2005 OBP Bi-Annual Peer Review

1. 2005 OBP Bi-Annual Peer Review Summary of Feed Processing & Handling Effort John Jechura, NREL Thermochemical Platform November 14, 2005

2. Overview Work Objective:Evaluate feedstock variability and resulting unit operation requirements required to concentrate, consolidate, & convey feedstock into the front-end of the Thermochemical process Partners Relevant Pathways: Agricultural Residues, Energy Crops, Forest Products, Pulp and Paper, Corn Mill Improvements NREL PNNL Budget (K)

3. Thermochemical Platform 3.0 Thermochemical Platform R&D 3.1 Feed Processing and Handling 3.2 TC Processing 3.3 Cleanup and Conditioning 3.5 TC Platform Analysis 3.3.1. Cleanup and Conditioning Core R&D 3.1.1.2. Feed Improvement 3.2.1. Biomass Gasification 3.5.1. TC Platform Analysis 3.2.2. Pyrolysis and BioOils 3.3.2. Cleanup and Conditioning Partnerships 3.5.2. BLG for Fuels/ Chemical in at Kraft Mills 3.2.3 Black Liquor Gasification 3.2.4 Innovative Gasification

4. Technical Barrier Areas • Addressing technical barriers: • Feed handling – this work will look at both the technical and costs barriers

5. Strategy and Pathways –Intermediate to Long Term

6. Technical Barriers Addressed • Obtain feedstocks for the Thermochemical PDU gasification runs • Corn stover • Lignin-rich residues • Determine hardware requirements to use lignin-rich fermentation residues from NREL’s Biochemical PDU • Analyze feedstock property variations for corn stover and biorefinery residues – composition & physical properties

7. Initial Feedstock Property Comparison

8. Stage Placement & Portfolio Alignment Review DOE Office of the Biomass Program FY05 Thermochemical Portfolio Alignment Review June 7-8, 2005 “Stage placement” of all new and existing projects (16) in the Thermochemical Platform. Evaluations based on: Program Relevance, Approach, Progress, Success Factors, and Future Plans • 7 core R&D projects (NREL, PNNL) primarily focused on developing biomass gasification and gas clean-up technology that can applied many different biomass feedstocks. • 9 subcontracted industrial/cost-shared R&D projects selected by competitive solicitations or directed by Congress to develop/commercialize gas cleanup technology, black liquor gasification, and other thermochemical processes. Reviewers • Professor Robert Brown, Iowa State University • Professor Esteban Chornet, Université de Sherbrooke • Viorel Duma, Abengoa Bioenergy R&D, Inc. • John Scahill, DOE Golden Field Office • David Turpin, MeadWestvaco Research

9. Stage Placement & Portfolio Alignment Review General Comments on Thermochemical Program • Thermochemical Program has clear goals which support the overall program • Technical barriers are clearly identified • R&D is good fit with the program and there is good balance • Funding may be inadequate to meet program goals Specific Reviewer Comments on Feed Processing & Handling : • Pelletization issues: cost; necessary to regularly feed gasifiers? • Lignin-rich residue’s moisture may be an index to monitor • Be cognizant of property differences between wet & dry lignin-rich biomass residues • DOE responses: One year project to generate data on characteristics of feedstocks & their TC conversion. TEA-type data to be used for Integrated Biorefinery analysis. Will change SOW to examine & tabulate physical properties & link to operational difficulties

10. Summary and Future Work • Complete reports • “Preliminary design for system for feeding Biorefinery residues into a Thermochemical process ” • “Preliminary specification of a system for pumping wet Biorefinery residues into a Hydrothermal process” • No new funding as an individual task in FY06 • Work incorporated within other tasks