Gasification of biomass for energy production has the potential to be a cost effective and environmentally sustainable technology. Small scale, 20-250 kWth, downdraft gasifiers have the ability to provide power from low cost regionally available fuel sources. This technology will be beneficial to many people in rural developing areas that lack access to traditional energy sources. A commercial 50 kWth downdraft gasifier providing fuel to an internal combustion engine/generator set was tested. The entire system was characterized to determine the operational parameters, electrical efficiency, and combined heat and power efficiency. The electrical efficiency was found to be 14.5%, and the combined efficiency was found to be 36.5%. The gasifier was tested with different feedstocks to determine operational parameters and synthesis gas composition resulting from different known fuel compositions. The data from these experiments was used to develop a model for predicting this systems performance for any fuel with known composition. The model and experimental data can be used to determine the cost-effectiveness of using a small scale downdraft gasifier for energy based on regional cost information. Research was conducted to determine the cost and composition of many different biomass sources. This researched information was used with the model and experimental data to determine this system's levelized cost of energy using various feedstocks . For all experimental and researched feedstocks, the average levelized costs were 101.60 $/MWh and 39.80 $/MWh for electricity and combined heat and power respectively. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester, 2011. / November 7, 2011. / Biomass, Energy, Gasification, Syngas / Includes bibliographical references. / Anjaneyulu Krothapalli, Professor Directing Thesis; Juan Carlos Ordóñez, Committee Member; Jonathan Clark, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183091 |
| Contributors | Roesch, Hans (authoraut), Krothapalli, Anjaneyulu (professor directing thesis), Ordóñez, Juan Carlos (committee member), Clark, Jonathan (committee member), Department of Mechanical Engineering (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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