WHY MOVE TO BIO MASS?
Bio mass has been termed the current “hot button” in
strategies for combating rising energy costs and lowering
pollution impacts in the United States. The U.S. Department
of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy Office puts this in perspective; “The
use of The Biomass combustion, such as burning wood,
has been one
of man's primary ways of deriving energy from biomass
from prehistoric times to the present. It is not, however,
very
efficient. Converting the solid biomass to a gaseous
or liquid fuel by heating it with limited oxygen prior
to
combustion can greatly increase the overall efficiency,
and also make it possible to instead convert the biomass
to valuable chemicals or materials”. The EERE
is continuously dedicating resources to this subject
in a “national
effort to develop thermochemical technologies to more
efficiently tap the enormous energy potential of (biomass)”.
WHAT IS BIOMASS?
Per the EERE; “Biomass is any organic material
made from plants or animals. Domestic biomass resources
include
agricultural and forestry residues, municipal solid
wastes, industrial wastes, and terrestrial and aquatic
crops grown
solely for energy purposes.
Biomass can be converted to other usable forms of energy
and is an attractive petroleum alternative for a number
of reasons. First, it is a renewable resource that is more
evenly distributed over the Earth's surface than are finite
energy sources, and may be exploited using more environmentally
friendly technologies.
Agriculture and forestry residues, and in particular
residues from paper mills, are the most common biomass
resources
used for generating electricity and power, including
industrial process heat and steam, as well as for a
variety of bio
based products.”
WHAT MAKES BIOMASS GASIFICATION
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY?
Biomass is organic matter- and Biomass energy development
likes to take what is usually thrown away and turn it
into energy. Our technology, Vertically Integrated Gasification & Combustion,
allows business and industry to operate "off the
grid" using their own waste stream (pallets, boxes,
paper), or materials from agriculture such as farming,
milling and ranching. We use clean technology to take
the stored energy from these materials and create heating,
electricity, even cooling. By using a renewable waste
stream, our clients reduce or remove their need to buy
fossil fuel derived energy.
I'M USED TO HEARING ABOUT WIND, SOLAR, BIODIESEL AND
ETHANOL- HOW IS BIOMASS DIFFERENT?
Biomass is everywhere, anytime. Unlike wind and solar
it can be stored and used on demand. Ethanol and biodiesel
are liquid fuels made from solid biomass requiring steps
to take organic matter and turn it into energy. We use
the biomass in a solid form vs. liquid. But as often
is the answer there are synergies between these approaches.
For example, the byproducts of making ethanol and bio
diesel are excellent fuel for our units. This means we
can recover energy costs that had been sunk costs by
using the refining spoils to energize the refining operations. Another
important note is that by using waste materials to create
energy, we are not encroaching on our food supply.
ARE YOU BURNING THE SOLID FUEL TO CREATE ENERGY?
Absolutely not, and that's one of the major misunderstandings
of our technology. We use a process called "direct
gasification" to extract the energy from solid fuels.
It is different than "burning" because burning
consumes all of the matter at once, which is problematic.
Gasification actually separates or elutes combustible
gas from a solid in a controlled temperature, oxygen
starved chamber. This synthetic gas is then mixed with
air and combusted, producing heat or steam. It is a subtle
but critical difference.
IS THIS A NEW TECHNOLOGY?
No it is not. European countries who have been dealing
with high costs and limited supply of fossil fuel have
burned solid fuels for decades. Think of our steam locomotives.
Wanting the energy but not emissions, our Italian partners
at Uniconfort have perfected this conversion process
of Vertically Integrated Gasification & Combustion.
Our technology has been used for energy production
for over 50 years in Europe. As a practical example of biomass
energy, Sweden currently converts 3.1 million tons of
waste to generate 9 billion kilowatt hours of energy.
WHY IS BIOMASS GOOD FOR KANSAS?
A large portion of our energy comes from fossil fuel
sources- in fact, Kansans currently send some $2 billion "out
of state" for its energy needs, most of which goes
to buy coal from Wyoming to burn in electric generating
plants. Which is another point. Although not emissions
friendly, solid fuel ( wood, coal) burning power plants
have provided power to multiple generations of Amercians.
What we are doing is gaining that same, dependable energy
extraction without the mess.
By using our own organic waste to create energy, we reduce
landfiling, emissions, and keep money in our communities.
For example, our cattle ranchers spend millions to handle
their manure in an environmentally responsible way, and
there are still issues that are faced with groundwater
and soil contamination. Biomass will create a market
for "waste" material like manure and give it
value as an energy supply. The same applies for byproducts
of harvesting and milling operations. It's localized
fuel- created, bought and sold locally which keeps the
money close to home and has a positive environmental
impact.
CAN I USE BIOMASS ENERGY TODAY?
Absolutely. Solid fuel-to-energy has been and is happening
anywhere there is a coal or wood fired plant. We have
simply taken
it another step. While we won't use coal, our process
uses varying types of biomass- anywhere from a few hundred
pounds to multiple tons per hour and does so cleanly
and efficiently. Having been in the business of combustion
and power for 54 years, we have a deep appreciation for
the existing infrastructures and processes that rely
on opening a valve and creating power. This is why our
stated objective is to deliver Biomass consuming equipment
that is as automated and easy to use as those fueled
by fossil fuels.
What is “GASIFICATION AND VERTICALLY INTEGRATED COMBUSTION” (GVIC)?
Biomass fuels can
be converted to energy through several approaches.
Examples are fixed base digesters which
are referred to as “Gasifiers” where bio
mass is converted to gaseous state via organic reduction
and methane
if pulled off for combustion in a separate process.
Then there is thermal Biomass gasification where synthetic
gases
are thermally released, captured and processed through
a gas treatment and cleaning train. In this article
we are reviewing what our findings show as the optimum
answer,
Gasification and vertically integrated combustion.
Combustion is a function of the mixture of oxygen
with the hydrocarbon fuel. Gaseous fuels mix with
oxygen more
easily than liquid fuels, which in turn mix more
easily than solid fuels. Syngas therefore inherently
burns more
efficiently and cleanly than the solid biomass from
which it was made.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN PYROLYSIS, GASIFICATION AND COMBUSTION
In 2005 the Biomass Energy Foundation described Biomass
Gasification as follows:
Biomass Gasification = Pyrolysis (break apart), Gasification
(conversion of solid to gas), Combustion
(burning of the gas to make CO2 and H2O).
Consider what is represented in a lit match stick,
it is flaming combustion. Lots of air passing over
a small amount
of wood, it burns completely to CO2 and H2O.
CH 1.4 O 0.6 + 1.05 (O 2 + 3.76N 2)èCO 2 + .7H
2 O
If you have insufficient air passing through a mass
of burning wood, you have “flaming pyrolysis” producing
CO and H2, the basis of biomass gasification.
During gasification, air (or oxygen) is passed through
a bed of burning biomass. The large excess of fuel
causes the following reaction
CH 1.4 O 0.6 + Air è Charcoal, CO, CO 2, H 2,
H 2 O
HOW IS GVIC EFFECTIVELY DEPLOYED?
How the breakdown occurs (the relative fractional
derivatives) depend on the AIR/FUEL ratio.
It is necessary to have the correct air (or O2)/fuel ratio to achieve complete
gasification and the air needs to be introduced in stages as fuel is heated.
In our gasifiers there are three phases of air introduction; primary, secondary
and tertiary. The correct air/fuel ratio is variable depending on several
factors including:
· Moisture content
· Type of biomass
· Air throughput rate
Optimizing this ratio begins with minimal primary air or an oxygen starved
atmosphere, as synthetic gaseous fuel is eluted. It is after this first
conversion that the
secondary and tertiary air is introduced and is the key to simple, clean
gasification.
HOW HAS SOLID FUEL USAGE IMPROVED?
Most veteran boiler engineers think of solid fuels and the old style “stoker
boilers”. Today’s solid fuel generators are far advanced from
these past units. Granted the technology is still fledgling in the United
States and
there is not much manufactured yet in this country.
However, if we look at European nations, solid fuel utilization has been
a staple for some time. Its understandable when comparing the resources
and their availability
in Europe versus the U.S.. Regardless the reason this puts us in a very
positive position of taking advantage of years of development and correction
due to lessons
learned.
Out of the several dozen models one can encounter world wide, the best
few have been built with a focus to be automated, to run effortlessly with
minimal attendance.
Solid fuel boiler systems are by nature, base load units. Again the good
ones are dependably modulating capable but prefer to run continuously.
Best case of
utility is running them at full load all the time.
