Integration of energy storage and determination of optimal solar system size for biomass fast-pyrolysis

This study presents a model and analysis of a heliostat field collector (HFC) system integration with fast-pyrolysis of biomass and determination of the optimal solar system size for this integrated system. Given the intermittent nature of solar energy, an auxiliary heater and a thermochemical energy storage system (TCES) are included. Four cases of HFC integration with the fast-pyrolysis process have been studied: 1) low solar radiation, 2) sufficient solar radiation, 3) high solar radiation, and 4) no solar radiation with available stored energy in TCES. The solar energy system was modeled and calculated using the Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software, while the fast-pyrolysis process and the TCES were simulated using the Aspen Plus software. A thermodynamic and economic analysis has been conducted to estimate the share of solar energy for different process configurations. Economic calculations have been conducted for three different heliostat filed areas: 4000, 8000, and 12000 m². Solar fraction, investment and operational costs, as well as total cost were calculated for these three heliostat field areas. The results indicate that the optimum heliostat field area for the studied biomass pyrolysis plant is 8000 m² and the average solar fraction of the required energy in summer is 0.39 and while it is 0.34 for the whole year. Simulation results considering this optimized heliostat filed area indicate that 6.27 t/h of bio-oil is produced from 10 t/h of hybrid poplar biomass. Implementing this solar-assisted system reduces CO₂ emissions, increases efficiency of the system and lowers thermal energy requirement for the fast-pyrolysis process from 6 MW to 3.99 MW.