Proceedings of the
Second International Energy 2030 Conference,
November 4-5, 2008, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
Biomass Gasification Methanol Synthesis
Ahmad El Gaml
American University of Sharjah, UAE
Ahmad Saad
American University of Sharjah, UAE
Ayman Al Moghrabi
American University of Sharjah, UAE
Mohammad Al Aqqad
American University of Sharjah, UAE
Taleb Ibrahim
American University of Sharjah, UAE
Abbas Taher
Aqua Engineering Co. LLC, UAE
Abstract
Clean energy generation has been the world’s concern and goal for the last decades. Biomass is one of
the most reliable sources of clean energy utilized by industries nowadays. However, this utilization of
such sources requires the implementation of certain chemical processes to reach the desired fuel. The
biomass gasification process is used to convert the biomass (wood, sludge and waste) into synthesis gas
which can be used as a feedstock to other industries producing fuels.
Heavy hydrocarbon fuels are becoming widely used in our everyday life. However, these fuels have
been a threat to the environment. These fuels cause an increase in the emissions of carbon dioxide which
cause many environmental hazards such as the depletion of the ozone layer. Modern technologies have
shifted the view to the use of light hydrocarbons as fuels. Light fuel hydrocarbons may be a result of many
processes such as the treating of associated and non-associated gases from oil wells, and the most recent
way of using the unwanted biomass wastes to produce these light fuels.
Our main target in this project is to optimize and design a gasification and methanol synthesis process
by which light fuels such as methanol could be easily obtained from the biomass. However, it discusses
the production of light hydrocarbon fuels such as methanol from biomass wastes like animal manure of
woody wastes. The pathway to produce these fuels is by the gasification of the biomass in a fluidized bed
hydro-gasifier. Gasification is a thermo-chemical process intermediate between pyrolysis and combustion.
Limited amount of oxygen is fed at an elevated temperature to produce the energy rich gas or syngas.
The syngas consists mainly of methane gas, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and water
vapor. This syngas is then passed through an acid gas removal unit and treated for any traces of hydrogen
sulfide gas, which is a caustic gas when inhaled. After the acid gas treatment, the gas is then allowed to
pass through a steam pyrolysis reactor where the syngas and the LNG both react with steam to increase the
hydrogen and carbon monoxide contents of the gas to be fed to the fuel production unit (methanol reactor).
The rich gas then passes to the methanol reactor where carbon monoxide reacts with hydrogen gas to
yield the light hydrocarbon fuel. This light fuel passes then through the other units where the product is
concentrated to yield a low water content fuel. The methanol produced may further be used to generate
electricity using methanol fuel cells where methanol undergoes a certain electro-chemical reaction to
