OIL SLUDGE THERMOCHEMICAL CONVERSION: GASIFICATION AND AMMONIA SYNTHESIS CASE

Abstract

This work aims to evaluate the gasification of oily sludge (OS) and the potential use of produced gas as feedstock for ammonia production. For this purpose, a computational gasification model was developed and validated in Aspen Hysys® v. 11.0 software to evaluate the influence of air/steam mixtures as gasification agents on the studied parameters. The Lower Heating Value (LHV) of the producer gas varied between 5 and 10 MJ/m3 for equivalence ratios greater than 0.3. The molar concentration of H2 increased to 24.9% at 1380°C and decreased to 21.5% at 1700°C. Finally, the producer gas was used to synthesize ammonia, where a conversion of more than 90% was obtained at a pressure of 100 bar and a temperature of 450°C. The results showed that oil sludge gasification could be a viable alternative to efficiently converting refinery waste into valuable products.