Comparative Analysis of Synthetic Natural Gas versus Hydrogen Production from Bagasse

Abstract

A rigorous and comparative evaluation of two biomass-to-gases (BtG) conversion routes was performed and, according to this outcome, it is suggested which of the options evaluated is most desirable. These options, the hydrogen and synthetic natural gas (SNG) production, were designed in Aspen Plus process simulation software. Sugar cane bagasse was considered as feedstock. Mass and energy balance data were extracted from the simulations, and consequently thermodynamic (exergy analysis), economic (financial and uncertainty analysis), and environmental (CO2 emissions) evaluations were carried out. Exergy and environmental analysis favor the SNG production while the hydrogen route provides higher profits.