-RICH SYNGAS: A MODELLING STUDY Academic Article in Scopus