Syngas from Biomass Ruben Smit Syngas & SNG Group www.ecn.nl
ECN Energy research Centre of the Netherlands ECN mission: development of high-quality knowledge and technology for the transition to a sustainable energy supply, and bringing this to the market ~72 M /y turnover ~600 employees (~550 fte)
ECN s business units Energy Saving Renewable Energy Clean Fossil
Why syngas from biomass Syngas is a key intermediate product Syngas is needed: ~800GW th installed (mainly fossil) Transition from fossil fuels to renewable biomass CO 2 reductions by green syngas Biomass: only source of renewable syngas/carbon Enabling net negative CO 2 emissions (with CCS) Gasification is key (solid gas)
What is Gasification? combustion: fuel + air (λ > 1) flue gas + heat 25% pyrolysis: fuel + heat volatiles + char + 75% gasification: fuel + air (λ~0.3) gas (volatiles) ~80% cold gas efficiency
SCGP Shell E-gas Conoco Phillips Carbo V CRIEPI CCP MILENA Indirect gasifier Siemens 2-stage Gasification Separation (co-prod) Silvagas / Gussing Prenflo Entrained Flow Gasification Syngas Further conversion Product gas Fluid bed Gasification Various BFB/CFB gasifiers Lurgi s MPG Moving bed Gasification KBR Transport gasifier General Electric Sasol / Lurgi (dry-ash) BGL (slagging) Winkler
Sustainable Biomass
Choice of gasifier for biomass Biomass is reactive: contains O 2 (CH 1.4 O 0.6 ). No need for high T, large particles possible Biomass contains 80% volatiles Volatiles released by heating to low temperature No need for high T s, no O 2 or air needed Remaining 20% is solid, combustible material Could be a source of heat Biomass is difficult to grind No severe size reduction
Indirect Gasification: principle Large reactive particles: fluid bed 80% volatiles by heating: only use heat in 1 reactor Low temperature: no O 2 plant, fluid bed combustion: Gas Flue gas fuel + air (λ > 1) flue gas + heat char pyrolysis: fuel + heat volatiles + char Pyrolysis fuel heat Combustor Air
www.milenatechnology.com Indirect Gasification: Milena low-n 2 product gas No O 2 plant, N 2 free gas 1 reactor Cold Gas Efficiency: 80% (LHV, incl. tar) Full carbon conversion Uses biomass chips Tars: 40 g/nm 3 (mostly naphthalene, 50% unknowns) T riser: ~850 C, combustor: ~920 C, P: ~1.1 bara Control parameters: sand circulation: ~40kg/kg biomass pyrolysis in riser BFB combustor biomass flue gas combustion air carrier gas (steam, CO 2 )
C2H2 1% MILENA product gas characteristics (1) LHV% C2H4 15% C2H6 1% C6H6 9% C7H8 1% O2 0% Vol% (wet) H2O 31% N2 2% Ar 0% CO 15% CH4 29% + Tars! H2 25% CO 19% CO2 18% C7H8 0% C2H6 0% C6H6 C2H4 C2H2 1% 3% 0% CH4 8% H2 22% LHV (wet) = 9688 kj/nm 3 LHV (dry) = 14278 kj/nm 3 Optimization to less hydrocarbons is possible! Less CH 4, less tars
Development Milena at ECN 25kW lab scale gasifier 5 kg/hr of biomass ~1500 hours of operation 800kW pilot scale gasifier ~150 kg/hr of biomass Recently started up Photos by Jasper Lensselink
Plans at Dutch waste incinerator plant (HVC) 50MW th Milena SNG Plant in 2015 10MW th Milena CHP Plant in 2012 Potential for slip stream testing! Photos courtesy of the HVC
Milena for syngas production systems High T preferred Part tar removal HC s conversion Dust removal S removal Convert HC s without soot formation Handle low amounts of tar Catalytic or O 2 Reformer 1: 100% syngas line CO H 2 Transport Fuels Chemicals Milena Full tar removal, Low T possible Olga Dust removal Tar removal S removal Cl removal some HC s removal Gas cleaning CO H 2 CH 4 C 2 H 2 C 2 H 4 C 2 H 6 C 6 H 6 C 7 H 8 2: Syngas + HC s line Electricity SNG
System 1: tar removal (TREC) Specifications: Good contact tar/char Sufficiently long: > 1 s T~900 C Robust Low P-drop gas, tar and char (recycled) granules low-tar gas Reactor: Moving granular bed filter Char deposition mainly on top legenda char/ash particle Gas flow granules with char
Experimental results Milena + TREC Uitlaat Temperatuur TREC T1 TREC T2 TREC T3 TREC T4 TREC T6 TREC T8 Drukval over de TREC 1000 50 5 950 40 Temperatuur C 900 850 30 20 Druk mbar 800 10 750 1 2 3 4 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Tijd
Experimental results Milena + TREC Tars from 4 to 1-2 g/nm 3 Tar dew point down to 80 C Almost complete reduction of C 2 H 2 C 2 H 4 reduced ~80% reduction of thiophenes CH 4 and C 6 H 6 remain almost unchanged Filter efficiency ~99% Particle concentration reduced to <100 mg/nm 3 Dust formation due to olivine milling in transport
Development of both syngas systems Develop technology for biomass-to-syngas line based on Milena Investigate co-production SNG and FT / E Seek strategic partners for processes in both lines Combine syngas applications with Milena demo s Bring syngas technologies to the market.
Conclusions Biomass properties suit Milena indirect gasification Syngas from biomass is important for CO 2 reduction Milena technology is being scaled up in 2 demo s Milena gasification could be suited for 100% syngas production and co-production High temperature tar removal has been tested on a lab-scale ECN is actively looking for partners for its Milena-to syngas line
MORE INFORMATION Ruben Smit e: r.smit@ecn.nl PO Box 1 t: +31 224 56 4634 NL 1755 ZG Petten w: www.ecn.nl the Netherlands publications: www.ecn.nl/publications composition database: www.phyllis.nl tar dew point calculator: www.thersites.nl IEA bioenergy/gasification: www.ieatask33.org Milena indirect gasifier: www.milenatechnology.com OLGA: www.olgatechnology.com SNG: www.biosng.com and www.biocng.com
Worldwide Syngas Production 2009 400.000 350.000 300.000 Coal Natural gas Biomass/waste Petroleum Petcoke MW syngas installed 250.000 200.000 150.000 100.000 50.000 0 Shell General Electric Sasol ConcoPhillips Lurgi Foster Wheeler Siemens Others
Other Gasification Technology: what does the want? Fast implementation Use (proven) coal-based technology Low capital cost High efficiency, if biomass is expensive Conditions result in specific technology: High efficiency, potentially low capital That can remove tars That is not completely commercial Alternative: Entrained Flow best to start fast and large scale - Existing (coal) technology, Co-firing potential, large players, low efficiency, pre-treatment needed, needs less technology development, short term Moving bed: why not? Why is a Lurgi gasifier not suited -> lot more difficult tars, feeding? 2-Stage? Similar to pre-treatment with EF
Focus of Syngas & SNG group Synthetic Natural Gas CH 4 Transport Fuels Fischer Tropsch Alcohols MTBE Syngas Methanol Product gas CO Aromatics Olefins Chemicals Refining H 2 Ammonia Electricity
Focus of Syngas & SNG group Synthetic Natural Gas CH 4 Transport Fuels Fischer Tropsch Alcohols MTBE Syngas Methanol Product gas CO Aromatics Olefins Chemicals Refining H 2 Ammonia Electricity
MILENA characteristics (2) Differences with Güssing and SilvaGas