Techno-economic assessment of a dual-fluidized-bed system for biomass gasification driven by concentrated solar energy

Abstract

Solar gasification of biomass enhances biomass conversion for synthetic fuel production, while intermittency is addressed using a solar dual fluidized bed system. This work aims to technically and economically assess the implementation and viability of the proposed 50 MW_th gasification plant. For the best-case scenario of Lhasa in China under solar multiple 2.5, optimized TES of 16 h is obtained from further evaluation and around 19 % of the total annually produced char is enough to meet the rest of heat demand. The levelized cost of fuel production is 9328.97 CNY/ton. The project demonstrated economic viability with a payback period of 9.94 years and positive net present value of 1523.078 × 10⁶ CNY and an internal rate of return of 11.642 % surpassing the discount rate of 5 %. Further sensitivity analysis shows char value and production capacity have most impact economic performance followed by capital investment, tax and biomass cost.