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Project title:

ENERGY AND POLLUTION PLANETARY EMERGENCIES:UPGRADED PYROLYSIS FOR WASTE BIOMASS TREATMENT

Name of the coordinating person:

PROF. ANDREA CONTIN - UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA

RAVENNA, 4 NOVEMBER 2014

Proposal: UPGRADED PYROLYSIS FOR WASTE BIOMASS TREATMENTii

ABSTRACT

This Project copes with some of the Planetary Emergencies identified in the "Pro-ject for Mankind", developed by the World Federation of Scientists, namely the En-ergy (Renewable) and the Pollution (Urban and Domestic) Emergencies.

The goal of the Project is the production of energy from organic wastes and residues, also contributing to the solution of the waste management problem (treat-ment, conversion and disposal) in agriculture, agro-industry and urban communities.

Pyrolysis processes are the only able to treat all sort of organic material, by pro-ducing gas, liquids and solids with a relatively high energy content. Present limitations of the technologies are low gas production and a bad quality of the liquid fraction. The Project proposes to upgrade the pyrolysis products, using novel methods which have been proved to work at the laboratory scale, and demonstrating them at an industrial scale.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Proposal: UPGRADED PYROLYSIS FOR WASTE BIOMASS TREATMENTiii

Annex A 1......................................................................Concept and objectives..................................................................1

1.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................11.2 Background of the Project.....................................................................................11.3 Scientific and technological objectives.................................................................1

Proposal: UPGRADED PYROLYSIS FOR WASTE BIOMASS TREATMENTiv

Annex B 2..............................................................................Present R&D activity..................................................................2

2.1 Anaerobic digestion of the pyrolysis products......................................................22.2 Reforming of the bio-oil........................................................................................2

Proposal: UPGRADED PYROLYSIS FOR WASTE BIOMASS TREATMENTv

Annex C 3.........................................................................Proposed R&D activity..................................................................4

3.1 Hardware construction and performances............................................................43.1.1Small scale pilot pyrolyser without reforming...............................................43.1.2Large scale pilot pyrolyser with reforming....................................................4

3.2 Costs..................................................................................................................... 53.3 Expected impacts.................................................................................................5

3.3.1Impacts on energy strategy..........................................................................53.3.2Economic impacts.........................................................................................6

Proposal: UPGRADED PYROLYSIS FOR WASTE BIOMASS TREATMENTvi

Annex D 4.............................................................................................................References..................................................................7

Proposal: UPGRADED PYROLYSIS FOR WASTE BIOMASS TREATMENTvii

Annex E

Proposal: UPGRADED PYROLYSIS FOR WASTE BIOMASS TREATMENTviii

1 Concept and objectives1.1 Introduction

During several years, hundreds of scientists meeting in Erice (Italy) have identi-fied 15 basic sources of Planetary Emergencies, divided in 71 topics, which need to be handled to improve human wellbeing. Two basic emergencies are Waste and Energy. In particular, as for the Energy Emergency, the need for the development of renewable sources is pointed out, and as for the Pollution Emergency, the urban and domestic pollution, partly consisting in organic wastes, has to be reduced.

This Project deals with these two topics, with the goal to destroy organic wastes and produce energy at the same time.

1.2 Background of the ProjectGrowth of modern societies with their important scientific, economic and social

achievements was certainly made possible by the cheap availability of fossil fuels in the last two centuries. Unfortunately, one of the consequences of such an easy access to fossil energy resources was the development of unsustainable production and con-sumption patterns based on large energy use, intensive degradation of natural capital, as well as large generation of airborne, waterborne and solid waste, most of which hardly degradable. The load placed on natural capital (clean air, fresh water, biod-iversity, topsoil, etc) is becoming a “new scarcity” problem faced by modern societies, that adds up to the commonly acknowledged scarcity of energy, minerals and other crucial commodities. Economic, social and environmental consequences of such a trend require a complex set of policy tools to be addressed. However, the much needed transition from non-renewable to renewable energy and material resources would be a significant step ahead towards a more sustainable society. Biomass-based resources, due to their content in hydrocarbon precursors, have the potential to be-come an important component of such a transition.

The most appropriate time to start such a research as well as the construction of suitable infrastructures is now, because of the expected and understandable inertia against changes of the energy, transport and industrial infrastructural system.

The Project stems from the urgent need to identify and implement solutions to overwhelming problems that affect economic, environmental and social sustainability, namely: the expected depletion of the most abundant and most easily exploitable reservoirs

of fossil fuels and the consequent increase of international competition on the inter-national market, leading to the gradual increase of unit prices – although with oscil-lating trends;

the large production of organic waste from different sectors (industrial, urban, agri-culture etc.), which have not yet found appropriate solutions except the most im-pacting strategies of landfilling and thermal treatment;

the need to prepare appropriate alternative solutions for the above problems within the relatively short time interval to a future in which economies will have to rely only on renewable energy sources and, among them, on a significant fraction of photo-synthetic substrates. Such a transition requires – besides the technological improve-ments – the setting up of suitable infrastructures.

The most appropriate time to start such a research as well as the construction of suitable infrastructures is now, because of the expected and understandable inertia against changes of the energy, transport and industrial infrastructural system.

1.3 Scientific and technological objectivesThe Project is aiming at technological breakthroughs by developing technologies

at an industrial pilot plant scale. Specific objectives of the Project are:

Proposal: UPGRADED PYROLYSIS FOR WASTE BIOMASS TREATMENT 1

To produce biomass-derived energy, as the basis of environmentally sustainable consumption and production.

To contribute to the solution of the waste management problem (treatment, conversion and disposal) in agriculture, agro-industry and urban communities.

To develop procedures for assessment of environmental soundness (Life Cycle As-sessment - LCA) and appropriate environmental management of production processes. In particular, the assessment will investigate all stages of the selected value chain, e.g. biomass collection and supply, transport, conversion, product use and final disposal.

Results can be shortly outlined as:a) Improvement of pyrolysis products by reforming or by bio-digestion of the bio-oil.b) Development of recommendations concerning land use, biomass production and

conversion, waste and residue management.


2 Present R&D activityThe use of biomass for producing bioenergy, biochemicals and biomaterials is

gaining more and more attention as an alternative option when approaching the fore-seeable end to cheap oil in order to reduce our societies dependence on oil, simultan-eously decreasing the related environmental impacts. It is increasingly acknowledged worldwide that plant-based raw materials will eventually replace some of the fossil re-serves as feedstock for industrial production, addressing both the energy and non-en-ergy sectors including chemicals and materials (EC 2004).

Concerning bioenergy production, the main biomass sources are currently repres-ented by dedicated crops, in particular sugar, starch and oil crops. The most important transportation biofuels are bioethanol, biodiesel and upgraded biogas. Biodiesel can also be produced from waste edible oils and fats, whereas organic waste, manure and grasses can be suitable for biogas production (Berglund and Börjesson, 2006). Agricul-tural residues (straw and stoves) are hardly ever used for energy purposes, although some combined heat and power (CHP) applications are possible and the use of straw as a strict source of lignocellulosic bioethanol is being implemented at Research and Technological Development (RTD) levels (a few pilot and demo plants are also running in some European countries) (Gabrielle and Gagnaire, 2008, Lal, 2008). Lignocellulosic biomass derived from forest and industrial activities is mainly used for heat and power production, often co-fired with coal, while conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose to bioethanol is still at a RTD stage (Hamelinck et al., 2005; Katzen and Schell, 2006).

Since three years, the Environmental Management Research Group and the Analytical Pyrolysis Research Group of the Interdepartmental Centre for Research in Environmental Sciences (University of Bologna, Ravenna Campus, Italy) have been developing pyrolysis as a way to treat residual biomasses (i.e., industrial, urban, agri-culture bio-wastes).

Pyrolysis (from the Greek pyro "fire" and lysis "separating") is a thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures (300–1000°C) in the ab-sence of oxygen. The products are a gas (composed by H2 (35%), CO (15%), CO2 (15%) and CH4 (8%)), a viscous, acid liquid (bio-oil) containing a mixture of heavy hydrocar-bons and water, and a solid residue rich in carbon content, the bio-char. The propor-tion is about 50% bio-oil, 20% gas and 30% bio-char. As such, the bio-oil is not usable in engines as a substitute of diesel due to its acidity and high oxygen content.

The Research & Development carried out at the laboratory scale in Ravenna in-clude two paths:a) the anaerobic digestion of the liquid and solid pyrolysis products in order to obtain

methane;b) the reforming (i.e. treatment at high temperature) of the bio-oil to reduce the acid-

ity and the water content and to modify its composition towards lighter hydrocar-bons, at the same time increasing the gas quantities.

2.1 Anaerobic digestion of the pyrolysis productsThe pyrolysis products can undergo anaerobic digestion, either as such, or in

combination with other organic wastes, producing a mixture of CH4 (60%) and CO2 (40%).

If compared with pure biochemical processes (anaerobic digestion), the fermen-tation of the pyrolysis gas or of the bio-oil can increase the speed of the process by a factor of 10 to 100 (in particular for materials containing high content of cellulose and lignin), in fact widening the scope of the anaerobic digestion to any biological material, by eliminating the bottleneck resulting from the need of hydrolysis of the refractory polymers (cellulose and lignin). The coupling pyrolysis / anaerobic digestion is a trade-off between speed (less than that of the thermo-chemical processes but much greater than the biological ones) and selectivity (the final output is a conventional fuel) of the process.


A small-scale pyrolyser (5 kW thermal), with a potential to treat 50-100 kg per day has been developed and installed in the Ravenna Laboratories (see Figure 1). The feedstock is inserted into the high-temperature chamber by means of an electricaly owered Archimede's screw. The pyrolysis reactor is heated by a heating jacket (using combustion gas) or by electric heating (to obtain controlled conditions). The basic core consists of a tubular reactor fed by the sliding of the biomass within the heated zone. The central part can be used in different configuration in order to maximize the pyroly-sis oil or pyrolysis gas.

2.2 Reforming of the bio-oilA reforming of the bio-oil can be achieved by retrofitting the pyrolyser with a

post-processing phase in which the bio-oil and the bio-char are passed through the high-temperature gas and water vapour produced during the same pyrolysis process. The post-treatment, which uses the biochar as catalyst, decreases the length of hydro-carbon molecules contained in the bio-oil and transforms part of the bio-oil into gas, with similar composition of the pyrolysis gas. The obtained bio-oil has a much reduced content of water and a very low acidity, thus allowing for its use in internal combustion engines or to enter into the standard oil refinery process. This reforming process (named Thermal Catalytic Reformer) is being developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy, Environment and Security (UMSICHT) in Sulzbach-Rosenberg (Germany) and by the Interdepartmental Centre for Research in Environmental Sciences in Ravenna. A small scale prototype (3 kg/h) is used for testing and a larger 30 kg/h is under con-struction (see Figure 2).

Figure 1. The feeding part of the pyrolyser

prototype in Ravenna.


Figure 2. The 30 kg/h prototype being built in Sulzbach-Rosenberg.


3 Proposed R&D activityThe Project progresses beyond the state-of-the-art at five levels:

a) Implementation of processing units at the industrial pilot plant scale;b) Quality and typology of feedstock;c) Improvement of processing technologies, by accurate matching of experimental

conditions to available substrates;d) Biomass availability, environmental evaluation (LCA, EMA) and development of

policy making tools and procedures;e) Data management and planning for the exploitation of project results.

Regarding the implementation of processing units at the industrial pilot plant scale, the optimal size of the two solutions has been defined as follows:a) The anaerobic digestion of the liquid and solid pyrolysis products process will be

best utilized by using small, transportable units, taylored to serve several small ag-ricultural farms or agro-industrial sites. This allows for a net gain in transportation costs, as the weight of the material to be transported to a central anaerobic diges-tion facility will be drastically reduced in size and weight.

b) The pyrolysis plus reforming, being a more complex process, is better suited to a centralized unit (about 5000 t/y processing capacity), in order to allow for econom-ies of scale.

Regarding feedstock, among a wide range of renewable resources that can be employed, we shall concentrate on waste and residues from wood, food and agricul-tural processing at local scale. The Project aims at demonstrating that a complete chain based on waste and residues may potentially be economically, socially and en-vironmentally more sustainable than conventional waste management for removal of waste-generated environmental burden as well as more sustainable than fossil-based production patterns for energy and material supply. Such a result is expected to be achieved by a careful selection of available substrates according to their physico-chemical characteristics and according to the potential products and market demand.

Regarding processing technologies, innovation and improvement of available conversion technologies will be accomplished. The different types of techniques will be tested on the selected feedstocks in order to optimize biomass exploitation. Variations in lignin content of the lignocellulosic complex, water content and pectine content have important consequences for the choice of the technology.

The project will map biomass availability, opportunities for its transport and conversion and scale the potential market for energy products. This will assist plan-ners, decision makers and investors identify and rank opportunities for producing and using advanced biofuels. Such opportunity mapping will considerably facilitate the ex-ploitation of project results.

Finally, several computer based tools will be produced by the project to aid in data management and planning for the exploitation of project results. These will be structured in a fashion to allow their use in different regions to ensure that the pro-ject is relevant World-wide. These tools will be tested and validated in Italy (Ravenna). Real case evaluation is also urgently needed as it constitutes a mandatory requisite before large scale programmes are implemented.

3.1 Hardware construction and performancesThe Project foresees to build two main installations. Details are given in the fol-

lowing sections.3.1.1Small scale pilot pyrolyser without reforming

A small scale pilot pyrolyser without reforming will be built, fitting in a standard container for transportability, with a capacity of about 50 kg/h (400 t/year), dealing with all kinds of food production wastes from farms and industrial manufacturers (can-ning, juice and wine production, etc). The expected output corresponds to about 250


MWh of electricity and 250 MWh of heat produced per year, after the anaerobic diges-tion of the bio-oil.3.1.2Large scale pilot pyrolyser with reforming

A large scale pilot pyrolyser with reforming will be built, with a capacity of about 300 kg/h (5,000 t/year), dealing with agricultural residues, forestry management products, residues from wood manufacture industries, wood recycling and recovery. The expected quantities of the output products are shown in Figure 3 in terms of en-ergy flow.

Figure 3. Energy flow in the large scale prototype with reforming.

3.2 CostsThe costs of the Project are detailed in Table 1. They include the construction of

the pilot plants, the manpower needed for the operation of the prototypes and the manpower needed for the biomass availability mapping and for the development of the computer based tools for biomass management.

Table 1. Cost breakdown of the Project.


Cost (€)

Small scale pilot pyrolyser without re-forming

300,000

Large scale pilot pyrolyser with reforming

1,300,00

0Manpower for construction and operation (8 persons-year)

320,000

Input and output chemical analysis and characterization

50,000

Development of computer tools (4 per-sons-year)

160,000

Life cycle assessment (4 persons-year)160,000

Business plan development (2 persons-year)

80,000

TOTAL

2,370,00

0

3.3 Expected impactsThe following sections describe the main impacts that will be likely obtained by

implementing the Project.3.3.1Impacts on energy strategy

Since the start of this millennium, the production of biofuels has significantly in-creased in Europe and worldwide. In 2006, the European biofuels consumption amoun-ted to 5,38 Mtoe, representing approximately 4% of EU potential from biomass. Ac-cording to the European Commission estimate, Europe can increase its biomass use to about 150 Mtoe in 2020. The Project will provide a strong contribution to reaching this target without competing with food production or agricultural land use. By doing that, the project will contribute to the diversification of the energy mix and to the in-crease of security of energy supply.

The implementation of the technologies developed in the Project will produce the replacement of a significant fraction of energy uses in the agricultural and agro-industrial sectors, by using energy directly produced from residues. A conser-vative estimate (Ulgiati et al., 2008) suggests that harvesting and properly converting of 50% of the agricultural residues may provide 2 to 3 times more energy than is actu-ally used in the agricultural sector, if local scale processes are implemented in order to prevent transportation losses and inefficiencies. Such an estimate translates, at the European level, into a potential energy from agro-residues equal to at least 50-60 Mtoe/yr. Moreover, Berglund and Borjesson (2006) estimated an average potential production of about 3740 MJ per ton of organic waste treated. If a suitable strategy is implemented and becomes successful, the whole amount of organic waste in Europe (food manufacturing, forestry industry and organic fraction of municipal waste), estim-ated at 600-900 Mt/a (elaboration from Eurostat, 2006-2008), would translate into an energy potential of 50-80 Mtoe per year. 3.3.2Economic impacts

Energy from biomass is generally more expensive than from fossil fuel. Dedicated biomass is the only renewable energy source that is not available for free. It necessit-ates a long chain of activities such as planting, growing, harvesting, pre-treatment (storage and drying) and, finally, mechanical, thermochemical or biological conversion


into an energy carrier (power, heat or biofuels for transport). Therefore, biofuels al -ways have an associated cost that has to be borne by the final user.

By focusing on waste, and therefore on second-generation biofuels production, the Project aims at reducing this associated cost. Economic costs associated to waste management are not negligible. Delivering one ton of waste to landfill or incineration facilities costs from 50 to 150 €, which translates into an 86-250 billion € total cost for the treatment of the waste presently land filled or incinerated. The strategy developed in the Project is capable to increase the fraction of organic residues that are usefully converted, thus decreasing the amount land filled and generating additional energy. As indicated above, the organic fraction can be estimated as about 25% of the total wastes. Each 1% diversion of organic waste from land filling or incineration processing would generate, only in Europe, an economic saving of about 700 million €/year presently charged to local communities.


4 References EC (2004), Towards a European knowledge-based bioeconomy – workshop conclu-

sions on the use of plant biotechnology for the production of industrial biobased products. EUR 21459. European Commission, Directorate-General for Research: Brussels, Belgium. Available online at http://ec.europa.eu/research/ agriculture/lib-rary_en.htm

Berglund, M., Borjesson, P., 2006. Assessment of energy performance in the life-cycle of biogas production. Biomass and Bioenergy 30, 254–266.

Gabrielle B. and Gagnaire N. (2008), Life-cycle assessment of straw use in bio-eth-anol production: A case study based on biophysical modelling, Biomass and Bioen-ergy 32: 431-441.

Hamelinck, N. C.; van Hooijdonk, G.; Faaij, A. P. C.; Ethanol from lignocellulosic bio-mass: techno-economic performance in short-, middle- and long-term. Biomass and Bioenergy, 28 (2005) 384-410.

Katzen R. and Schell D.J. (2006), Lignocellulosic feedstock biorefinery: history and plant development for biomass hydrolysis, In: Kamm B., Gruber P.R. and Kamm M., Biorefineries – Industrial Processes and Products (Status Quo and Future Directions), Volume I, Wiley-VCH, 2006.

Ulgiati, S., Zucaro, A., and Franzese, P.P., 2008. Matter, Energy and Emergy Assess-ment in the Agricultural Sectors of the Campania Region. Constraints, Bottlenecks, and Perspectives. In: Book of Proceedings of the VI International Biennial Workshop “Advances in Energy Studies”, Graz, 30 June-2 July 2008, Hans Schnitzer and Sergio Ulgiati Editors, pp. 550-560.

EUROSTAT (2006-2008),Statistics Database.


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