More information
Description
The project aims to address the climate change and clean water deficiency issues.
The project will propose a concept for integrated renewable energy generation and water desalination.
The project is planned to determine the feasibility of such concept.
The energy and water treatment sectors of industry will benefit from this project directly, while the general public will be the indirect beneficiary.
The projects will be carried out by a single organisation that will be responsible for the whole project realisation.
Summary of project results
The FlowChar project is aimed at the experimental research on the concept of combined biomass gasification–water desalination system, where residual char from biomass gasification would be utilised as flow electrodes in the capacitive deionisation of water, and then returned to the gasification reactor. The idea behind such a system is to provide an accessible and inexpensive electrode material and to catalyse the gasification reactions by the addition of the spent char enriched with alkali metals adsorbed during desalination. The general objective of the project is to verify the feasibility of the coupling of these two processes and to assess the potential of the fresh char application as electrodes and spent char potential as a catalyst. The work program comprises three packages devoted to three consecutive steps of the integration of the gasification and desalination processes, namely: (i) biomass gasification experiments to prepare different char samples, (ii) water desalination tests to determine ion adsorption on flow electrodes prepared with the created char (iii) spent char gasification to investigate the catalytic effects of the adsorbed metals. Biomass gasification and water desalination tests will be carried out in laboratory scale reactors, while instrumental analyses will be applied for char gasification and characterisation. The implementation of the project will deliver a proof of concept for a biomass gasification–water desalination system. Moreover, the overview of residual chars, the conditions of their formation, and their efficiency as flow electrodes will be obtained along with the assessment of the catalytic effect of metal ions adsorbed on the char during desalination. Thus, the outcomes of the FlowChar project will allow for the assessment of the technological, economical, and environmental aspects of the biomass gasification–water desalination concept and its further development, e.g. assembling a pilot scale installation.
The project focused on the concept of the application of the biomass gasification by-product, char, as the flow-electrode for water desalination using flow-electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI) process, and of the consequent utilization of the spent electrode material by recirculation to the gasifier. Such arrangement should allow for combined heat, power, and clean water production in a sustainable way.
The workplan addressed three following issues: 1) obtaining residual gasification chars with high porosity, 2) desalinating water using electrodes made from these chars, and 3) utilisation of the spent electrodes by their further gasification.
Experimental work proved the feasibility of the concept, showing efficient performance of the chars in desalination process, and sufficient reactivity of the spent material to be discarded by means of gasification process. Detailed analysis allowed determining what gasification conditions favours porous char formation and which feedstocks are most suitable for char-electrode preparation. The utilization of the spent electrodes was also successfully achieved.
These findings suggest that the coupling of the biomass gasification for heat and power, with water desalination for clean water production using gasification char as the material connecting both techniques has a potential to meet the requirements of the circular economy for energy production and water treatment. Providing sufficient FCDI desalination technology development, which is currently not yet a commercialised process, the proposed combination may become a highly beneficial arrangement, e.g., for the remote location agricultural sites that require uninterrupted energy and water resources to operate efficiently.
The project addressed three following issues: 1) preparation of the residual gasification chars with high porosity, 2) water desalination using electrodes made with these chars, and 3) utilisation of the spent electrodes by their further gasification.
The results showed that the concept of using gasification chars as the electrode for water desalination, and consequent utilization of the spent electrode by recirculating it to the gasifier is feasible, with a good performance of the chars in desalination process, and sufficient recovery of the spent material to be discarded by means of gasification process.
These findings suggest that the coupling of the biomass gasification for heat and power with water desalination for clean water production could be achieved with the gasification char as the material connecting both techniques. Providing sufficient FCDI desalination technology development, which is currently not yet commercialised, the proposed combination might become a highly beneficial arrangement, e.g. for the remote location agricultural sites that require uninterrupted energy and water resources to operate efficiently.