Efeito de um reservatório de gás (pulmão) na melhoria da eficiência energética de um gaseificador de biomassa

Abstract

In recent years, biomass gasification has been one of the most promising alternatives to clean energy generation, which turns biomass into a fuel capable of generating energy through direct combustion or feeding internal combustion engines to power generation. Much has been invested in gasification research, with the purpose of making it more practical and more efficient. In this sense, the present work aims to investigate the performance of a biomass gasifier to which a gas tank (lung) has been incorporated. All the experiments was carried out at the Laboratory of Innovation (LI) of the Federal University of Paraíba - UFPB. The devices used in the tests were a biomass gasifier with a capacity of 80 kWt, a MWM 229/6 diesel engine, six-cylinder, converted to gas, a Negrine generator with a prime power of 150 kVa, and standby power of 120 kW, a poor gas storage tank, a load simulator and several measuring instruments. In order to evaluate the importance of the lung in the functioning of the system formed by the gasifier/generator set, several experiments were carried out, initially without the lung, and then including it. It was verified that the storage tank influenced in the amplification of the electric power generated, and also made it possible to reduce the system start time and stabilize the engine at all power levels. It also prevented the gas washing water from being drawn into the filter sleeve and into the engine. The results of the present work were compared with those of Rumão (2013) and Bezerra (2016), allowing to observe that in the present work it was possible to reach higher power, with high efficiencies. The maximum power obtained in the tests was 32 kWe, with efficiency of 93.65% for the gasifier, and 19.75% for the generator set.