Gasification of Sugarcan Bagasse for Electricity Generation and Hydrogen Production in Burkina Faso

Abstract

The thesis focuses on the gasification of sugarcane bagasse in Burkina Faso using the SN-SOSUCO as a case study. The SN SOSUCO specializes in manufacturing light brown and refined sugar and also produces 122,552 tons of sugarcane bagasse per year as agricultural residues. The production of electrical energy for the sugar processing plant through the Rankine Cycle using the bagasse as Fuels releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and also involves airborne ash which is responsible for many health hazards. This thesis analyses the theoretical design of a downdraft gasifier in an air medium, including the evaluation of the electrical and hydrogen potential of the plant through modeling and simulation of the downdraft gasifier coupled with an open cycle gas turbine on Aspen Plus software using a thermodynamic equilibrium model, then followed by the techno-economic analysis of the simulated model and eventually, the life cycle assessment of the entire process on OpenLCA software. The results revealed that the gasification process coupled with a simple cycle gas turbine and membrane is more efficient than the Rankine Cycle in terms of hydrogen production and electricity generation and yet the techno-economic assessment showed that the simulated model was also economically viable with a total Net Present Worth of 3.38 million USD over a lifetime of 20 years. The Life Cycle Impact Assessment has shown that the simulated model has a lower Global Warming potential of 1.86 kg CO2 eq/MWh, while the sugarcane bagasse cogeneration plant of the SN-SOSUCO has a Global Warming Potential of 2.09 kg CO2 eq/MWh. However, more study needs to be undertaken for both technologies to reduce their impact on the environment.