Performance Assessment of Co-Gasification Process for Syngas Production Using Multi-Biomass Feedstocks

The investigation focused on alternative energy production from biomass residuals, predominantly located in Northern Thailand, for year-round utilization. The biomass gasification model was created in Aspen Plus. The cassava stalk served as a foundational biomass for blending with additional materials. Increased equivalent ratio (ER) increased syngas yield, while higher gasifying temperatures decreased it. The total energy demand rose with increasing ER, whereas it decreased with higher gasifying temperatures. The gasification process may transition from exothermic to endothermic when the ER exceeds 0.25. The effect of mixing ratio of 1) cassava stalk and 2) rice straw, or 3) cane stalks, or 4) corn stalk at 1:0, 4:1, 3:2, and 2:3 on the gasification performance was investigated. The maximum syngas yield of all mixture cases at each gasifying temperature was achieved at mixing ratio of 2:3 and ER of 0.3. This study discovered blending cassava stalk with seasonal leftovers like rice straw, cane stalks, and corn stalks in a 2:3 ratio generated outstanding syngas year-round in Thailand. For the blended biomass feed rate of 10 kg/h, the maximum syngas yield of 0.356 kmol/h was achieved for the mixture of cassava stalk and rice straw at a gasifying temperature of 900°C.