Comprehensive study of three configurations coproducing synthetic fuels and electricity from palm residue via Fischer-Tropsch process

The continuous date production growth in Tunisia is accompanied by a larger agriculture residue. This residue could contribute to meeting the national targets for renewable energy. The main objective of this research is to investigate coproducing synthetic fuels and electricity from Tunisian Palm Residue via a Fischer-Tropsch process. Three different configurations were considered: Base case, Auto-Thermal-Reforming case, and Power case. Various chemical engineering tools were applied including process design, simulation as well as energy and exergy analyses. The results obtained showed that the Auto-Thermal-Reforming case proves to be more efficient in terms of Fischer-Tropsch liquid fuels productivity under our recommended conditions: oxygen to carbon ratio of 1 and steam to carbon ratio of 2.25. The rise of burned fraction in power case leads to lower chemical conversion efficiency. The best energetic performance is attributed to the power case. This process promotes the production of electricity in expenses of liquid fuels. It presents an increase by 3 times of the equivalent conversion efficiency compared to the Auto-Thermal-Reforming case. The exergetic efficiency of the power case is 26.5%. The large portion of total exergy destruction belongs to the syngas section which should have the highest priority for thermodynamic improvement of the process. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.