Efficiency Comparison of Large‐Scale Standalone, Centralized, and Distributed Thermochemical Biorefineries

Alamia, Alberto; Garðarsdóttir, Stefanía Ósk; Larsson, Anton; Normann, Fredrik; Thunman, Henrik

doi:10.1002/ente.201600719

Cited by 30 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Through these measures, the heat demand could be reduced by as much as 20% in a future commercial plant, thereby increasing the chemical efficiency of the gasifier to the same extent (for more details see ). In addition, by introducing an alternative external heat source, for example, direct heating by electricity, the energy content of the produced gas could be increased even further, up to about 120% compared to the chemically bound energy of the ingoing fuel .…”

Section: Description Of and Results From The Technical Demonstrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced biofuel production via gasification – lessons learned from 200 man‐years of research activity with Chalmers’ research gasifier and the GoBiGas demonstration plant

Thunman

Seemann

Vilches

et al. 2018

Energy Science & Engineering

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145

129

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According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), scenarios that have a good chance of restricting global warming to less than 2°C involve substantial cuts in anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, implemented through large-scale changes in energy systems. The use of renewable energy sources and fossil fuels, in combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS), could help to reduce GHG emissions in the AbstractThis paper presents the main experiences gained and conclusions drawn from the demonstration of a first-of-its-kind wood-based biomethane production plant (20-MW capacity, 150 dry tonnes of biomass/day) and 10 years of operation of the 2-4-MW (10-20 dry tonnes of biomass/day) research gasifier at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. Based on the experience gained, an elaborated outline for commercialization of the technology for a wide spectrum of applications and end products is defined. The main findings are related to the use of biomass ash constituents as a catalyst for the process and the application of coated heat exchangers, such that regular fluidized bed boilers can be retrofitted to become biomass gasifiers. Among the recirculation of the ash streams within the process, presence of the alkali salt in the system is identified as highly important for control of the tar species. Combined with new insights on fuel feeding and reactor design, these two major findings form the basis for a comprehensive process layout that can support a gradual transformation of existing boilers in district heating networks and in pulp, paper and saw mills, and it facilitates the exploitation of existing oil refineries and petrochemical plants for large-scale production of renewable fuels, chemicals, and materials from biomass and wastes. The potential for electrification of those process layouts are also discussed. The commercialization route represents an example of how biomass conversion develops and integrates with existing industrial and energy infrastructures to form highly effective systems that deliver a wide range of end products. Illustrating the potential, the existing fluidized bed boilers in Sweden alone represent a jet fuel production capacity that corresponds to 10% of current global consumption. 7

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Section: Description Of and Results From The Technical Demonstrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced biofuel production via gasification – lessons learned from 200 man‐years of research activity with Chalmers’ research gasifier and the GoBiGas demonstration plant

Thunman

Seemann

Vilches

et al. 2018

Energy Science & Engineering

Self Cite

145

129

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“…The chemical efficiency of an ABP plant has previously been evaluated . Here, an efficiency of 70% based on the energy of the dry part of the delivered biomass is assumed.…”

Section: Reference Data and Scale Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The methanation technology, which has been used in commercial plants that are based on fossil fuels, had to be scaled down significantly to match the DFB gasifier. An analysis of the performance of the process concluded that it is technically feasible to reach a biomass‐to‐biomethane efficiency of up to 70% based on the lower heating value (LHV) and dry ash‐free (DAF) fuel …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To achieve this, investment and operational costs were estimated based on data accrued from the GoBiGas demonstration plant. Aggregated reference data and SFs for a commercial APB plant have been established based on a detailed study of the investment costs of the GoBiGas plant, in combination with the previously published technical review of the process …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Economic assessment of advanced biofuel production via gasification using cost data from the GoBiGas plant

Thunman

Gustavsson²,

Larsson

et al. 2019

Energy Science & Engineering

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This paper describes an economic analysis of the GoBiGas plant, which is a first‐of‐its‐kind industrial installation for advanced biofuel production (ABP) via gasification, in which woody biomass is converted to biomethane. A previous technical evaluation of the demonstration unit confirmed that it is technically feasible to construct advanced biofuel production plants, using commercially available and widely used components. Thus, significant cost reductions for equipment cannot be expected as a consequence of learning effects. However, the equipment itself accounted for <20% of the total investment cost at GoBiGas and there exists the potential to reduce the production cost through learning how to assemble the process and reduce project‐specific costs. The analysis shows that a plant with capacity of 200 MW of biomethane is an attractive scale for future stand‐alone ABP plants with respect to limiting the production cost. For a 200‐MW ABP plant operated using forest residues as fuel, the production cost for biomethane is estimated at approximately 600 SEK/MWh, (60€/MWh, 75US$/MWh), which is equivalent to 5.4 SEK/liter gasoline [0.54 €/liter, or 2.5USD per gallon (9.9 SEK/€, 8 SEK/USD)], where the feedstock accounts for about 36% of the production cost. The most significant uncertainty factors pertaining to the estimated production costs are expected to relate to: trade conditions; the location of the installation; and the local price of feedstock. Thus, there is some potential for implementing cost‐competitive ABP systems of smaller capacity if low‐grade feedstocks (eg, waste‐derived woody biomass) can be utilized, and/or if the unit can be integrated with the already existing infrastructure.

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“…A side‐effect of the operation of a DFB system is the transport of oxygen between the two reactors via oxidation/reduction of the bed material itself (for example, see Hallberg et al). The transported oxygen will cause partial oxidation of the produced gas, increasing the amount of CO 2 in the raw gas, which must later be separated, usually via an energy‐intensive amine process (see Alamia et al).…”

Section: Experimental Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bark as feedstock for dual fluidized bed gasifiers-Operability, efficiency, and economics

et al. 2019

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Summary The demand for biofuels and biochemicals is expected to increase in the future, which will in turn increase the demand for biomass feedstock. Large gasification plants fueled with biomass feedstock are likely to be a key enabling technology in a resource‐efficient, bio‐based economy. Furthermore, the costs for producing biofuels and biochemicals in such plants could potentially be decreased by utilizing inexpensive low‐grade residual biomass as feedstock. This study investigates the usage of shredded tree bark as a feedstock for the production of biomethane in the GoBiGas demonstration plant in Gothenburg, Sweden, based on a 32 MWth industrial dual fluidized bed gasification unit. The plant was operated with bark feedstock for 12 000 hours during the period 2014 to 2018. Data from the measurement campaign were processed using a stochastic approach to establish the plant's mass and energy balances, which were then compared with operation of the plant with wood pellets. For this comparison, an extrapolation algorithm was developed to predict plant performance using bark dried to the same moisture content as wood pellets, ie, 8%w.b. Plant operation with bark feedstock was evaluated for operability, efficiency, and feedstock‐related cost. The gas quality achieved during the test period was similar to that obtained for operation with wood pellets. Furthermore, no significant ash sintering or agglomeration problems were observed more than 750 hours of operation. The calculated biomass‐to‐biomethane efficiency is 43% to 47% (lower heating value basis) for operation with wet bark. However, the predicted biomass‐to‐biomethane efficiency can be increased to 55%–65% for operation with bark feedstock dried to 8% moisture content, with corresponding feedstock costs in the range of 24.2 to 32.7 EUR/MWh; ie, a cost reduction of about 40% compared with wood pellets.

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Efficiency Comparison of Large‐Scale Standalone, Centralized, and Distributed Thermochemical Biorefineries

Cited by 30 publications

References 42 publications

Advanced biofuel production via gasification – lessons learned from 200 man‐years of research activity with Chalmers’ research gasifier and the GoBiGas demonstration plant

Advanced biofuel production via gasification – lessons learned from 200 man‐years of research activity with Chalmers’ research gasifier and the GoBiGas demonstration plant

Economic assessment of advanced biofuel production via gasification using cost data from the GoBiGas plant

Bark as feedstock for dual fluidized bed gasifiers-Operability, efficiency, and economics

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