Biomass gasification technologies for
advanced power systems and synfuels
- Status and Present R&D activities at VTT
Esa Kurkela
IV Liekkipäivä- National Flame Days
Tampere 23.1.2008
VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
This presentation is based primarily on material from
the following R&D projects carried out at VTT
• UCG – project 1.1.2004 – 31.5.2007: Synthesis gas and
ultra clean fuel gas from biomass
• EU/BiGPower 1.10.2005 – 30.9.2008: Advanced biomass
gasification for high-efficiency power
• EU/LahtiSTREAMS: Advanced Integrated Waste
Management and WtE demonstration
• Previous Tekes and EU projects at VTT on biomass and
waste gasification
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
C
A
R
B
O
N
G
A
S
Oil
Coal
C
L
E
A
N
U
P
Gasification
Biomass
Waste/SRF
O2
A
i
r
Syngas
FTsynthesis
Hydrogen
SNG
MetOH
SOFC
IGCC
(Fuel gas) Co-firing
Gas engine
CHP
Energy
S
t
e
a
m
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Drivers for Biomass and Waste Gasification
High-efficiency power from biomass at
small-to-medium scale
Efficient utilisation of wastes
Liquid biofuels, renewable methane
or H2 for transport
2
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Atmospheric-pressure gasification
for kilns and boilers
C FB G ASIFIER
UNIFLOW CYC LON E
R EACTOR
850 °C
GAS IFICA TION AIR FAN
• Commercial lime-kiln gasifiers
were constructed in 1980’s by
Ahlström Oy
• New development by Foster
Wheeler in 1990’s for boiler
applications
A IR PR EHE ATER
RETURN LEG
900 °C
B IOFU EL FE ED
• Gasifiers are now offered by
• Foster Wheeler
• Carbona/Andritz
• Metso Power
H OT L OW CAL ORIF IC
G AS (750 - 650 °C)
BO TTO M AS H CO OLING S CRE W
• Feasible
in size range 15-150 MW
• Fuel drying is often needed
to achieve required flame properties
VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Efficient utilisation of wastes and biomass
residues in existing power plants
a cost-effective way to reduce CO2 emissions of power plants
- in operation since 1998
- no commissioning problems
- 50
high
000
fuel
operating
flexibilityhours
- gasifier availability > 95 %
- boiler emissions decreased
- payback time ca. 8 years
Gasifier feed
preparation
Main boiler
360 MW th
CFB gasifier of 60MW
3
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Corenso gasifier in Varkaus, Finland
- gasification of aluminium containing plastic reject material
- complete recycling of liquid cartoons (milk & juice packaging)
- 50 MW gas to boiler, 2100 t/year aluminium for re-use
- developed by VTT & Foster Wheeler Energia Oy in 1998 - 2000
Plastic reject material
with 10 % aluminium
in operation since autumn 2001
Source: T.Anttikoski, Foster Wheeler Energia Oy
VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Waste utilisation by gasification
Lahti II – Alternative for
conventional incineration:
Gasification process for high-alkali
biofuels, demolition wood and RDF
Gas cooler
Filtration
Clean
gas
300-500°C
Gasification + Gas cleaning + Gas
fired boiler + Flue gas cleaning
Fluidised bed gasification of SRF/RDF
Product gas cleaning
• Removal of (corrosive) Cl and ash
components (metals)
• Clean gas fired in a gas fired boiler
• No fouling or corrosive impurities
•
•
CFB
gasifier
Waste Fuel
Ash
treatment
20-150
MW
Bed
materials
Air +
Steam
Bottom
ash
Fly ash
Ca(OH) 2
Lahti Energia Oy 160 MWth
gasification based WtE plant
• => High steam
temperature & pressure
• High power production efficiency
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Removal of chlorine & heavy metals
by barrier filtration
Filtration temperature
range 150 – 800 °C
Depends on impurity to be
removed, tar content, filter
media, etc.
Filter media
• Rigid ceramic or metal
candle filters (< 500-900 oC)
• Rigid ceramic fibre filters
F
I
L
T
E
R
DUST
(Sorbent)
HCl
Clean gas
HCl
DUST
+
Cl
(< 900 °C)
• Ceramic bag filters
(< 400 °C)
• Teflon bag filters
(< 250 °C)
VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Fuel: SRF (RDF); Ceramic fabric filter (3M FB-900); Cyclone
temperature 700-750oC; filter temperature 395oC)
100,0
90,0
80,0
% of output
70,0
60,0
50,0
40,0
30,0
20,0
10,0
0,0
Na
K
Cl
Al
Ca Hg Sn Sb As Cd Pb
Bottom ash
V
Cyclone dust
Mn Co
Filter dust
Ni
Cu Zn Mo Cr
Si Mg
Gas
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
EU-BigPower
Biomass Gasification for High Efficiency Power
Duration: 36 months (October 2005 – September 2008 )
Overall Budget for the project: 2 943 k€
Financed in part by EU FP6
Gasification systems
Power production equipment
•
•
•
•
• GE Jenbacher, Austria
• MTU CFC Solutions GmbH, Germany
Condens Oy, Finland
Carbona Oy, Finland
Repotec GmbH, Austria
Biomasse Kraftwerk
Güssing, Austria
• (Kokemäki & Skive sites)
Catalytic Gas Cleaning and filtration
• MEL Chemicals, United Kingdom
• NortaUAB, Lithuania
• Madison Filter Ltd, United Kingdom
R&D organisations supporting industrial development
•
•
•
•
VTT - Technical Research Centre of Finland
TUV - Technical University of Vienna, Austria
CERTH - Centre of Research & Technology Hellas,Greece
TKK - Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Novel power plant: 1.8 MWe + 3.3 MW heat
-
supplier: Condens Oy
Kokemäki, Finland
Commissioning phase
total investment 5 M€
electric efficiency 30 %
Impurity
Control method
Particulates
Bag filters
Tars
Catalytic reformer
Nitrogen compounds
(NH3 ja HCN)
Catalytic reformer
and gas scrubbing
Low sulfur feedstock and
gas scrubbing
Low chlorine feedstock,
gas filtering and scrubbing
Sulfur
Chlorine
Content and
removal
efficiency
< 10 mg/m3n
( > 99 %)
< 100 mg/m3n
(> 95 %)
< 10 mg/m3n
(> 95-99 %)
< 10 mg/m3n
< 10 mg/m3n
Tar reformer
Scrubber
Novel
gasifier
Gas cooler
and Filter
Gas engines
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SKIVE PROJECT, DENMARK
PRODUCT GAS FILTER
GAS COOLER
TO STACK
TAR CRACKER
BOILER
BIOMASS
FLY ASH
DISTRICT
HEATING
11.5 MW th
PRODUCT GAS COOLING
(Heat Recovery)
FLUE GAS
HEAT RECOVERY
PRODUCT GAS
BUFFER TANK
GASIFIER
PRODUCT GAS SCRUBBING
(Heat Recovery)
AIR
STEAM
POWER
5.4 MWe
WATER TREATMENT
ASH
GAS ENGINES
VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Dual Fluidised-Bed Steam Gasification
(Repotec, TUV & Biomasse Kraftwerk Güssing)
Biomass-CHP-Plant-Güssing, 2 MWe + 4.5 MW heat
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Reforming catalysts
Nickel
- Requires high temperature 900 °C
- Deactivates easily by coke & sulphur
ZrO2
+ Lower operation temperature ~700 °C
+ Tolerates catalyst poisons
Tar model compound conversion (%)
100
+ Decomposes tar and ammonia simultaneously
+ Commercially available
- Tar conversion not complete
- Under development and testing
Precious metal A
Ni
ZrO2
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
550
600
650
700
750
800
Temperature (°C)
850
900
H. Rönkkönen et al. Book of Abstracts, 1st International Congress on Green
Process Engineering, 24-26.4.2007 Toulouse, France p. 277
Precious metals
+ High activity
- Very expensive
- Long-term stability?
EU BigPower: WP1: Advanced Gas Cleaning
(VTT, TKK, TUV, Madison Filter, MEL, Norta)
New monoliths, VTT & TKK
- new catalyst material and production method
Metal substrate catalysts, Norta
- input from VTT, TKK and MEL
- improved plasma coating method
Catalytic filters, Madison Filter
- improved catalysts and production methods
Example of screening test results
80
70
C onversion (%)
New catalyst powders, MEL
- new materials and optimised production
- supply of tailored raw materials
to VTT, TKK & Norta
Toluene
ZrO2
60
A doped ZrO2
50
B doped ZrO2
40
30
C doped ZrO2
20
10
0
500
gamma-Al2O3
600
700
800
900
1000
Temperature (°C)
Metal substrate catalysts by Norta
Testing of new catalysts
- laboratory-scale screening tests
- extended-time slip-stream tests
at Kokemäki and Güssing
- full-scale testing of selected catalysts
at Kokemäki
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8
Novel air-blown fixed-bed gasifier
BiGPower Tasks & Results from WP3
Recycling of scrubber effluents
- characterisation of waste waters
from Kokemäki demo plant
- recycling of effluents to the gasifier
Replacement of nickel monoliths
by more robust & cheaper catalysts
- slip-stream testing – started in May 2006
- testing in full gas stream – since fall 2007
- new materials from WP1 also in 2007
In-situ catalytic tar reforming
Slip-stream catalyst testing at Kokemäki
- construction of testing equipment
- single element testing at Kokemäki
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Advanced Gas Engines and MCFC
Tasks and Results of GE Jenbacher and MTU Fuel Cell Solutions
Increased Engine performance and
lower investment and operation costs
- higher efficiency and throughput
- evaluation of the effects of different design
parameters on engine performance with
BiGPower product gases
- materials optimisation and methods for
minimising tar-related problems
- CO and NOx emission control
- testing at GEJ and Güssing
MTU’s Fuel Cell HotModule
-
process calculation tool for gasification gases
MCFC process design for BiGPower gases
performance and costs of BiG-MCFC systems
design basis for demonstration project
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Biomass – IGCC power plant
BiGPower Tasks and Results from WP4
Concept studies
PFB GASIFIER
• Gas turbine survey by Carbona
To slip stream
testing facilities
• Process modelling by CERTH
Gas
cooler
Bed
material
Additive
• Optimised concept
• Integration to existing power plants
CATR
control valve
Fuel feeding
equipment
Advanced gas cleaning
• Increased filtration temperature
Heating
elements
• New ceramic filter media
FILTER
• Testing of catalytic filters
Oxygen
• Selective oxidation of ammonia
Steam
Air
• Lab-scale testing by TKK
Nitrogen
Heating
elements
Ash
removal
Bed
removal
• Tests at VTT’s new
500 kW pressurised gasifier
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Synthesis Gas from Biomass
VTT’s UltraClean Gas project (1.1.2004-31.5.2007)
– VTT,TKK, Foster Wheeler, Neste Oil, Andritz, Vapo, PVO, UPM, StoraEnso, M-real,
Botnia. Rintekno
– pressurised gasification followed by catalytic reforming
– 500 kW Process development Unit
– studies for 150 – 400 MW plants integrated to pulp and paper industry
Industrial follow-up projects
–
–
–
preliminary planning and design was made in VTT’s UCG project in 2006-2007
15-50 MW demonstration in 2008-10 (lime kilns or power plant)
first commercial-scale FT-plant in 2012-14
PFB GASIFIER
To slip stream
testing facilities
Gas
cooler
Bed
material
Additive
CATR
Kemira’s peat ammonia
plant in 1990
Pressure
control valve
Fuel feeding
equipment
Heating
elements
FILTER
Oxygen
Ash
removal
Steam
Air
Nitrogen
Bed
removal
Heating
elements
Furnace
VTT’s 500 kW PDU
for syngas and
ultraclean fuel gas
10
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Integration of FT-synthesis plant to pulp and paper mill
Paper
& pulp
Process steam & power
power
plant
Pulp and
paper mill
Energy
to drying
Biomass
handling
and
drying
Wood, straw
energy crops,
peat, RDF
Gasification and
gas treatment
fuel gas
+ steam
synthesis
-gas
bark,
forest
residues,
other
biomass
FT-synthesis
& upgrading
steam &
oxygen
WoodDiesel
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Estimated Costs of Co-Produced FT Primary Liquids
260 MW feed, Interest on capital: 10 %, 20 a
Current Finnish
price level of
diesel and
gasoline
(excluding taxes
and distribution)
FT-Liquids Production Costs,
EUR/MWh
70
Level of
excise tax on
diesel and
gasoline
Fully integrated, of fgas replaces boiler
biofuel, drying w ith
sec. heat
Fully integrated, of fgas replaces boiler
biofuel, LP-steam
dryer
Stand-alone; drying
w ith sec. heat
60
50
40
30
20
Typical current
price of forestry
residues in
Finland
10
0
5
Stand-alone; LPsteam dryer
10
15
20
Biomass Fuel Price, EUR/MWh
Cost of final upgrading to automotive fuels: about 4 EUR/MWh
All cost data at early 2006 level
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Estimated Production Costs for Alternative Syngas Products
Production Costs, EUR/MWh
260 MW feed; Feedstock at 10 EUR/MWh; Interest on capital 10 %, 20 a
50
When utilised as automotive fuel, end-use
costs increase significantly in this direction:
40
30
20
10
0
FT
CH3OH
SNG
H2
Notes: (1) Feedstock drying: from 50 % moisture to 30 % with secondary heat; from 30 % to
15 % with by-product steam. (2) FT: Fischer-Tropsch primary liquids; reforming loop included.
All cost data at early 2006 level
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Estimated Forest-to-Wheel Costs
260 MW feed; Feedstock at 10 EUR/MWh; Interest on capital 10 %, 20 a
Costs, EUR/MWh
100
80
Vehicle-related extra
costs
60
Distribution costs, incl.
pressurisation for SNG
Upgrading costs (FT)
40
Production costs
20
0
FT
SNG
Forest-to-Wheel Costs: Biomass-FT < Biomass-SNG < Biomass-H2-FC
All cost data at early 2006 level
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25
VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
Biorefineries at pulp and paper
mills and at large CHP plants
SYNTHESIS GAS FROM
BIOMASS
FROM R&D TO INDUSTRIAL SUCCESS
(road map made in VTT,s UCG project in 2006)
- diesel production: 70 -150 000 tons/plant
- by-product heat for process steam or
district heating
- high overall efficiency
First synfuel production plant
- 200-250 MW feed capacity
- 105 000 tons/a diesel fuel
- 3 % Finnish transport fuel
- start-up in 2012-14
Peat
ammonia
plant
Oulu/Finland
Biomass/waste
gasification for power
(Lahti, Corenso,
Värnamo, Kokemäki)
1985
1995
2000
2005
Industrial demonstration: 15 MW
- replacement of oil/gas
- start-up in 2009
2010
2015
New applications
- fuel cells, 2nd gen. IGCC
- hydrogen or methane
- renewable chemicals
2020
2025
2030
R & D on hot filtration
Further R&D
and
- process optimisation
Synthesis gas
catalytic gas cleaning VTT-UCG
- waste gasification
R&D in Europe
Optimised
- hydrogen technologies
and USA in 1980’s
syngas R&D
& PDU-scale
development
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VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND
UCGFUNDA 2008 - 2010
Biomass gasification for synthesis applications
- fundamental studies supporting industrial development projects
VTT, TKK and Åbo Akademi, total budget 1.5 M€
Financing by Tekes Biorefine, VTT and 7 private companies
(Carbona, Foster Wheeler, Metso Power, Neste Oil, Stora Enso, UPM & Vapo)
Biomass characterisation for pressurised steam/oxygen-blown
gasification
Filter blinding and catalyst deactivation studies
Tar reactions in non-catalytic and catalytic processes (reformingcracking-oxidation)
New system studies on FT-applications
Development of measuring methods for tars and other gas
contaminants
Follow-up of foreign R&D projects
IEA groups: ”Biomass thermal gasification” and ”Biomass Hydrogen”
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