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1. Pyrolysis R&D Presentation AWMA Meeting
September 25, 2008
Timothy McDonald PE, MBA
3. The Issues Green House Gases - CO2, Nitric Oxide, Methane
Climate change impact on food, water, temperatures
Nitrate pollution of aquifers
Forests - water, fire, beetles, nutrients, thinning / management costs
Farms - manure, harvest debris, orchard clippings, shells, water, fertilizer and fuel costs
Municipalities - water, green wastes, sewage sludge
Farm and forest “Burn Pile” emissions
Soil sterilization under “Burn Piles”
ACC Renewable Mandate to regulated electric utilities
CO2 Emissions Credits (future tax?)
Fuel availability and costs
4. Arizona Forests Overgrown thickets
Depletion of limited water from rainfall / snow pack
Multi-year drought
Bark beetles: increasing forest-fire threat
Explosive crown fires
Soil erosion after destructive crown-fires
Algae blooms from ash & soil nutrient runoff into lakes
Budget-limited forest fuel thinning initiatives
Minimal-to-none small diameter timber industries
Forest waste disposal – “Burn Piles” or “Controlled Burns”
5. The Results
6. Arizona CAFOs – Manure ~ 168 CAFO farm sites
~ 600,000 cows & pigs
~ 3,600,000 chickens
Manure is a limiting factor on operations
Also a community issue
7. Arizona Biomass Forest and woodland waste
12 Million acres of forest and woodlands
350,000 acres managed per year
4.5 Million tons per year of waste
Agriculture waste
Cotton gin trash, orchard residue, straw
200,000 tons of material per year
Urban green waste
Primarily from Phoenix and Tucson
95,000 tons per year
8. Biomass Conversion Options Composting
Aerobic digestion (wet slurries)
Anaerobic Digestion (wet slurries)
Torrefied biomass (ie., charcoal; see E-Coal)
Direct combustion (ex., ABITIBI biomass power plant)
Gasification (dried and chipped biomass)
Co-firing with coal, oil or natural gas
Pyrolysis conversion (syngas, water, oils, char)
9. Biomass Conversion Issues Wet biomass should be processed on-site (hauling costs)
Air, Water and Solid Waste permit issues
Efficient conversion system size vs. sufficient long-term quantities of biomass within 50 miles of site
Many biomass materials have zero inherent value and are gathered and burned on-site
Power plant water usage and disposal issues
Power plant reliability and interconnection to the grid
Pyrolytic oil acidity and stability
10. Biomass Power Plant Siting Criteria Site just a few miles from a utility distribution substation at 69kV or 12.47kV – dedicated grid interconnect
Zoning / emission constraints - height, noise, NOx, PM
4 acre site min w/ fuel delivery, processing and storage
Min water supply of 5,000 gpd/MW (w/ $$ dry tower)
Hybrid wet / dry cooling towers – slightly more water
Municipal sewage system – easiest wastewater solution
Zero Liquid Discharge system (ZLD), septic service or “Culligan Man” – all costly options
Adequate sustainable fuel supply within 50 miles
9 to15 MW scale co-gen power plant – O&M parameters
Host-site partnership – biomass disposal, shared labor, joint-use facilities and process steam
11. Cholla Biomass Co-Firing Analysis 1000 MW pulverized coal plant with 4 units
15 to 150MW biomass co-firing application
Higher fuel efficiency & lower % O&M
E-Coal* co-firing analysis may be performed in 2009
Lower emissions expected – SOx, Ash, Mercury, CO2
NOx same or slightly higher (w/ higher net MW)
15MW demo project demo initially on Unit 1 in 2010(?)
*E-Coal is a densified biomass charcoal product made by New Earth Renewable Energy Inc.
14. ½ TPD Portable Pyrolysis System
15. Demo Operational Issues ADEQ air permit waiver
Pinal County air permit
APP water issues (?) – agricultural / forest
Subtitle D waste issues (?) – agricultural / forest
APS Self-Insurance ($2M deductible coverage)
University of Arizona R&D and RRAC site agreements
Temporary O&M technician / APS technician(s)
MSDS documentation and NFPA diamond labels
Outdoor shelter, barrels, tanks, tools, safety & misc. other equipment
Dryer condensate wastewater – chemical disposal or septic service
Shipments to research labs / Bio-Refinery facility(s) - TBD
Pyrolysis products disposal: co-firing and/or coal dust suppression
16. Pyrolysis System Feedstocks Sweet sorghum
Cotton crop debris
Nut shells
Orchard debris
Salt cedar
Mesquite
Misc. farm crop wastes
Manures
Pine trees
Pinion and juniper trees
Other green wastes…..
18. Fast Pyrolysis Products Essential Oil
Seperated from dryer condensate water
Chemical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products
Pyrolytic Oil
Liquid fuels, coal-dust suppression, green chemicals
Polymerized solid fuel / fertilizer supplement product
Char
System thermal heat source
Charcoal granules / pellets
Non-condensable gases (H2, CO, Oil)
Dryer and pyrolysis heat source
Fisher Tropsch catalytic conversion of syngas into Diesel
19. Pyrolysis Oil Dark brown viscous liquid
Strong smoky odor
Corrosive with acidic ph
Polymerizes into solid if reheated
Phase separation in container
“A” Phase: water & acids
Organic acids for fertilizer
“B” Phase: cellulosic oils
Phenols suitable for fuels and chemicals
“C” Phase: hemi-cellulosic oils
Fuel and chemical feedstock
“D” Phase: lignin oils w/ char dust
Polymerize into solid fuel
Coal dust suppression w/ >BTU
Binder for char granules / pellets
20. Pyrolysis Char Charcoal powder
Contains inorganic minerals from biomass
Will contain some oils from pyrolysis process
Form granules or pellets using lignin-oil binder
Co-fire pellets w/ coal
Gasification - FT - Diesel
Activated carbon filters(?)
Time-released fertilizer
21. Bio-Refinery Centralized location(s)
Multiple biomass sources within 200 mile region
Economies of scale
Co-gen processing plant
Similar to petroleum refinery and products
Adjacent to railroad and freeway for hauling
Near CNG pipeline for methane distribution
22. Bio-Refinery Products Resins
Polymers
Co-polymers
Adhesives
Food flavorings
Fragrances
Chemical feedstocks
Synthetic methane
Liquid and solid fuels
Fertilizer(s) - Tera Preta
23. Terra Preta “Dark Earth” (Portuguese)
Manufactured(?) by Amazon Basin natives over 1000 years ago
This manufactured soil is still active and viable today
Better crops than with chemical fertilizers in adjacent fields
Less water and fertilizer required per crop cycle!!
Soil can be “harvested” – will “regrow” within a decade!!
Soil flora and fauna appear to thrive in the Terra Preta
Anthropologists and bio-chemists not sure how made
One theory is that all village wastes were collected, sealed in clay pots and cooked in fires. Cooled pots were then carried into cleared field and broken open. The resulting combined mass of pyrolysis char and oils were then worked into the soil.
Another theory is that it was a combination of how they burned down the large trees, with lots of charcoal residue, and the addition of all village wastes directly onto the fields.
25. Pyrolysis System Research Goals Verification of operation and maintenance parameters
Process a range of biomass and analyze results
Control settings to maximize char vs. oil products
Suitability for farm co-op, community or waste disposal company
Pyrolysis water recovery using char filtration
Oil stabilization and acidity elimination – centrifuge tests
Produce pellet / granulated char w/ pyrolytic lignin-oil binder
Polymerize whole / lignin oil into solids
Cellulosic-oil processed into fuels / chemical feedstocks
Co-firing tests with pulverized char pellets and pyrolytic lignin-oil applied as coal dust suppression w/ increased BTU
Produce char-based fertilizer supplement(s)
Manufacture “Terra Preta” soil
26. Pyrolysis Project Vision/Results Carbon sequestration: CO2 credits
Biomass co-firing: ACC Renewables Mandate
New sources of fuels
Sustainable chemical feed-stocks
Forest fuel thinning projects w/o subsidiary payments
Farm crop and manure waste conversion to profits
Reduce water and fertilizer needed per crop cycle
Squeeze every nickel of value out of waste biomass
ie., resolve WATER / ENERGY / POLLUTION issues
27. 50 TPD Portable Pyrolysis System
28. Forest-Industries Example Vertical-integration of fuels reduction operations, lumber milling, composites and Bio-Oil manufacturing and refining
Gasification / pyrolysis / distillation / screw compression and heating process alternatives
Bio-Oil Products: fuels, chemical feed stocks, flavorings, resins, polymers, solvents, adhesives ….
Co-products expand revenues - $$$$$
Transportation of finished or liquid / densified products is much more economical than the raw biomass material
Portable pyrolysis systems provide local community opportunities in conjunction w/ regional Bio-Refineries
30. The Alternative ………….