Biomass gasification is widely recognized as an effective method to obtain renewable energy. To accurately predict the syngas and tar compositions is a challenge. A chemical reaction kinetics model based on comprehensive gasification kinetics is proposed to simulate downdraft biomass gasification. The kinetic model is validated by direct comparison to experimental results of two downdraft gasifiers available in the literature and is found to be more accurate than the widely used Gibbs energy‐minimizing model (GEM model). The kinetic model is then applied to investigate the effects of equivalence ratio (ER), gasification temperature, biomass moisture content, and biomass composition on syngas and tar production. Accurate water‐gas shift and CO shift reaction kinetics are found critical to achieve good agreement with experimental results.

where he teaches Material and Energy Balances, Unit Operations, Transport Phenomena and Mathematical / Computational Methods. He is the recipient of the 2014 NCSU Outstanding Teacher Award, 2014 ASEE Southeastern Section Outstanding New Teacher Award, and the 2016 ASEE ChE Division Raymond W. Fahien Award. Dr. Cooper's research interests include effective teaching, conceptual and inductive learning, integrating writing and speaking into the curriculum and professional ethics.

The role of biomass in energy and fuel production as an alternative to fossil fuel is vitally important considering carbon dioxide production vs. secure energy. Sustainable, renewable and reliable resources of domestically produced biomass together with wind and solar energy are sensible options to support a small-scale power generation to meet local electricity demand plus provide heat for rural development. The present work focuses on: 1. Design, build and operate a vertical downdraft biomass gasifier with tar removal 2. Establishing the optimum operating methodology and parameters to maximize syngas production in biomass gasification through process testing. The one ton per day biomass gasification process unit designed in this work included a downdraft biomass thermochemical conversion gasifier, gas transportation line with tar removal and an enclosed combustion chamber. The reactor used internal heat transfer surfaces to enhance intra-bed heat and mass transfer inside the reactor. Three different woody biomass feedstock including pellets, picks and flakes were examined in this work. Specific results described in this paper include identifying and characterizing the key operating factors (i.e., temperature profile, feed stock carbon/hydrogen mass ratio, and air flow rate) required to optimize reactor yield. To achieve the maximum syngas production yield, experiments carried out using classical experimental design methodology.

This paper offers a landscape analysis of communication instruction within six Canadian and two American Engineering faculties by bringing together approaches and perspectives from communication instructors at these institutes. Each instructor shares a summary of their institution’s approach to communication instruction, before discussing a course-level initiative. Similarities between these approaches at a course and institutional level are summarized and discussed.

Declining worldwide crude oil reserves and increasing energy needs have the attentions focused on developing existing unconventional fossil fuels including oil shale. America's richest oil shale deposits are found in the Green River Formation of western Colorado, eastern Utah and south-western Wyoming. The current work describes process simulation of an ex-situ oil shale pyrolysis process in a pyrolytic reactor using a novel method involving external and internal heating to increase heat transfer and mixing ratio inside the reactor. Efforts to improve process yield for commercial operation relies on first developing a complete Aspen based process model of a proposed shale refining plant, identifying the key process parameters for the reactor and then optimizing the overall process. Simulation results are compared to earlier experimental data collected from a pilot scale rotary reactor operated by Combustion Resources Inc. (CR). This work identified the critical impact of bed temperature on crude production in such a way that for a bed temperature of less than 400°C, results showed less than 10% conversion in crude production and for bed temperatures between 450 and 500°C, above 90% conversion was achieved. The proposed model consists of four zones including drying, shale reactions, natural gas combustion and gas/oil recovery. Different cases were defined and studied based on various operational conditions. Optimized operational values for the key parameters including reactor temperature, reactor volume and feed rate were given as results to maximum shale oil production.