MinerAlert
MinerAlert
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), in collaboration with CPFD Software, is leading advanced research in sustainable energy with a focus on co-gasification of sustainable feedstocks. Researchers from UTEP’s Aerospace Center are using Barracuda Virtual Reactor, a powerful computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, to model and optimize fluidized bed systems that convert municipal solid waste (MSW) and biomass into blue hydrogen fuel.
This collaboration reflects a growing emphasis on regional sustainability, energy diversification, and carbon footprint reduction. The project’s goal is to create a scalable, efficient, and viable technology that can empower communities, with resilient energy solutions sourced from local waste and biomass.
Aerospace Center’s Energy and Sustainability Frontier team is currently developing a 300 kWth pilot-scale fluidized-bed co-gasifier, capable of processing locally sourced MSW and biomass. The system is designed to produce hydrogen-rich syngas, a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, by gasifying feedstocks in a fluidized environment.
By modifying key parameters such as temperature, pressure, feedstock ratios, and gasifying agents, researchers aim to enhance hydrogen yield and overall system efficiency. However, due to the complex and heterogeneous nature of the waste feedstocks, traditional modeling approaches are limited in their ability to predict reactor performance with accuracy.
Developed by CPFD Software, Barracuda Virtual Reactor is a leading CFD tool designed specifically for simulating the physics of fluidized beds and other particle-fluid systems. It allows researchers to visualize and analyze dynamic interactions between solid particles and gas phases, capturing phenomena such as hydrodynamics, chemical reactions, and heat transfer.
“We are planning to use Barracuda Virtual Reactor to model a comprehensive fluidized bed system and study key variables in systems involving mixed and irregular solid particles,” said Sumit Chanda, a Ph.D. researcher at the UTEP Aerospace Center. “The ability to simulate the interactions between fluid flow, particle mixing, and thermal dynamics helps us explore scenarios that are complicated in behavior and often hard to theoretically predict. It’s a game-changer for research that has traditionally relied on empirical data.”
“One of the major goals of this research is to optimize co-gasification systems under varying operating conditions, especially given the variability of heterogeneous feedstocks,” said Nawshad Arslan Islam, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at UTEP and a co-principal investigator on the project. “The Barracuda platform enables us to model those complex interactions in detail, ultimately leading to a better understanding of how to design more robust and efficient gasification systems.”
In addition to the technical work, the UTEP team is performing a techno-economic and life-cycle analysis (LCA) to evaluate the commercial feasibility and environmental impact of co-gasification technologies. The goal is not just to prove the concept, but to develop a deployable system that supports circular economic initiatives and local energy independence.
CPFD Software is proud to support UTEP in this effort and looks forward to the insights and breakthroughs that this collaboration will generate.
https://cpfd-software.com/utep-partners-with-cpfd-software-to-advance-blue-hydrogen-research/
About the Aerospace Center
The Aerospace Center at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is launching the future of aerospace innovation, research, and workforce development. Our mission is to drive pioneering discoveries that push the boundaries of research, technology, and exploration with our partners in government, industry, and other research institutions. Through immersive, hands-on education in state-of-the-art laboratories, we empower students to become pioneers of the New Frontier. By fostering economic mobility and workforce readiness, we equip a new generation of visionaries to shape the cosmos of aerospace for our region, strengthen national security, and drive humanity’s journey beyond the horizon.