Gasification of Woody Biomass at the Pilot-Scale...Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification...
Transcript of Gasification of Woody Biomass at the Pilot-Scale...Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification...
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Gasification of Woody Biomass at the Pilot-Scale
Thomas ElderLeslie H. Groom
USDA-Forest ServiceSouthern Research Station
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Gasifier work
• 25 kW downdraft gasifierwas acquired from Community Power Corporation
• Located at the Winn District Ranger Station on the Kistachie National Forest
• July 2008-Delivery
• October 2008-Comissioning
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Cooperative Projects
• The system is an integrated– Gasifier
– Spark ignited engine
– Electrical generator rated at 25 kW
• National Forest System – Functional Energy
• Southern Research Station – Feedstock Effect
• Forest Health Protection – Demonstration Projects
• Unique location
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification Project
• Located at Winn Ranger District Office
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification Project
• Feedstock (to date) has been southern pine and mixed hardwood chips
• Chips are loaded into two drying bins that hold ~500 pounds of dry chips each
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification Project
• The chips are sorted to size
• An auger transports the chips into the gasifier
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification Project
• The reaction is initiated with a resistance heater
• The gasifier is open to the atmosphere
• It has several heated zones with temperatures in the range of 600-900°C
• At these temperatures, and in an oxygen starved environment, the wood is converted into producer gas
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Gasifier dimensions and zones
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification Project
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
• Grate at the bottom of the gasifier
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Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification Project
• The gas is exits the gasifier at ~ 500°C and is cooled in a tube and shell heat exchanger to ~110°C
• The heat exchanger requires periodic maintainence
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification Project
• Next the gas is filtered to remove particulates
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification Project
• The composition is monitored in real-time with an infrared gas analyzer
– O2
– CO
– CO2
– CH4
– H2
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification Project
• The cleaned and cooled gas goes to a conventional, spark-ignited, internal combustion engine
• The engine runs only on the producer gas
• This powers a generator capable of producing 25kW of electricity
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Overview of USDA-Forest Service Gasification Project
• The electricity generated is adequate to power the Winn Ranger District Office building, with the excess returned to the utility grid.
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Control Panel (one of them,anyway)
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Initial Research Runs
• Feedstock– Pine chips (MC ~12%)– Mixed hardwood chips (~50% oak, 25% elm, hickory, 25% sweetgum, maple, beech) (MC~13%)
• Flowrate– 70 scmh (heat exchanger issues)– 62 scmh– 55 scmh– 40 scmh (char, pressure issues)
• Typical run– ~5 hours total– ~1 hour from cold start to operating temperatures– ~ 1 hour at operating temperature to stabilize– Report data for last 3 hours of the run
• Results– Temperature profiles– Gas composition/efficiency
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Wood consumption
• Hourly consumption increases with gas flow rate
• Hardwood consumption is higher than pine
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
15
17
19
21
23
25
27
29
31
33
40 50 60 70
Kgh
-1
Flow rate (Nm3h-1)
feedstock consumption
pine
hardwood
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Results-temperature profiles
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
tem
pe
ratu
re (
°C)
run time (hours)
Hardwoods 40 scmh
level 1
level 2
level 3
level 4
level 5
grate
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Results-gas composition
0
5
10
15
20
25
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
gas
com
po
siti
on
(%
)
run time (hours)
hardwoods 40 scmh
CO
CO2
"CH4"
H2
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Results: Flow rate/feedstockTemperatures at Level 1
300
350
400
450
500
550
600
650
700
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
°C
flow rate (Nm3h-1)
level 1
pine
hardwood
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Results: Flow rate/feedstockTemperatures at Level 2
720
740
760
780
800
820
840
860
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
°C
Flow rate (Nm3h-1)
level 2
pine
hardwood
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Results: Flow rate/feedstockTemperatures at Level 3
820
830
840
850
860
870
880
890
900
910
920
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
°C
flow rate(Nm3h-1)
level 3
pine
hardwood
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Results: Flow rate/feedstockTemperatures at Level 4
820
830
840
850
860
870
880
890
900
910
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
°C
Flow rate (Nm3h-1)
level 4
pine
hardwood
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Results: Flow rate/feedstockTemperatures at Level 5
835
840
845
850
855
860
865
870
875
880
885
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
°C
Flow rate (Nm3h-1)
level 5
pine
hardwood
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Results: Flow rate/feedstockTemperatures at grate
600
620
640
660
680
700
720
740
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
°C
Flow rate (Nm3h-1)
grate
pine
harwood
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Results-Temperatures
• Temperatures for hardwoods are generally lower than for softwoods
• Temperature may increase slightly with flow rate
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
19
19.5
20
20.5
21
21.5
22
22.5
23
0 1 2 3
CO
%
time (hours)
pine
hardwoods
10.5
11
11.5
12
12.5
13
13.5
14
0 1 2 3
CO
2 %
time (hours)
pine
hardwoods
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
5.5
6
0 1 2 3
CH
4%
time (hours)
pine
hardwoods
17.5
18
18.5
19
19.5
20
20.5
0 1 2 3
H2
%
time (hours)
pine
hardwoods
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Results: Flow rate/feedstockCO %
20
20.2
20.4
20.6
20.8
21
21.2
21.4
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
% v
/v
Flow rate (Nm3h-1)
CO
pine
hardwood
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Results: Flow rate/feedstockCO2 %
11.6
11.8
12
12.2
12.4
12.6
12.8
13
13.2
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
% v
/v
Flow rate (Nm3h-1)
CO2
pine
hardwood
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Results: Flow rate/feedstockCH4 %
3
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4
4.2
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
% v
/v
Flow rate (Nm3h-1)
CH4
pine
hardwood
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Results: Flow rate/feedstockH2 %
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
18.4
18.5
18.6
18.7
18.8
18.9
19
19.1
19.2
19.3
19.4
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
% v
/v
Flow rate (Nm3h-1)
H2
pine
hardwood
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Energy content
5.75
5.8
5.85
5.9
5.95
6
6.05
6.1
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
MJm
-3
Flow rate (Nm3h-1)
Energy content
pine
hardwood
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Efficiency
0.68
0.69
0.7
0.71
0.72
0.73
0.74
0.75
0.76
0.77
40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Flow rate (Nm3h-1)
efficiency
pine
hardwood
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Gas composition and quality
• Composition varies over a fairly small range• Hardwoods generally produce less CO, more CO2
and H2
• H2 inversely related to temperature at level 5• “Methane” decreases with flow rate for
softwoods, levels off for hardwoods• Gas quality (as measured by heat of combustion)
– Decreases with flow rate for softwoods, levels off for hardwoods
• Efficiency increases with flow rate
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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Next Studies-Feedstocks
• FACE sites
– Chips from Rhinelander have begun to arrive
• Impact of silviculture
– SRS-University of Arkansas-Monticello
• High Extractive Slash Pine
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010
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CO
55 SCMH
feedstock
pine hardwoods poplar clean pine whole tree pine
% C
O
16
18
20
22
24
26
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CO2
55 SCMH
feedstock
pine hardwoods poplar clean pine whole tree pine
% C
O2
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
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CH4
55 SCMH
feedstock
pine hardwoods poplar clean pine whole tree pine
% C
H4
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
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H2
55 SCMH
feedstock
pine hardwoods poplar clean pine whole tree pine
% H
2
15
16
17
18
19
20
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Next Studies-Processes
• GTL
– FT(?)
– Mixed alcohols?
– DME
• CHP
Frontiers in Biorefining, St. Simons Island, October 22, 2010