Biomass Technology Overview

Biomass technology overview

1

Bhaskar Deol

[email protected]

+44 (0) 753 667 0734

mailto:[email protected]

Agenda

1. Biomass as a source of energy

2. Sources of biomass

3. Major conversion technologies

o Direct combustion

o Gasification

o Pyrolysis

o Anaerobic digestion

o Co-firing

o Major technologies overview

4. Bioelectricity in Europe

5. Economics of biomass

6. SWOT

7. Summary

213 June 2010 Bhaskar Deol

What is biomass

What is biomass

Biomass is a renewable organic biological material and includes materials like wood, grasses, energy crops, residues from agriculture and forestry, organic components of municipal and industrial wastes, and fumes from landfills

What is biomass energy

Biomass energy is energy produced from the direct burning of biomass, or converting it into gaseous or liquid fuels that burn more efficiently, to generate electricity or heat for industrial purposes

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Source: EIA


Biomass pyramid Comments

•Current total energy use is ~500 EJ/year, biomass is 10% of total energy usage

•Primary demand in 2050 is forecasted between 600-1000 EJ

•Technical potential for biomass in 2050 is 1500 EJ

•By 2050, between 250-500 EJ can be sustainably met usingbiomass• Agricultural and forestry residues~ 100 EJ

• Surplus forest production (over current harvest) ~80 EJ

• Energy crops (areas without soil degradation / water scarcity) ~120 EJ

• Energy crops (areas with soil degradation / water scarcity) ~70 EJ

• Additional potential from agricultural productivity increase ~140 EJ

Biomass as a source of energy


Biomass to energy conversion paths

5

Heat / CHP

Electricity

Resources Conversion Products Output

Wet biomass

-Organic waste

-Manure

-Sewage, sludge

Biogas /

Landfill gas

Anaerobic

Digestion

Waste-Municipal

-Industrial

Solid biomass-Forestry residue

-Short rotational forestry

-Agricultural residue

-Energy crops

Gasification

Pyrolysis

Heat

Fuel gas

Bio oil /

biofuels

Incineration

1

2

3

4

Cofiring 5


Direct biomass combustion

Fixed bed

• Biomass burns on a grate that travels thru the furnace, towards ash removal

• Reliable technology with low investment costs

• Limited range of biomass fuel types

Fluidized bed (bubbling / circulating)

• Fuel burns in a constantly mixing suspension of inert bed material

• Very effective mixing results in wide range of usable fuel types, if uniform particle size can be maintained

• High capex and opex is required

Dust combustion

• Small sized particles (e.g. sawdust, fine wood) is burned as a suspension in air in a combustion chamber

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1. Solid biomass is prepared (dried, baled, chipped,

formed into pellets or briquettes)

2. Solid biomass is burned in boilers

3. Ash is removed from the system either by a grate or

as a suspension in air, depending on design

Biomass combustion schematic

Incineration

1

Fixed bed

Grate furnace

Bubbling

fluidized bed

Circulating

fluidized bed

Dust firing


Biomass gasification

1. Biomass feedstock is converted into gaseous fuel by partial oxidation under insufficient supply of air and high temperature (~900 oC)

2. Products are H2, CO2, CH4, H20 inorganic residues & oil-tar, with calorific value ~ 10% to 50% of that of natural gas

3. This gas is burned in boilers; or after cleanup to remove tars in engines or gas turbines; or reformed to produce methanol or Hydrogen

Fixed bed gasifier

• In an updraft gasifier, air and biomass flow in counterflow, resulting in a high tar content along with the gaseous product

• In a downdraft gasifier, temperature of 1000 oC results in cracking of some of the tars and results in gas with lower tar content

Fluidized bed gasifier

• In an FB gasifier, drying, pyrolysis and gasification occurs in a fluidized mixture of inert bed material

• Various types of fluidized beds have been tested (bubbling, circulating, etc)

• These have a wide range of fuel types and can handle wet biomass but fuel needs to be treated to roughly 50mm size or smaller

• Recent developments couple fluidized beds with a combined cycle steam turbine (IGCC), which can achieve high efficiencies (~50%)

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Gasification schematic

Gasification

2

Bubbling

fluidized bed

Circulating

fluidized bed

Updraft

fixed bed

(countercurrent)

Downdraft

Fixed bed

(cocurrent)


Biomass pyrolysis

• Pyrolysis is very similar to gasification, but takes place at a lower temperature

• Any biomass can be considered for pyrolysis, but most work has been done on wood due to its consistency

• Biomass breaks down at 500 – 700 oC to yield partial products of char, a mixture of gases and the majority product bio-oil

• Bio-oil produced is upgraded and used in boilers, engines or gas turbines for electricity / CHP

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Pyrolysis schematic

Pyrolysis modes and products

Pyrolysis

3


Anaerobic digestion

• Biomass matter is fed into a tank and converted into a gas in absence of oxygen

• Solid liquid residues from the process are used as fertilizers

• Anaerobic digestion can handle very wet feedstocks, e.g. sewage sludge, agricultural and industrial organic wastes, animal by-products and organic municipal solid wastes

• Biogas contains 60-70% CH4 and remaining CO2

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Anaerobic digestion schematic

Anaerobic

Digestion

4


Co-firing

Direct co-firing

• Appropriately prepared biomass is fed directly into the coal furnace

• Biomass can be fed into the coal burners or dedicated biomass burners

Indirect co-firing

• Biomass is gasified (or pyrolyzed) separately to produce a fuel gas, which is burned in the coal fired furnace

• More expensive than direct co-firing and can currently only use wood fuel

Parallel co-firing

• Biomass is combusted in a separate boiler and the steam is fed into the coal fired station

• Higher temperate / pressure conditions result in increased efficiency

• Need for a parallel biomass combustion leads to higher costs

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Indirect co-firing

Direct co-firing

Parallel co-firing

Co-firing

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Conversion technologies overview

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Cofiring

Gasification

Direct

combustion

Pyrolysis

Anaerobic

Digestion

Technology Description Plant Size Comments

Fixed bed Biomass burns in a layer on a grate which moves to transport the fuel to ash removal

• Low capex• Limited range of biomass types

Fluidized bed Fuel burns in a constantly mixing suspension of hot, inert, granular bed material (e.g. silica sand)

> 20 MW • Wide range of fuels• Need uniform size• Large Capex / Opex

Dust firing Small particles (e.g. sawdust or fine wood shavings) burnedwith air in a combustion chamber

2 - 8 MW • High unit costs • Low plant efficiency

Direct co-firing Prepared biomass directly fed into the furnace 50-700 MW • Range up to 40% biomass• Typical commercial 3-5%• Typically low investment • Lowered SOx and NOx

• Indirect and parallel co-firing require increasing amounts of capital investment

Indirect-co firing Separate gasification of biomass in a fluidized bed, resulting gas is burned in the coal fired boiler furnace

15-100 MW

Parallel co-firing Biomass combusted in a separate boiler and resulting steam upgraded to that coming from the coal plant

Fixed bed Conversion of biomass to gaseous fuel by partial oxidation and elevated temperatures

Small / Decentralized

Fluidized bed (FB) Conversion of biomass to gaseous fuel in a hot, fluidized mixture with inert bed material and air. Latest developments try to combine FB with steam turbines (Integrated gasification combined cycle)

Bubbling:15-80MWCirculating:40-100MW

• FB gasifiers have high throughput and can handle various types and condition of fuel (e.g. wet biomass)

Fast pyrolysis Thermal decomposition of biomass in the absence of oxygen, resulting in char, bio-oil and combustible gases

• Pyrolysis concentrates volatile components of oil into a transportable oil

1-stage Liquid biomass is fed into a reactor where it is converted into biogas and organic material

10kW –10MW

2-stage Hydrolysis is carried out as a separate stage in AD, resulting in more stable conditions allowing higher solid content in the digester

10kW –10 MW

• Separating stages allows higher solid concentration and more stable process compared to 1-stage


Development status of major technologies

Research & Development

Demonstration Early Commercial Commercial

Biomass Densification

TorrefactionHTU1

Pyrolysis Pelletization

Biomass to heat

Gasification Combustion(boilers and stoves)

Combustion ORC2

Stirling engine Steam cycle

Gasification IGFC3 IGCC4

IGGT5

Gasification + Steam cycle

Co-firing Indirect co-firing Parallel co-firing Direct co-firing

Anaerobic Digestion

Microbial fuel cells

Biogas upgrading

2-stage AD 1-stage AD

Biomass densification Biomass to heat Biomass to power CHP

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1 Hydrothermal upgrading; 2 Organic rankine cycle; 3,4,5 Integrated gasification fuel cell (FC) / combined cycle (CC) / gas turbine (GT)

Source: IEA Bioenergy publication


Bioelectricity in Europe: markets

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Bubble size =

Bioelectricity MW

installed, 2007

Total =966 GW

Bioelect. = 5 GWIndia, 0.6%

US, 0.6%

Estimate

T=624

Bio =2

China, 0.6%

Source: Eurostat, DOE, internet


Bioelectricity in Europe: sources

0

1

2

3

4

5

Belgium Denmark Spain Netherlands France Czech Republic

UK Finland Austria Sweden Italy Germany

20

07

Inst

alle

d c

apac

ity,

GW

Municipal Solid Waste

Wood/Wood Waste

Biogas

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Source: Eurostat


Economics of bioelectricity: capex

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Capital cost of biomass by type


Economics of bioelectricity: levelized

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Levelized cost of energy $/MWh

Source: Lazard analysis


Economics of bioelectricity: future outlook

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Comments

• Direct combustion is cost competitive and dispatchable, hence can act as a base load source of power

• Co-firing, gasification and pyrolysis are broadly competitive to other renewable technologies and become attractive when incentivized

• Most technological developments likely on gasification + combined cycle. This would also achieve highest overall efficiency


Feed-in tariffs for biomass in Europe

Germany Biomass 2007

Germany Waste/Sewage 2007

Netherlands 2007 France 2009 UK 2009 (Proposed)

Type FIT (c€) Type FIT (c€) Type FIT (c€) Type FIT (c€) Type FIT (p)

Basic Tariff 0-150 kW 10.99 0-500 kW 7.33 Mixed 2.9Vegetable biomass

4.9Anaerobicelectricity

9

151-500 kW 9.46501 kW -5 MW

6.35 <50 MW 9.7Animalwaste

5.0Anaerobic CHP

11.5

501-5 MW 8.51

5 MW - 6.35 >50 MW 7

Biogas 9.0Biomass <50 kW

9

5-20 MW 8.03Biomass 50kW-5MW

4.5

Duration 20 years 20 years 10 years 15 years

Remarks • Special CHP Bonus• Focus on small installations• Removal of incentive for liquid biomass >150kW

• Anaerobic digestion, gasification, pyrolysis,dedicated energy crops, and biomass with CHP fall under emerging technologies category and attract 2ROC/MWh.

• 1 ROC = £ 45.52 on 10/2009


SWOT analysis for biomass

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• Potentially an abundant resource

• Electricity from biomass and waste using is well

established and economically viable

• Biomass can provide baseload capacity and is

dispatchable, unlike other renewable sources

• High costs and low conversion efficiency

• Low energy density

• Fuel supply risks

• Difficulty in obtaining PPAs for small project

developers

• No market for fuels, fragmented suppliers

• Some technologies are sensitive to variety and

physical properties of feedstock

• Many biomass technologies are commercially

viable at small and large scales

• Increasing focus on bio energy would result in

increasing production of high-energy density,

purpose grown feedstock

• Favourable feed-in tariffs continue to support

small scale installations of biomass

• Financing• Perception of project complexity and risk makes

financing difficult

• Few financiers with biomass experience

• Competition from other uses of biomass, such

as biofuels, food, etc.

• Competition from other uses of land

• Public perception about emissions

• Long process for obtaining plant permissions

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats / Barriers


Major biomass projects

Company Name/Subsidiary Capacity Feedstock Location Status Installer Technology

Greenhunter Energy, Inc. 14MW Wood waste Florida Renovating (2009)

18.5MW Cow manure/ Wood waste California In development (2009)

Renegy Holdings 24MW Paper Mill Sludge / Wood Waste Arizona In operation

Covant a Holding Co. 1,272 MW Total -35 Plants Waste to Energy U.S./Europe In operation

76MW Total -4 Plants Wood waste/ Ag. Residues U.S. In operation 15MW Total -4 Plants Landfill Gas US In operation

Canadian Hydro Developers 25MW Wood waste Alberta In operation

Boralex Power Income Fund 63MW Wood waste Quebec Temporarily shut down

Macquarie Power & Infrastructure I.F. 28MW Wood waste Alberta In operation

31MW Wood waste Quebec In operation

Pristine Power 65MW Wood waste B.C. In development

West Fraser Timber 30MW (50% of 60MW) Wood waste B.C. In development

Run of River Power Inc. 24MW (80% of 30MW) Wood waste B.C. In development

30MW (50% of 60MW) Wood waste B.C. In development

Western Log Group / Western Bio Energy Ltd 10MW Wood Longlands Lane, Wales In operation Eco2 Wood

Fibropower Ltd 12.7MWAnimal waste (Poultry/horse/feathers)

England (Eye Airfield)

In operation Aalborg Boilers A/S

SembCorp 30MW Wood England (Wilton 10) In operation SembCorp

EPR 13.5MW Animal waste (Poultry)England (Glanford)

In operation Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd

Direct combustion, Grate

38MW StrawEngland (Ely Power Station)

In operation FLS MiljoDirect combustion, Vibrating Grate

38.5MW Animal waste (Poultry)England (Thetford)

In operation Taylor Woodrow

Direct combustion, Grate

E.on 44MW Wood (Sawmill products)Scotland (Stevens Croft)

In operation E.on

Eco2 40MW Straw England (Brigg REP) In development Eco2

40MW Straw England (Sleaford) In development Eco2

Prenergy 350MW Wood pellets Wales (Port Talbot) In development (2011) Sinclair Knight Merz

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US

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ad

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nit

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Kin

gd

om


Major biomass projects (contd.)

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Company Name/Subsidiary Capacity Feedstock Location Status Installer Technology

Amel (operated by Renogen) 5.3MW Wood residue Belgium In operation Wartsila

BMC Moerdijk 36MW Animal waste (Poultry) Netherlands In operation Austrian energy, Siemens

Del-Nyirsegi (DBM Zrt) 20MW Wood Hungary In operation EGI Engineering

Mortagua (Enenova) 9MW Wood Portugal In operation

Pecs (Pannon Power) 65MW Wood, Natural gas Hungary In operation

Rodao (Altri SGPS SA) 11MW Wood, agricultural waste Portugal In operation

Sanguesa (EHN Group) 30MW Straw Spain In operation

Eu

rop

e


UK 2020 renewables forecast

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Source: DOEACC


Summary

• Share of biomass as an energy source is going to increase over the next several years

• Multiple conversion technologies exist or are being developed efficiently utilize or to increase the viability of this abundant resource

• Biomass is one of the few renewable sources that can provide base load power and can be used on small to large scale installations

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Technology Implications Project Implications

• Biomass is a potentially large market for cleantech

• Scope for potential investments in companies developing technology for gasification, gasification combined cycle, 2-stage anaerobic digestion and parallel co-firing

• Scope for investment in project developers or interesting business models based on biomass

• Coupled with carbon credits and FIT’s, some sources of biomass attract lucrative project returns

• Further analysis of project returns across biomass sectors needed


Backup slides

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Appendix 1: Energy value / Dispatchability

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Average heat energy content of fuels Capacity factors for renewables


Appendix 2: Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle


Appendix 3: Gasification products


Appendix 4: Detailed biomass conversion chart


Documents

Biomass Technology Overview