Feasibility of an Integrated Biomass-based CLC Combustion and Renewable-energy-based Methanol Production System

An integrated process layout comprising different systems for the chemical looping combustion of biomasses, the hydrogen production via renewable energies driven water electrolysis, and the methanol production is proposed and numerically investigated. The core of the layout consists of a multiple interconnected fluidized bed (MFB) system for the chemical looping combustion (CLC) of solid fuels. The system includes a two-stage fuel reactor (t-FR), a riser (Air Reactor), and a loop-seal and a L-valve for the regulation of the solid circulation between the two reactors. The methanol unit was modelled though a cooled fixed bed reactor and the performance was evaluated by considering that the CO2 stream coming from the t-FR reacts over Cu/ZnO supported on alumina catalyst with a H2 pure stream coming from an array of electrolytic cells. The overall performance of the system was evaluated by considering chemical and physical properties of six types of Mediterranean area biomass as fuels and of CuO supported on zirconia as oxygen carrier, respectively. By considering that only energy coming from renewable sources (such as photovoltaic panels or wind turbines) was fed to the EC array, the capability of the proposed process to be used as an energy storage system for excess energy production from renewable sources was assessed.