Sustainable valorisation of palm oil side stream empty fruit bunch into low carbon SNGV via steam gasification with CO₂ capture: Kinetic modelling, thermodynamic efficiency, and process safety implications

IF 7.9 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL

Process Safety and Environmental Protection Pub Date : 2026-11-15 Epub Date: 2026-10-14 DOI:10.1016/j.psep.2026.109733

Muhammad Ammar, Muhammad Shahbaz, Abrar Inayat, Arshid Mahmood Ali, Sami Ullah Rather, Muhammad Imran, Khurram Shahzad

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Natural gas is less polluting than oil, and its production from biomass-derived feedstocks offers a low-carbon alternative without infrastructure changes. However, hard-to-abate agro-industrial sectors generate significant side-streams such as palm empty fruit bunches (EFB), whose unsafe storage and handling pose fire, explosion, and fugitive emission hazards. This study addresses both valorisation and risk reduction by developing a MATLAB-based kinetic model to convert EFB into H₂-rich syngas and subsequently into synthetic natural gas for vehicles (SNGV) via steam gasification with CO₂ capture. Sensitivity analyses were conducted for syngas and methane formation, energy and material flows, and thermodynamic efficiency. Syngas composition varied with temperature (873–973 K): H₂ (60.5–75.1 vol%), CO (16.1–8.1 vol%), CO₂ (2.2–4.7 vol%), and CH₄ (21.3–12.2 vol%). Validation showed a regression coefficient of 0.99. SNGV composition increased slightly with temperature (533–573 K) but decreased as temperature rose further (873–973 K, 89.1–79.8 vol%). The steam-to-EFB ratio enhanced SNGV up to a ratio of 2 but decreased beyond that, with CO₂ showing an opposite trend. Heating values decreased with temperature: LHV (32.8–29.78 MJ/Nm³) and HHV (36.38–32.98 MJ/Nm³). Energy requirements (13,815 kJ/hr) exceeded energy released (11,703 kJ/hr), indicating the need for heat integration. Maximum thermodynamic efficiency was 94.9% (at 873 K and steam/EFB ratio of 2.4), influenced by Steam/EFB ratio > Temperature > Sorbent/EFB ratio. From a process safety perspective, the operating temperature range (873–973 K) exceeds the auto-ignition temperatures of H₂ and CO, necessitating stringent leak prevention and inerting measures to minimise the risk of ignition and ensure safe operation. This study establishes a baseline for the safe and sustainable production of H₂ and SNGV from biomass side-streams as an alternative to natural gas, with quantified links between operating parameters, hazard potential, and environmental performance.

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棕榈油侧流空果束通过带有CO 2捕集的蒸汽气化转化为低碳SNGV的可持续价值：动力学建模、热力学效率和过程安全意义

天然气比石油污染更少，从生物质原料中生产天然气提供了一种低碳的替代方案，而无需改变基础设施。然而，难以减少的农业工业部门产生了大量的侧流，如棕榈空果束（EFB），其不安全的储存和处理造成火灾、爆炸和逃逸排放危险。本研究通过开发基于matlab的动力学模型，将EFB转化为富含H₂的合成气，随后通过蒸汽气化和CO₂捕获转化为汽车用合成天然气（SNGV），从而解决了估值和降低风险的问题。对合成气和甲烷形成、能量和物质流动以及热力学效率进行了敏感性分析。合成气成分随温度变化（873-973 K）： H₂（60.5-75.1 vol%）， CO(16.1-8.1 vol%), CO₂（2.2-4.7 vol%）和CH₄（21.3-12.2 vol%）。验证结果显示回归系数为0.99。SNGV组成随温度升高（533 ~ 573 K）略有增加，但随温度进一步升高（873 ~ 973 K, 89.1 ~ 79.8 vol%）而降低。蒸汽与efb的比值使SNGV增大到2，但在此之后就减小了，CO₂则呈现相反的趋势。热值随温度的升高而降低：LHV （32.8 ~ 29.78 MJ/Nm³）和HHV （36.38 ~ 32.98 MJ/Nm³）。能量需求（13,815 kJ/hr）大于释放的能量（11,703 kJ/hr），表明需要热集成。最大热力学效率为94.9%(873 K，蒸汽/EFB比为2.4)，受蒸汽/EFB比、温度和吸附剂/EFB比的影响。从过程安全的角度来看，工作温度范围（873-973 K）超过了H₂和CO的自燃温度，因此需要严格的防泄漏和保护措施，以最大限度地降低着火风险并确保安全运行。该研究为从生物质侧流中安全、可持续地生产氢气和SNGV作为天然气的替代品建立了基线，并量化了操作参数、潜在危害和环境绩效之间的联系。

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来源期刊

Process Safety and Environmental Protection 环境科学-工程：化工

CiteScore

11.40

自引率

15.40%

发文量

929

审稿时长

8.0 months

期刊介绍： The Process Safety and Environmental Protection (PSEP) journal is a leading international publication that focuses on the publication of high-quality, original research papers in the field of engineering, specifically those related to the safety of industrial processes and environmental protection. The journal encourages submissions that present new developments in safety and environmental aspects, particularly those that show how research findings can be applied in process engineering design and practice. PSEP is particularly interested in research that brings fresh perspectives to established engineering principles, identifies unsolved problems, or suggests directions for future research. The journal also values contributions that push the boundaries of traditional engineering and welcomes multidisciplinary papers. PSEP's articles are abstracted and indexed by a range of databases and services, which helps to ensure that the journal's research is accessible and recognized in the academic and professional communities. These databases include ANTE, Chemical Abstracts, Chemical Hazards in Industry, Current Contents, Elsevier Engineering Information database, Pascal Francis, Web of Science, Scopus, Engineering Information Database EnCompass LIT (Elsevier), and INSPEC. This wide coverage facilitates the dissemination of the journal's content to a global audience interested in process safety and environmental engineering.