Archive for the ‘Bio Processes’ category

Cellulose-to-Butanol : Direct Conversion Technology Developed

April 7th, 2011

Seems Biobutanol is really gaining the much required momentum. It is regularly getting featured in the energy industry headlines these days. Last week there was a post in our blog about a photobiological process for producing biobutanol (Click to view) and now there is one more breakthrough in butanol fuel production.

Researchers at Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center (BESC), led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have achieved a remarkable advancement that would positively influence the drive toward next generation biofuels. They have come up with a breakthrough technology of using bacteria to convert plant matter directly into isobutanol, which can be burned in regular gasoline engines with a heat value higher than ethanol and similar to gasoline.

More info - Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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Posted in Bio Processes, Biofuel, Science Technology R&D

Tags: biobutanol Research

Syngas from Switchgrass – Process and Evaluation

July 15th, 2009

A detailed article on deriving syngas from switchgrass and similar feedstock

See here for more

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Posted in Bio Sources, Cellulosic Ethanol, Gasification, Switchgrass

Tags: Bio process Evaluation Synthetic Gas

Low Temperature Gasification of Corn Stover – UMM Encounters Problems

July 9th, 2009

It was interesting for me to read about a unique gasifier that UMM (University of Minnesota, Morris) was experimenting with.

UMM’s goal was to create the first gasifier that incinerates the fuel temperatures of 1,000 degrees or lower, producing gas that can be used to create steam for UMM’s system while also preserving minerals in the ash so it can be used in soils. Now, most solid fuel gasifiers burn heavy density wood at a temperature of about 3,000 degrees, and the ash produced can only be used for limited purposes, such as wallboard.

I think the lower temperature gasification is interesting from many aspects. I am wondering if this is the same as pyrolysis (from all accounts it seems so), or whether this low-temp gasification has features that differentiate it from pyrolysis.

Either way, the following was the unique problem faced by the team at UMM:

But when the system was first fired up, operators learned that gasifying loose stover (which was used as the feedstock) posed substantial problems. The stover is moved into the burner, where air is blown through from the bottom of the burner for combustion. But the loose stover has a density of three pounds per cubic foot and the air moved it around in the burner and created a hole in which all the air would move through instead of maintaining a steady flow.

So, the folks decided that corn stover, the way it was used, would not be appropriate. They turned to a company to compact the stover into a form similar to compressed sawdust fireplace logs. The new stover “logs” have a much higher density of 50 pounds per cubic foot (compared to the 3 lb per cubic foot of loose stover). The density is expected to help the fuel remain in place in the burner and even out the heat and air distribution in the gasification process.

Of course, it costs to compact the stover. How the whole compacting process will affect the economics is not known presently. But this presents an interesting case study in waste biomass gasification

Source credit: Morris Sun Tribune

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Posted in Gasification

Tags: Corn Low temperature gasification

Nexterra Goes Bigtime in Industrial Gasification

July 9th, 2009

Nexterra was a small Canadian company not so long ago. And now it is going places.

From a single contract three years ago for a plant to replace costly natural gas at a plywood mill at Heffley Creek, north of Kamloops, Nexterra has grown to the point where it is partnering with giants like GE Energy.

GE Energy sees synthetic gas as a perfect fit for clean energy generators it has developed for universities, institutions and condominiums wanting to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. And thanks to stimulus packages here and in the U.S., never before has so much money been available to make the switch.

What make Nexterra different is that it is developing small, self-contained units that can rely on local biomass for fuel. Everything from urban tree trimmings to construction waste is fuel for the system. Now, this might seem trivial, but it is not, for an important reason: when you use waste biomass as the feedstock, the base feedstock might be cheap, but it could cost a lot to transport it. Small gasifiers that can take local bio-waste will thus be a lot more cost-effective.

The story of Nexterra, its history and evolution makes interesting reading indeed, read more from here

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Posted in Gasification

Tags: Gasification Nexterra

TRI Launches Gasification R&D Demonstration Unit in Durham N.C.

July 9th, 2009

ThermoChem Recovery International Inc. (site), headquartered in Baltimore, USA recently launched a large-scale, state-of-the-art biomass gasification demonstration facility in Durham, N.C.

The plant will be used for research and development of the company’s commercial projects to produce power, biofuels and other biobased chemicals.

The 1-MW-thermal demonstration unit will run on four tons of dry biomass per day. TRI’s gasification technology is capable of processing all types of biomass feedstocks. The technology can handle any kind of carbonaceous feedstock. The company’s commercial plant in Norampac-Trenton, Ontario, a container-board producer, uses black liquor and has been in operation since 2003. Black liquor, a byproduct of the pulp and paper mills, is “particularly nasty” and considered to be waste. The gasification technology can turn this “nasty waste” in useful biofuels.

Source credit: Biomass Magazine

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Posted in Gasification

Tags: Demo Gasification TRI

The Gasification FAQ & Guide

February 17th, 2009

This post will try to present all the questions and answers for gasification technology in general and biomass gasification in particular:

1. What are the major advantages of gasification?
2. What are the key disadvantages of gasification?
3. Which are the largest companies that use gasification to produce fuels and chemicals?
4. What is the minimum size at which gasification technology will be economical?
5. What is the EROEI for gasification in general and biomass gasification in specific?
6. Why isn’t the biofuels world shifting fully to gasification?
7. What is the difference between syngas and producer gas?
8. Is gasification and pyrolysis interchangeable?
9. What is the difference between gasification and pyrolysis?
10. Once the biomass or waste is gasified, is there nothing that is left over? What about the left-overs for pyrolysis?
11. What are the capex and operating costs of the gasification part alone? For pyrolysis?
12. What is the capex and operating costs for Fischer-Tropsch process is specific and catalytic synthesis process in general?
13. Is it possible to ferment the syngas into ethanol? How cost effective is it and why should this be attempted when syngas can be directly converted to biodiesel or gasoline using chemical methods?

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Posted in Gasification

Tags: FAQ Gasification Guide

Fuel Cell Electricity Generation from High Efficiency Gasification Project

February 14th, 2009

AFC Energy has struck a deal to supply its alkaline fuel cells to energy-from-waste firm Waste2Tricity, which wants to use the technology to develop highly efficient gasification plants.

Waste2Tricity is expecting to develop a series of plasma gasification plants that would use fuel cells to convert waste to energy at efficiency rates as high as 60%. Conventional energy-from-waste plants are often only half as efficient as this.

The pilot plant will be built in two phases. The first phase will see the main gasification unit developed, to turn around 50,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year into hydrogen, which would then generate electricity through a standard internal combustion engine.

The second phase will see up to 12MW of fuel cells established to replace the combustion engine with a more efficient system offering more electricity per tonne of waste.

Anaerobic Digestion and Gasification Needed for UK Waste – National Grid

February 14th, 2009

The National Grid of the UK has called for a multi-billion pound investment in anaerobic digestion and gasification facilities to turn biodegradable waste streams including food waste and wood waste into biogas to heat up to half of the UK’s homes.

The power network has published a report in Feb 2009 which claims that using waste to produce biogas requires an additional investment of £10 billion on new waste infrastructure, on top of the £20 billion ‘sunk cost’ the UK already requires to tackle “diminishing landfill capacity”.

Commenting on the report, Janine Freeman, head of the National Grid’s sustainable gas group, said: “Biogas has tremendous potential for delivering large scale renewable heat for the UK but it will require Government commitment to a comprehensive waste policy and the right commercial incentives.”

The National Grid study, which was produced for the energy provider by analysts Ernst and Young, claims that, by 2020, waste streams including food waste, biodegradable waste, food waste and agricultural waste could be used to meet up to 18% of the UK’s total gas demands, and up to 48% of its residential gas demands.

However, the report stresses that, for this to happen, action would need to be taken as soon as possible to ensure councils use anaerobic digestion (AD) or gasification technology, and not the other waste-to-energy options available to them.

Despite its support for using both AD and gasification technology, the report acknowledges issues with both options, describing AD as “not without its challenges”, but highlighting that it is “a very well established technology”.

At the same time, while admitting that gasification is “less well developed for use on waste”, it added that it was “progressing and developing apace with demonstration plants being built in this country and around the world.”

Source

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Posted in Gasification

Tags: Anaerobic digestion Gasification National Grid UK waste

UK Gasification Speaker Discusses Electricity Issues

February 14th, 2009

UK households will face escalating electricity bills or peak-time power cuts by 2015, according to John Constable, director of policy and research at the Renewable Energy Foundation. Writing in the Guardian newspaper recently, Constable warned that the UK faces a significant shortage in electric generation capacity within six years and that price hikes or power cuts are likely.

Constable wrote: ‘The government has underestimated the impact of the regulations and has failed to recognise that the LCPD would probably require the closure of the bulk of the UK’s coal generation fleet by 2016.’ Constable also described the UK’s ‘extreme dependence’ on imported gas as ‘reckless’ and warned that ministers have failed to understand that the security of supply contribution from renewables, even if built, would be modest.

He added: ‘A modern, diversified power fleet must consist of nuclear plants, high-efficiency and therefore cleaner coal-fired power stations, including gasifiers predesigned to be ready to capture CO2 for the purpose of enhanced oil (and gas) recovery in the North Sea.

Source