SYNGAS FOR METHANOL PRODUCTION FROM PALM OIL BIOMASS RESIDUES GASIFICATION

In Colombia, Biodiesel is produced from palm oil and methanol; this methanol could be obtained from gasification of the raw palm oil residuals. The complete process includes: pre-treatment of the biomass, gasification, the cleaning and conditioning of the gas and finally the synthesis of methanol. In this article, a review of the gasification stage is carried out, a classification of the existent gasification reactors is presented and the characteristics of three types of gasifiers are detailed. Furthermore, a summary of certain chemical and physical requirements of the gas obtained by the gasification process are introduced. Some conditions are highlighted: the ratio hydrogen to carbon monoxide (H2/CO) must be close to two and, the quantities of diluted nitrogen, sulphur and water in the gas must be low. Keeping in mind these characteristics we proceeded to recommend the gasifier and gasification medium convenient for the results preferred. Finally, a chemical equilibrium – fluid dynamic model is introduced to estimate the composition of the gas produced and to study the effect of the temperature and operation pressure in the quality of the gas produced. The gasification process considers a fluidized bed gasifier and the simulated results are compared with experimental data. The results showed that the simulation approach accurately represents the gasification process and allows considering the simulation for some other biomass residues.