Presentation given Biomass Gasification Europe 2014 at the Conference of the European Biogas Association 2014.

1. MILENA GASIFICATION
Bram
van
der
Dri0
2
October
2014
BGE,
Alkmaar,
The
Netherlands
www.ecn.nl

2. BIOMASS DOES NOT FIT!
we need a trick
The
world
is
based
on
coal,
natural
gas,
oil

3. GASIFICATION
• GasificaEon
converts
solid
fuel
to
gaseous
fuel
• Opens
the
door
to
exisEng
energy
systems:
– Boilers
– Engines
– Turbines
– Chemistry
– Fuels
– Refineries
– Steel
industry
3
wood,
agricultural
residues,
waste,
coal,
…
H2,
CO,
CH4,
…

4. ECN
develop-operate-license
• Develops
gasificaEon
technology:
– MILENA,
CFB,
OLGA,
biomass-­‐to-­‐SNG,
waste-­‐to-­‐power,
bioAromaEcs,
…
• Operates
small
(1-­‐10
kg/h)
and
large
(50-­‐150
kg/h)
test
faciliEes
• Licenses
technologies:
– Royal
Dahlman,
Thermax,
HoSt
• Acts
as
consultant
for
third
parEes
• Performs
specialized
analyses
on
gases,
on-­‐site
• Performs
Due
Diligence
for
e.g.
investors

5. ECN DEVELOPMENTS
commercially available innovations
• GasificaEon
concept:
MILENA
– Unique
for
its
solid
fuel
flexibility
in
terms
of
size,
shape,
sort
– Tested
with
wood,
straw,
waste,
plasEc,
grass,
coal,
lignite,
…
– Very
high
efficiency
due
to
complete
conversion
– High
heaEng
value
gas
(N2-­‐free),
yet
operaEng
with
air
– Compact
and
cheap
– Commercially
available
from
Royal
Dahlman
and
Thermax
• Gas
cleaning
concept:
OLGA
– Complete
tar
removal
– Complete
parEcles
removal
– No
loss
of
gases
– Commercially
available
from
Royal
Dahlman
www.www.olgatechnology.com
milenatechnology.com

6. ECN DEVELOPMENTS
new innovations
• Upgrading
to
natural
gas
quality
(SNG):
– Complete
system
available
from
biomass
to
bio-­‐NaturalGas
(other
words:
Green
Gas,
bioSNG,
bioMethane,
Renewable
Natural
Gas)
– Preparing
4
MW
demonstraEon
plant
in
Alkmaar,
NL
• Co-­‐producEon
of
bio-­‐chemicals:
– SeparaEon/producEon
of
bio-­‐aromaEcs
– SeparaEon/producEon
of
bio-­‐ethylene
– ProducEon
of
bio-­‐diesel
(Fischer-­‐Tropsch)
– ProducEon
of
bio-­‐LNG
(Liquefied
Natural
Gas)
Further
gas
Methanation
www.mbioSNG.com

7. BioSNG

8. SCALE
natural gas (equivalent) capacity
1
MW
10
MW
100
MW
1
GW
10
GW
NL
EU
100
GW
102
103
104
105
107
108
Nm3/h
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
10
DigesEon
(biogas)
Shell
GtL
Pearl
Qatar
Small
gas
field
Thermal
gasificaEon
Slochteren
field
(NL)
CHP
plant
SNG
plant
100
bcm/y

9. WHAT IS bioSNG?
• BioSNG
=
Green
Gas,
BioMethane,
Renewable
Natural
Gas
• BioSNG
is
idenEcal
to
Natural
Gas
(NG):
– It
is
totally
exchangeable
and
miscible
with
NG
– It
can
be
transported
together
with
NG
– It
can
be
stored
together
with
NG
– It
is
used
as
NG
• It
is
made
from
biomass
Other
facts:
• Can
be
made
with
high
efficiency
• Proven
technology
for
coal

10. SNG is HOT!
proven technology for coal
• China
in
2016:
020
bcm/y
SNG
• China
2020
target:
100
bcm/y
SNG
• China
plans:
200
bcm/y
SNG
• All
coal-­‐to-­‐SNG
• Typical
size:
4
bcm/y
=
5
GW
gas
• Other
plants
in
US,
Korea
• Commercially
available
technology
(coal)
• BioSNG
interest,
mainly
in
Europe

11. SNG
Synthetic Natural Gas
• For
power
producEon
• For
(high-­‐T)
heat
producEon
• For
chemistry
• For
transport
• With
exisEng
infra
• With
storage
• With
quality
control
• With
secure
supply

12. BIOMASS-to-SNG
complete operating facility at ECN
MILENA
gasifier
OLGA
tar
removal
HDS
reactor
Further
gas
cleaning
Gas
seconds!
Methanation
reactors
1
bar
1
bar
6
bar
6
bar
6
bar
70%
energy
efficiency
from
wood
to
bioSNG
Natural
in
10

13. DEMONSTRATION PLANT
4 MW wood-to-SNG plant in Alkmaar (NL)

14. MILENA
gasification

15. KEY IDEA:
char waste becomes fuel
15
+
25%
75%
energy production:
fuel + air (λ > 1) à flue gas + heat
energy consumption:
fuel + heat à gas
+ char/coke
gasification:
fuel + air (λ~0.3) à gas + char/coke

16. RESULT: SUPERIOR EFFICIENCY
and relaxed conversion requirements
100%
80%
60%
40%
Cold
20%
0%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Gas
Efficiency
2nd
generation
gasification
1st
generation
gasification
Fraction
of
carbon
converted
into
combustible
gas
(CO)
• Case:
pure
C
as
fuel
• C
is
either:
-­‐ gasified
to
H2/CO
-­‐ combusted
(air)
-­‐ lost
• Energy
producEon
and
energy
consumpEon
is
matched
• 1G:
half
the
non-­‐gasified
C
is
combusted
• 2G:
all
the
non-­‐gasified
C
is
combusted
• Energy
deficiency
(if
any)
is
covered
by
combusEon
of
gas
MILENA:
superior
efficiency

17. MILENA TECHNOLOGY
17

18. BONUS
MOLECULES

19. HYDROCARBONS
because the conversion temperature is <<1000°C
molecules
more
valuable
than
CH4
also
worth
more
than
CH4
?!
“instant”
natural
gas:
+10%
energy
efficiency!

20. BENEFIT
of separating the valuable molecules
1. Increased
income
Methane:
6
€/GJ
Ethylene,
Benzene:
22
€/GJ
2. Higher
efficiency
Steam
demand
reduces
0.05
MW
steam/MW
biomass
3. Simpler
process
Several
catalyEc
reactors
omiqed

21. CONCLUSIONS
• Whereas
Natural
Gas
is
considered
a
transiEon
energy
source
itself,
bioSNG
makes
this
even
beqer.
• Biomass
is
a
perfect
feedstock
for
producing
bioSNG,
since
it
produces
much
methane
instantly
when
heated.
• MILENA
is
a
technology
with
superior
efficiency,
without
the
need
for
air
separaEon,
and
without
combusEble
waste.
• Energy
and
chemicals
make
a
perfect
marriage:
synergy
in
many
aspects
– AromaEcs
co-­‐producEon
can
reduce
producEon
costs
of
SNG
by
25%
• SNG
and
P2G
make
a
smart
couple:
cheap
and
simple
outlet
for
excess
H2
– Power-­‐to-­‐Gas
can
increase
biomass-­‐to-­‐SNG
yield
with
100%

22. CONCLUSIONS
• A
complete
wood-­‐to-­‐BioSNG
facility
is
operated
at
ECN
in
Peqen
(NL).
• An
up-­‐scaled
demonstraEon
plant
is
planned
in
Alkmaar
(NL).
• InVesta
is
the
innova=on
center
a?ached
to
the
Alkmaar
plant,
to
test
inven=ons,
train
people,
house
students,
show
visitors
around,
…

23. THANKS FOR THE ATTENTION
Bram
van
der
Dri,
ECN
Westerduinweg
3
P.O.
Box
1
1755
LE
Peqen
1755
ZG
Peqen
The
Netherlands
The
Netherlands
T
+31
224
56
45
15
vanderdri0@ecn.nl
M
+31
610
909
927
www.ecn.nl
publicaEons:
www.ecn.nl/publicaEons
fuel
composiEon
database:
www.phyllis.nl
tar
dew
point
calculator:
www.thersites.nl
IEA
bioenergy/gasificaEon:
www.ieatask33.org
Milena
indirect
gasifier:
www.milenatechnology.com
OLGA:
www.olgatechnology.com
/
www.renewableenergy.nl
SNG:
www.bioSNG.com
/www.bioCNG.com
23