Si-C Foam Porous-Medium Combustion Power-Generation System for Low-Calorific-Value Biomass Syngas

  • YANG Jianwen ,
  • CHEN Wei ,
  • CAO Bingwei ,
  • LIU Xinhui ,
  • LI Hang
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  • 1. College of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China
    2. School of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Changchun University, Changchun 130022, China

Online published: 2025-01-09

Supported by

This research was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (NO. 2016YFC0802904).

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024

Abstract

Syngas produced from the gasification of organic feedstocks from biomass is one of the clean and sustainable sources of energy. The advantages of simple access and renewability of biomass energy can meet the energy needs of temporary power supply. This study presents a biomass power-generation system for vehicular applications. Using biomass and a free-piston Stirling engine generator (FPSEG) as the primary material and prime mover, respectively, biomass energy is converted into electricity by combusting the syngas to heat the FPSEG. Matching and key parameter design for biomass gasification and thermoelectric conversion systems within a power generation system were performed. A porous medium area was constructed using Si-C foam ceramics to obtain an energy-conversion experimental platform. The effects of bed height, porosity, porous-region diameter, and air-intake conditions on the power-generation performance were investigated, and optimisations were performed for the thermoelectric conversion system. The rate of increase during FPSEG power generation first increased and then decreased with increasing bed height, peaking at a bed height of 40 mm. An increasing porous-region diameter accelerated FPSEG power generation, whereas porosity changes in the porous media did not significantly affect the rate of change during FPSEG power generation. With increasing air intake, the rate of increase during power generation first increased and then decreased. The maximum change rate and the highest thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the power-generation system occurred at 9.5 m3/h and 6.5 m3/h (~45.1%) air intakes, respectively. Optimising the thermal inertia and combustion structure of the thermoelectric conversion system significantly increased the power-generation rate of the system, with 1.8 W/s being observed at a 9.7 m3/h air intake.

Cite this article

YANG Jianwen , CHEN Wei , CAO Bingwei , LIU Xinhui , LI Hang . Si-C Foam Porous-Medium Combustion Power-Generation System for Low-Calorific-Value Biomass Syngas[J]. Journal of Thermal Science, 2025 , 34(1) : 206 -222 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-024-2059-0

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