Simulation analysis of municipal solid waste pyrolysis and gasification based on Aspen plus

Abstract

To predict and analyze the municipal solid waste (MSW) pyrolysis and gasification process in an up-draft fixed bed more veritably and appropriately, numerical modeling based on Gibbs energy minimization was executed using the Aspen plus software. The RYield module was combined with the RGibbs module to describe the pyrolysis section, while the RGibbs module was used for the gasification section individually. The proposed model was used to forecast and analyze the target performance parameters including syngas composition, lower heating value (LHV) and carbon conversion rate under different conditions of the gasification temperatures, and ratios and types of gasifying agents. The results indicate that there is a good agreement between the experimental data and the simulated data obtained using this model. The predicted optimum gasification temperature is approximately 750°C, and the best ratio of water vapor as gasifying agent is around 0.4. The mixture of flue gas and water vapor has an economical and recycled prospect among four commonly used gasifying agents.

Keywords

municipal solid waste (MSW) / pyrolysis / gasification / Aspen plus / simulation

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Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg