Gasification: A Key Technology Enabler Paul Winstanley CEng. MEI. MSOE. MCIBSE. Project Manager 2015 Energy Technologies Institute LLP The information in this document is the property of Energy Technologies Institute LLP and may not be copied or communicated to a third party, or used for any purpose other than that for which it is supplied without the express written consent of Energy Technologies Institute LLP. This information is given in good faith based upon the latest information available to Energy Technologies Institute LLP, no warranty or representation is given concerning such information, which must not be taken as establishing any contractual or other commitment binding upon Energy Technologies Institute LLP or any of its subsidiary or associated companies.
Agenda The ETI UK energy use Why energy from waste Why gasification What is Gasification Phase 1 Waste Gasification project Phase 2 Waste Gasification
The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) The Energy Technologies Institute is a publicprivate partnership between global energy and engineering companies and UK Government The UK is facing increasing energy demands and stringent GHG emission targets out to 2050 (> 500 MtCO 2 e to 105 MtCO 2 e) This will require significant change to our energy system ETI was set up to identify and accelerate the development and demonstration of an integrated set of low carbon technologies to deliver this step change Part of a robust and affordable future energy system in the UK ETI members ETI programme associate
ETI covers 9 technology programme areas & invests in projects at three levels Delivering... New knowledge o Up to 5M / 2 years Technology development o 5-15M / 2-4 years / TRL 3-5 Technology demonstration 15-30M+ / 3-5 years / TRL 5-6+ Reduced risk
UK (ESME) energy flows 2015 Primary energy Bioenergy/waste excepted. most primary energy is imported Petroleum dominates - nearly 150 mtoe. Most electricity is indigenously produced Final UK energy consumption 2013:150.1mtoe/6304 PJ Transport accounts for 35½% of all of the energy consumed in the UK Domestic sector accounts for 29% & industrial sector accounts for 16%
The UK Energy Challenge 2010 2050 62 million people 77-79 million people 24 million cars 35-43 million cars 24 million domestic dwellings 80% still in use in 2050, growing to 38 million houses Over 90GW generation capacity (1MW to 3.9GW) Over 200 significant power stations. average age > 20 years old 50% of power generation capacity held in 30 plants - average age 30 years old Demand is growing, assets are ageing, prices are rising irrespective of the UK s GHG emission reduction targets Need to design a future UK energy system which is sustainable, affordable and secure
Bioenergy A key lever particularly with CCS - Requires sustainable supplies imports and indigenous Major potential for creating negative emissions via CCS Could support a range of conversion and utilisation routes Hydrogen SNG Heat ETI investing in soil science, logistics and value chain models Informing decisions what do we grow? where do we grow it? how do we handle it?
Future scenarios: emissions comparison Negative emissions are highly desirable Clockwork Patchwork Both scenarios target is 105 million tonnes of CO 2 in 2050 Clockwork has 30 MT of extra negative emissions from implementation of biomass + CCS This extra headroom helps avoid expensive abatement actions such as in transport Provides more flexibility on transition
Energy From Waste Project profiling waste arising's in the UK Evaluated different conversion technologies Identified technology development opportunities in the area of gasification and gas clean up Project Partners
Why energy from waste Drivers to use waste as a fuel Reduce waste sector emissions 3.2% of UK GHG emissions in 2009 Landfill diversion landfill tax and landfill diversion targets UK commitments Reduction of UK emissions by 80% by 2050 To supply 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020 Energy from Waste FRP project 1. UK Waste Arisings 2. Technology Assessment 3. Modeling of System Performance Configurations As is vs Developed 4. Benefits Case
1. Waste system analysis About 90MT of UK waste is energy bearing Key waste streams are MSW and C&I C&D is about 70% non combustible C&I contains more paper and card than MSW due to different recycling targets Both contain large percentages of thin film plastics with high CV Plastics contribute significantly to waste CV economically favourable to extract energy from these providing efficiency is high enough But, waste streams will always contain some recyclable materials as these can t be continuously recycled England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Total MSW 29.1 1.8 2.1 1.1 34.1 C&I waste 58.7 3.6 8.1 1.6 72.0 C&D waste 89.6 12.2 11.8 1.7 115.3 Total 177.4 17.6 22.0 4.4 221.4
2. Improve the definition of the opportunity for significant levels of primarily electricity and heat generation from the waste available in the UK, today and in coming decades. Overview of new technologies followed by testing program FB gasification most suitable technology; downdraft possibly suitable at smaller scales Strong focus on fuel feeding and syngas gas cleaning needed Feedstock pre-treatment may be necessary to homogenise the waste feed Holistic system design is essential Gasification and pyrolysis technologies tested were able to process mixed wastes of widely varying composition Operating engines on syngas shown to be feasible Integrated AD / gasification set up is an opportunity
3. Opportunity - Identification of combinations of technologies for development and related technology improvement opportunities to fill gaps in the value chain. Current EFW s are regional scale only. Town scale is a major development opportunity Local CHP plants will have strongest impact on reducing emissions from energy from wastes EFW technologies must be able to cope with changing wastes - drives towards thermal processes MSW and C&I production rates are reducing and mix of materials within wastes is changing with changes in recycling. Elemental composition is relatively stable Opportunity to develop waste pre-treatment technologies to homogenise waste Limited range of options for wet wastes garden waste and food waste; AD appears most attractive. AD efficiency is low for the size of plant work needed to improved process intensities Gasification* is preferred to liquefaction by pyrolysis for MSW & C&I Liquefaction by pyrolysis more suited to consistent quality feedstock streams such as tyres *including Pyrolysis/Gasification combinations and gasification by pyrolysis
4. UK benefits case - Clear UK benefits case for development and deployment of the identified technologies City 34% of UK population live in cities 500k people taken as scenario scale UK has 5 cities over 500k people and 26 between 200k and 500k Mixed economy of residential, industrial and service No agricultural Town 43% of UK population live in towns 50k people taken as scenario scale Residential and commercial (with surrounding agricultural). Village 21% of UK population live in villages 5k people taken as scenario scale Residential, little commercial Rural Agricultural 2% of UK population live in a rural setting 500 people taken as scenario scale Mainly farming and light industrial (arable or livestock)
Benefits Case Outcomes Projected achievable electrical generation is approximately 25TWh per year Equivalent to 5-8% of UK electricity demand Advanced EFW technologies can potentially contribute to a net decrease 5 to 10 MTCO 2 e/year at midpoint technology conversion and waste arisings scenarios High total conversion efficiency technologies drive highest GHG savings Focus on town and village scale technologies, especially gasification/pyrolysis City scale well served by incineration Cost effective syngas clean-up is essential for community scale systems City Town Village Rural Av Population 500,000 50,000 5,000 500 % UK Popn. 34% 43% 21% 2% Waste kt/yr (Mwe) 500 (75) 50 (8) 5 (0.8) 0.5 (0.1) Number of plants 76 946 4,544 4,544
Technology Choices Incineration and Anaerobic Digestion TRL 9 Pyrolysis and Gasification TRL5 (Laboratory scale, similar system validation in relevant environment) But, Gasification; Integrates well with upstream recycling activities Provides great energy sector flexibility (power, gas, liquids) Is future proof, as an intermediate and destination technology Greatest potential for ETI to deliver LCOE and efficacy improvements Coupling of key elements (sorting, gasification, gas cleanup, gas utilisation) of the system are vital
Summary / Our Vision Town scale systems using local waste arisings Gasification systems providing clean syngas, but Gasification systems today are just developing close coupled systems are rolling out Gas clean-up systems need development and demonstration Utilisation of cleaned syngas in engines and turbines to give enhanced efficiencies not yet commercially demonstrated Finance community needs proven systems Flexible use of syngas, providing Power at high efficiency plus heat Fuels including hydrogen plus heat if possible
The Gasification Story gasification is not new 1609 Belgian Chemist Jan Baptisa Van Helmon 1788 First Gasifier Patent 1878 Gasifier used with internal combustion engine 1926 Winkler fluidised bed gasifier 1931 Lurgi pressurised bed gasifier 1939 Germany produce fuels from coal 1940 s Wide use of towns gas to fuel vehicles ~1974 UK abandons the use of towns gas
What is gasification and how do we achieve our vision 0 Air/oxidant flow >100 Pyrolysis (produces mix of gases, condensable vapours, char & ash) Gasification (produces smaller mix of gases (CO, H 2, CO 2, CH 4, N 2 if air used) minor lower HC s, some char & ash Combustion (produces hot CO 2, N 2, minor CO, minor others, ash, heat)
Combustion / Gasification / Pyrolysis are all closely related 400 C 1500 C 1000 C 600 C 400 C Air diffusion in plume Combustion products Combustion of gas, tar and soot Gases from soot (luminous) Oil vapours crack to hydrocarbons and tar Oil vapours and gas Pyrolysis of wood
Feed + oxidant flows Unreacted feedstock (15 C) Drying (<100 C) Pyrolysis (100-400 C) Oxidation (~1000 C) Char and gas reduction (1000-700 C) (too) cool char and ash (<700 C) Hot raw syngas e.g. RDF, wood chips Heat dries biomass as it approaches reaction zone Heat devolatilises biomass to yield vapours, gases and char C + O2 = CO2 + heat C+ 1/2O2 = CO All air consumed C + CO2 = 2CO, C + H2O = CO + H2, C + 2H2 = CH4 2CO + O2 = 2CO2, CO + 3H2 = CH4 + H2O, 2H2 + O2 = 2H2O, CH4 + 3/2O2 = CO + 2H2O CO + H2O = CO2 + H2, CH4 + H2O = CO + 3H2 Chemical quenching in reduction zone means temperatures are too low to sustain reactions Contains tars, particulates which need removal
Market attractiveness (town scale, waste) Each has its own strengths and weaknesses Each may be more or less suited to a particular feedstock and/or application Market attractiveness very much depends on application and resource to be gasified For high hazard wastes, plasma becomes much more desirable For fuels production from torrefied woodchips, entrained flow becomes more desirable Lack of gasification technologies for clean syngas in <10MWe scale Atmospheric BFB starting to emerge Pressurised BFB not far behind CFB s may be too large for town scale high Market attractiveness low Up draft strongest ABFB plasma down draft PBFB ACFB Technology strength PCFB EF weakest
System integration is biggest challenge Gasification needs demonstration More innovation and demonstration needed in gas cleaning Cleaning can be by, for example, high temperature cracking and washing, low temperature scrubbing (e.g. OLGA) Waste handling although simple on face of it, lack of focus here can jeopardise a whole project Air O 2 Furnace / steam gasifier engine Waste handling Raw syngas Cleaning / conditioning Clean syngas Gas turbine Chem synthesis
Raw syngas quality is not sufficient for advanced processes Courtesy of Progressive Energy
Gasification provides flexibility provided there is clean syngas Furnace/Boiler Methane (biosng) Engine/Turbine Gasification direct combustion Cleaned syngas chemical synthesis Gasification to produce clean syngas provides flexibility; mitigating against future energy system uncertainties Fuel cell Fischer Tropsch Ethanol (fermentation) Mixed alcohols synthesis Hydrogen DiMethylEther (DME) Methanol synthesis Carbon monoxide Ammonia Diesel / jet fuel n-paraffins MTO / MOGD Formaldehyde Acetyls Fertilisers chemicals and materials Power Heat Fuels Courtesy of NNFCC
Today High value job creation Increased R&D opportunities Effective use of wastes Deployment of gasification projects using Rankine (steam) cycles Use of wider resource base Deployment of projects using clean syngas fuelling engines, turbines for power. CHP Security of supply Meeting 2050 targets CHP opportunity Deployment of fully flexible options (turbines, H 2, jet fuels etc) GHG savings IP creation
Waste Gasification Project Aim: Competition to design an economically and commercially viable, efficient energy from waste gasification demonstrator plant.in the 5-20 MWe scale range. Three companies commissioned to deliver their design Designs supported with a combination of laboratory and pilot scale testing on different feedstocks and through process modelling 2.8 million over 1 year Launched April 2012 Outputs:- Process designs, site identification, costs, planning and permitting Outcomes:- Technical capabilities, deliverability, finance-ability
Advanced Plasma Power Site location West Midlands (Tyseley) 5MWe reciprocating engines Novelty of design: plasma torch syngas cleaning and tar cracking Broadcrown Site Location West Midlands (Wednesbury) 3MWe reciprocating engines Novelty of design: thermal syngas cleaning and tar cracking Royal Dahlman Site location NE (Grimsby) 7MWe Combined cycle gas turbine plant Novelty of design: indirect gasifier, turbine and chemical washing of syngas with heavies recycle back to gasifier
In Summary / Our Vision ETI has identified Bioenergy as very important negative emissions of CO 2 Gasification is a key enabling technology Flexibility can yield a variety of energy outputs Town scale systems using local waste arisings Improved thermal integration Gasification systems today are just developing close coupled systems are rolling out Systems need development and robust demonstration Advanced gasification systems are emerging
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