NEW BIOMASS GASIFICATION PILOT PLANT

1. NEW BIOMASS GASIFICATION PILOT PLANT 1

2. Abstract New development of biomass and organic waste gasifying technology which distinguish from the other modern technologies by: Discontinuous, short sequences, high speed biomass injection, carried out by strong, right controlled volume of compressed gas pulses and high speed heating of the biomass into the burning cyclone and burning sand gravel. Currently, the carrying gas is compressed air. Also, the gravel bed there is in slow, controlled, linear movement, that carries out the ash. The own moisture of biomass supports a part of the reaction steam. 2

3. Pyrolize& Gasification (1) The clasic gasificationis a thermo-chimic process where the biomass is heated by combustion in a reactor, alternatively using oxygen and steam as reagents. Inside the reactor, four different processes take part: drying, pyrolisis, oxidation and reduction. There are known fast pyrolisis tehnologies which have as results mainly liquid fuel, bio-oil and there are also known gasifying tehnologies that result mainly in a gas fuel – sinthesys gas or singas. 3

4. Pyrolize& Gasification (2) Fast pyrolisis:It represents the thermic degradation of waste in the absence of air aimed to produce pyrolisis fuel (bio-oil), charcoal and singas (for example, the conversion of wood to mangal). The specific features of the process are: working temperature between 450 and 600 C° and the gas holding time of 0.3 to 5 seconds. The biomass load is processed before inserting it into the oven: particles size 0.5 – 6 mm, the humidity level 3 – 10%, cellulose 48-50%, ash content of 0.4-0.6%. Composition of the resulting products: organic liquid (bio-oil) 40-75% (water included), coal (char) 10-20%, sinthesys gas 10-30%. Gasifying:The hydrocarbon cracking (organic vapour) to singas with careful control over the existing oxygen quantity. 4

5. Pyrolize& Gasification (3) • The chemical reactions that take place are: • Exothermal reactions: • Combustion: {volatile from biomass + coal/char} + O2 -> CO2 • Incomplete oxidation: {volatile from biomass + coal/char} + O2 -> CO • Methanization: {volatile from biomass + coal/char} + H2 -> C2H2 • Water – gas replacing: CO + H2O -> CO2 + H2 • CO Methanization: CO + 3H2 • Endothermal reactions: • Steam – Carbon: {volatile from biomass + coal/char} + H2O - > CO + H2 • Boudouard reaction: {volatile from biomass + coal/char} + CO2 -> 2CO 5

6. Pyrolize& Gasification (4) • The singas consists mainly of a mixture of hydrogen (H2) and carbon oxid (CO) and also contains a small percentage of carbon bioxid (CO2), water (H2O), methan (CH4), big hydrocarbons (C2+) and nitrogen (N2). • The reactions are taking part at high temperatures (500 – 1400 C°) and pressure equal to the atmospheric pressure or higher, up to 33 bar. • The oxidant can be the air, pure oxygene, steam or a mixture of those. The air-based gasifying is typically producing a singas with a high content of nitrogen and for this reason it has a smaller caloric power ( 4 – 6 MJ/m3 ). 6

7. Today level of gasifying technology The coal, oil and wood gasifyinghas been known and used for more than 100 years. Fig 1. World singas market Most of the modern gasifying installations areprocessing coal and oil. A diagram of the base materials used in the first half of the century is presented next: Fig 2. Raw materials used for gasifying (Source: SFA Pacific for U.S. DOE, GTC Analysis) 7

8. The growing of that industry after the 1990 is of about 250%, the growing taking place mainly in Europe and The Ex Soviet Union, but also in America, Asia and Australia. Even so, the main part of this industry is represented by three big Sasol installations in South Africa that produce 31% of the world singas. Lately, with the need to obtain regenerating and cleaner energy sources, starting from the old gasifying technologyies,new gasifying technologyies have been developed,and fast pyrolisis that applies mainly to biomass, but also to other organic waste. Today the main research is focused on gasifying tehnologies that result in singas with high caloric power. This fast development comes mainly from the possibility to obtain hydrogen from biomass through pyrolisis and gasifying. 8

9. Many EU countries have invested R&D resources in hydrogen production. Austria, which became one of the world leaders.In the bio-fuel development for transportation, has two demonstrative installations and many other pilot installations and many other pilot installations. Belgium is aiming, through his GAZOPILE program, to supply the fuel cell with hydrogen obtained from wood, through gasifying. The same thing happened in Norway and in Portugal, a pilot installation of 2 kW is built for which the fuel cell technology is provided by Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. Spain also has many projects like this and Holland has a number of projects in his „Bio-hydrogen” framework where 11 institutes and universities are working together in the research regarding pyrolisis and gasification. In 2001, France initiated a programme named „IFP&CEA”, with a budget of 2 mil. Euro/year. 9

10. USA is planning to develop until 2010 the technology to obtain pure hydrogen able to be used in fuel cell at a price of 1.2$/kg (producer price) and a commercial production of 75.000 kg/day. The objective is that the price of hydrogen become competitive, as compared with that of the gasoline, until 2015. Also there is a project named „Hydrogen Production from Biomass” with a budget of $1.2 mil. which includes the using of technologies relative to pyrolisis, gasification and anaerobic digestion. 10

11. Objectives • The objective of the present research is to obtain a technology that can be applied to a cheap, compact and simple installation of small capacity (up to 1.000 kW.h) that can convert the biomass in energy, using the gasifying technology that can directly transform, in given conditions, the energy of the biomass in clean singas with high caloric power, that can be used in engines to co generate electric energy and heat. The installation is meant to be used in rural areas or in industrial ones, directly in the area with the raw material. • At the same time, it represents the first step in developing a cheap technology for obtaining a very clean and hydrogen-rich gas, to be used directly in supplying pollution-free fuel cell for vehicles. 11

12. Main types of modern technologies used in gasification • Direct heating • It is called like this because the fuel and the process resulted char burning and the biomass gasifying are taking place in the same reactor, the flow of burned gases being mixed with the singas resulted from the biomass gasifying. • There are two direct heating technologies used in the present: • The direct heating in Bubbling Fluidized Bed (BFB) • The direct heating in Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) • The direct heating technology in Fixed Bed did not develop because of the high volume of tar and/or char resulted. 12

13. As an example, the research team from DTU (Technical University of Denmark) has made a number of different types of reactors used in gasifying that are in use. From these, we will present the technology used in the two step reactor VIKING (80 kW), first put in action in 2002. 13

14. Indirect heating • It is called like this because in this kind on installations the resulted burned gases from the fuel and char burning process are separated from the resulted singas. The installations used up to now are doing so by using a burning room that is completely separated from the pyrolisis-gasifying reactor. An intermediary agent – sand, is used to transport thermal energy from burning room to reactor, and from the char resulted in the reactor back to the burning room. • The indirect biomass heating technologies are still in their developing steps and are being intensively researched because of the high caloric power of the resulted singas – which is mainly due to eliminations of nitrogen from singas. • Another plus point is the fact that a low nitrogen presence means lower pollution and by burning the singas is produced a lower quantity of pollutants (which is responsible for the ,,smog’’ effect) 14

15. The most well known solution is the one developed by the Battelle Columbus Laboratory (BCL) 15

16. Working conditions imposed in drafting own technological model It was previously shown that the advantage of using the indirect heating method to obtain singas as this method will produce a singas with higher parameters – superior caloric power and lower NOx emission. Practically, with the development of the new gasifying technologies the following specific parameters will be obtained: The using of two under pressure chambers, with integrated jet-pulse valves and two supersonic injectors that supplies in the biomass and assures the sand circulation. The working fluid used was compressed air (6 bar). Basically the aim is to save this gas by supplying the injectors with short but powerful pulses (adjustable period of time: 5 – 500 ms, with a break between jets of 5 – 500 s), which lead to an exiting air speed of approx. 400 m/s. The using the vapors resulted from the biomass own humidity in the reducing process and that of the air injected with the biomass. The developing a singas with high caloric power by biomass gasifying using steam (resulted from the biomass own humidity) and a small controlled quantity of air, needed to inject the biomass. While the biomass is injected, the burner is turned off to avoid mixing the burned gases with the singas. Upper cleaning of the singas removing the materials particles and tar, in the sand layer, at 99.5% level and after that the singas is filtered using a bag filter, with a filtering level of 99.9% thus making this fuel able to be used direct in thermal engines. 16

17. The scheme of the new gasifying technology 1 - Reactor; 2 - Jet-pulse biomass supplying device; 3 - Jet-pulse device for sand transporting; 4 - burner; 5 - Codenser; 6 - Bag filter; 7 - Upper cyclone; 8 - Bio-oil tank 17

18. The scheme (2) • The own technology used indirect heating, through heating the exterior surface of a central pipe, in which the biomass is injected and trough heating the sand situated in burning room area. The pipe and sand heating is produced with the burned gases, produced by a burner, and by burning the char and tar – gasifying products. For heating, the burner work 15-20 min only at starting the process. • Trough supply jet pulse device, the biomass is injected in central pipe, tangentially, with controlled interruptions, at high speed, and with controlled small quantities of compressed air comparing with the theoretical air quantity needed to burn. • The reactor integrate the fuel and char burning room as well as the vortex type device used for pyrolisis and gasifying, all placed in a circulatory sand layer. This is freely closing the lower part of the burning room and that of the pipe used to inject biomass. The closing layer is incandescent, being in direct contact with the hot gas while the burner is working. After the burner is turned off, in this sand layer the char is burning and the tar is cracked using the air used in the biomass injection process. 18

19. The scheme (3) • The produce singas is cooled in the condenser, and cleaned into bag filter device. • Jet-pulse device for sand, pneumatically convey the sand from the reactor base to upper cyclone where ash is removed and transported to the bag filter. Thus, sand of the burning room is slowly moving downwards, with regulated controlled breaks, and pump out the ash. 19

20. Filter with bags The new gasifier pilot plant 20

21. Jet-pulse device 21

22. Jet-pulse supplying device 22

23. Jet-pulse device for sand transporting 23

24. Condenser 24

25. BURNING CHAMBER WITH THE CENTRAL CYCLONE 25

26. Condenser element after the tests Can be remarked the condensed vapors to form bio-oil 26

27. 27

28. The burner of 70 000-300 000 kcal/h 28

29. The burner area after densified wood (compreg) waste tests 29

30. Up to the present, we executed all the functional tests to finish the design solutions, but not all the necessary tests to finish the gasification technology. • The pilot was experimented fed with 20 kg/h with beech and resinous mixture sawdust and fed with 180 kg/h densified wood (compreg) • The necessary time to heating the reactor with burner set to 150000 kcal/h was 15-30 minutes. The gas temperature at the reactor exit was 500-6000C in the first case, and 200-4000C in the second case. In the second case at the test with a little depression created by the little fan into reactor, the false air went in the reactor burning room and ignited the synthesis gas 30

31. Project stage (2) • The tests confirmed the functional principle and permitted the simplification and finalization of the functional units design. • For more power applications, will be necessary a device thar carry the biomass from the ground to the feed device of the plant. • In addition, for others sort of biomass fed the plant, could be necessary a cutting device to grind the biomass in max 10 mm equivalent diameter. 31

32. Parameter/ Characteristics Accomplished Predicted in the project 1 Reactor type Pulsating circulation of biomass and indirect heating 2 Developing level Pilot model 3 Biomass type I. Sawdust (beech, resinous) apparent density: 160 kg/m3; humidity 30% II. Sawdust (plates congestion), apparent density: 280 kg/m3; humidity: 7% Biomass 4 Gasified biomass flow [kg/h] 20 180 20 – 50 kg/h 32

33. Reaction conditions: - pressure (bar) atmospheric atmospheric atmospheric - temperature in reaction area (gases and sand layer) [0C] 200-over 800 200 - over 800 200 - 800 (1000) - reactants Air / Vapor from biomass humidity Air / Vapor from biomass humidity Air or neutral gas / vapor - air, biomass ratio (kg/kg) 1,2 – 2,3 0,15 – 0,3 - - vapors, biomass ratio (kg/kg) 0,2 – 0,3 0,2 – 0,3 - 33

34. 5 The composition and estimated properties of the produced singas: • H2 % 7-9 13-16 20-25% • CO % 15-18 38-45 40-45% • CO2 % 12-14 10-15 13-14% • CH4% 6-9 5-8 16-23% - N2 % 40-45 14-18 - Others % 8-10 8-10 - Caloric power MJ/Nm3 5-7 12-14 Over 10 Ash, coal and tar cleaning Sand layer and bag filter Sand layer and bag filter Sand layer and bag filter Final gas dedusting percentage (%) 99,9 99,9 99,9 34

35. Conclusions: • What it brings new: • The accomplishment of a new installation with pulsating circulation of biomass and indirect heating through biomass injection in the reactor cyclone at high speed, by powerful pressure pulses using a jet-pulse supplying installation. • The sand circulation from its upper region to its lower one under the effect of the gravitational force, and from the base of the reactor back to its upper part through powerful pressure pulses using a jet-pulse installation. • The fast pyrolisis (under one second) of a size of biomass setting up the possibility of developing new bio-oil installations. • The developing, in the same reactor, of a new indirect heating installation using a circulating sand layer that has the thermal agent, gas cleaning and ash exhaust role. 35

36. The project will be continued by making a demo model, which will be completed by adding a generator supplied with singas resulted from the gasifying installation and also all the devices needed to monitor the gas parameters. Now we are looking for partners to participate with this project in one of the available programs in 2007. 36

37. Thank you! The presentation will be posted on the sites: Site:www.aim-srl.ro www.ictcm.ro/ecera/ E-mail: aim@aim-srl.ro vsarbu@ictcm.ro 37