PEME5451: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PROCESSING NAME: OLAYE IGAH SID: 200460078

COURSE: MSc_ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

CASE STUDY ON A CO-FIRING SYSTEM (GASIFICATION)

ABSTRACT
Fossil fuel has been exploited over the years and though it has been efficient, other renewable energy sources are now exploited to reduce CO2 emission. Climate change and global warming are now a scientifically established fact as energy demand increases daily. Most popular renewable energy sources include solar, wind and tidal power generation schemes. Biomass is commonly used for both power generation and heating. Finland and Sweden are leading in the use of biomass. This case study is on a gasification plant based on a co-firing based system i.e. it is used to produce both electricity and heat. The study is on the Kymijarvi power plant and explains its schematic, CO2 emission, its efficiency, economy, biomass fuels, the producer gases and its boiler systems.

Europe (Scandinavia). The gasifier provides a lower btu gas as compared to the coal boiler established later. Originally built as an oil fired unit, was modified to a Benson-type unit for pulverized coal firing (1982). It is capable of producing an output power of 167MWe/240MWth and a steam production of about 125kg/s at 540oC/170bars. This steam production is very useful during the winter season as the plant supplies heat to the city district. The plant was further modified with the installation of a gas turbine/generator (1986) which produced a maximum of about 49MWe at an outside temperature of -25oC. Just like the standard combined Steam gas turbine, the heat from the exhaust is used to preheat water fed into the boiler, fully utilizing its efficiency. [4]

INTRODUCTION
Biomass is basically plant material and animal waste that could be used as fuel often adopted for electricity generation or to produce heat. It excludes organic matter such as the fossil fuel which has been changed into petroleum products and coal over a long time. Biomass substances are carbon based containing mixtures of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and other small atoms. Plants such as the switchgrasss, miscanthus, hemp, willow, sorghum, sugarcane and corn are some sources of biomass grown for industrial use. [1] Biomass conversion technologies may release its energy directly (heat or electricity) or may be converted to other forms like liquid fuel or combustible gasses. The basic conversion methods are Thermal Conversion which include Combustion, Torrefaction, Pyrolysis and Gasification; Chemical conversion (including anaerobic digestion, fermentation, composting and transesterification for converting vegetable into biodiesel)

Figure 1: Gasifier Connected to the Lahti Boiler [4]

TECHNOLOGICAL DETAILS AND SCHEMATICS

The Kymijarvi Power plant uses the gasification process. This is the production of producer gas or synthetic gas (syngas). In this process, combustible solids are converted to combustible gaseous products, which still contain all the original energy as the solid. The producer gas is formed by partial combustion of solid biomass in a gasification system. The gasification system at Lahti is a simple all refractory lined system consisting of a steel reactor, a uniflow cyclone and a return pipe. Fluidized- bed gasification enables cheap CO2 neutral and low grade fuels to be converted into combustible gas for replacing expensive and CO2 intensive oil, natural gas or coal. Such low grade fuels include wood, bark, demolition wood, straw, wood chip e.t.c. Preheated gasification air is blown into the gasifier vessel at high

THE KYMIJARVI POWER PLANT

Kymijarvi Power Station is a Finish power company established in1971. It produces power and heat for the district city of Lahti. It was modified with a circulating fluidized bed gasifier (CFB) to reduce cost while utilizing some renewable source close to the northern part of

PEME5451: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PROCESSING NAME: OLAYE IGAH SID: 200460078

COURSE: MSc_ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

pressure from the bottom. The velocity of the air is high enough to fluidize the bed particles and convey some particles to the uniflow cyclone from the reactor when the bed expands. Most of the solids are separated from the gas in this stage and return back to the bottom of the gasifier unit and gasses going to the air pre-heater. The design is based on the Foster Wheeler Energy Oy in Finland.

secondary stages are either homogeneous (gasses only) or heterogeneous (gas and some char particles). [3] Synthesis gas C + H2O => CO + H2 Endothermic (+131.3kJ) CO2 + C => 2CO Endothermic (+172.4kJ) C + 1/2O2 => CO Exothermic (-110.5kJ) [1]

Combustion of the char at the bottom of the gasifier with oxygen-rich fluidized bed stream produces the heat required for the pyrolysis, homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions. The produce gas is conveyed to two burners through a duct located below the coal burners in the main burner. Maximum heat and residence time for impurity is produced with the gas burners below the coal burners. The burners were designed through pilot scale combustion and Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling. A simple plant schematic of the plant can be shown below:

Figure 2: The Lahti Gasifier [4] Normally, the gasifier operating temperature ranges from 800oC-1000oC and is dependent on the fuel. The capacity of a gasifier is determined by it fuel feed rate and the air feed rate determines its temperature. The main advantage of using air instead of oxygen is that it reduces the temperature of the reaction so that the inexpensive materials can be used in its construction. Fuel particles entering they are quickly dried creating a first phase reaction called Pyrolysis producing gas, chars and tars [1]. Pyrolysis may be defined as the thermal decomposition of biomass substances in the absence of oxygen. Slow pyrolysis favours solid fuel productions such as charcoal while the fast/rapid or flash pyrolysis is optimised for gas or liquid yields mainly. [2] C6H10O5 +O2 5CO + CO2 +5H2 (Partial Oxdation) The chars produced fall to the bottom of the bed and is combusted with fluidized air, generating heat required for the pyrolysis process and other endothermic gasification reaction. The remaining products go through the secondary stages before entering the cyclone, leaving a fine dust of coarse char which accumulates in the gasifier and removed with a water cooled screw. The

Figure 3: Plant Schematic for Kymijarvi Power Station [4]

FUEL HANDLING AND SUPPLY SYSTEMS

The Lahti plant handles a mix of two types of fuels in the gasifier. These are the Recycled energy fuel (REF) and the biofuel. The preparation and handling of the recycle energy fuels are managed by the Paijat-Hameen Jatehuolto Oy (PHJ). The REF and biofuel are both crushed several times through a magnetic separation and screening phase to the secondary shredder. The final product from the secondary shredder is conveyed into a storage facility. Flow of material from the storage to the gasifier bin is fully automated and is controlled for optimum homogenous downstream gasification.

PEME5451: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PROCESSING NAME: OLAYE IGAH SID: 200460078

COURSE: MSc_ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

removal. All other substances are considered to be negligibly low. Gas Components Conc. Range (mg/m3, dry) 3 NH 800-1000 HCN 25-45 HCl 30-90 H2S 50-80 Benzene 7-12 Tars 7-12 Alkalis <0.1 Particulates 6-10 Table 2: Pollutant Traces in Producer Gas [4]

Figure 4: Lahti Fuel Preparation System [4] The fuel characteristic s for the Lahti plant is shown in the table below: Wt (%) of Total 10 40 Wt (%) Moisture 45-55 45-55

ENVIRONMENT
The gasification of biofuels and the co-combustion in the boiler has several advantages, some of which are reduction NOX and SO2. The moisture content lowers the flame temperature reduces NOX and moisture content in the flue gas improves the performance of the electrostatic precipitator hence reducing particulate emissions. SO2 reductions are due to the low sulphur content of the biofuels. The table below shows emission from the plant. The Finnish authorities testes all fractions of fuel and have set no limitations on ash applications and feedstock utilization despite the fact that the gasifier does not have a sulphur removal system. With the new EU Directive, the plant will have to discontinue the use of recycled energy fuel as they do not meet the NOx emission standards.

Fuel

Recycled Energy Fuel (REF)

Saw Dust Bark, wood chips, etc Woodworking wastes (plywood, particle board) Plastics

30

10-20

5-15

2040 20 10-30 Cardboard 1030 Wood 3060 Table 1: Fuel Characteristic of Lahti Fuel Mix [4] About 300GWh of biofuel and REF are estimated to be within transportation distance of the Lahti plant. Since the energy density of fresh biofuel is about a tenth of coal (2.5GJ/m3: 30GJ/m3), ten times the value of biofuel has to be supplied to produce the same heat content.

Paper

Emission HCl NOX CO SO2

Environmen tal Impact +5mg/MJ -10mg/MJ No change -25mg/MJ

Emission Benzenes PAHs Phenols Heavy Metals

Environment al Impact No change No change No change Traces

GAS CLEANING
The gas from the gasification process is very toxic and contains lots of carbon monoxide. The gas is cleaned to prevent unwanted emissions during the combustion process. Substances removed are sulphur, chlorine, nitrogen, tars, phenols and sometime, volatile metals. The table2 shows the traces of pollutants in the product gas. Catalytic or thermal cracking are used for tar

Particulat -15mg/MJ es Table 3: Emission from the Gasifier [4]

ECONOMICS
The efficiency of the power plant for electricity generation is almost equivalent to that of the coal-fired unit. The thermal efficiency is increased (only by a fraction) due to the flame radiation in the furnace

PEME5451: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PROCESSING NAME: OLAYE IGAH SID: 200460078

COURSE: MSc_ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

despite the increased product gas moisture content and the flue gas nitrogen content. The recorded data for the gasifier is as follow Input: 5.09kg/s feed at 10.3MJ/kg and 32.8% moisture (52.4MWth); 3.45Nm3/s air at 365oC (heat exchanged with product gas) Output: 19.2Nm3/s product gas at 2.48MJ/ Nm3, 6mbar and 810oC (47.6MWth) The product gas composition is as follows: CO (9.6%), CO2 (12.3%), CH4 (3.3%), H2 (6.7%), H2O (35.0%) and a balance of N2. Though the producer gas is said to have traces of dust, tar, alkali and ammonia, the performance has not been affected. On the plus side, the boiler does not use a sulphur removal system as its content in coal is reduced.

The biomass source is in the northern Europe/Scandinavia 50KM away from the plant. Scandinavia is about 0.9 sq miles (233.09893 hectares).
[6]

Hence it takes Scandinavian land.

. .

100 = 5.29%

of

the

CONCLUSION
The gasification process opens a wide range of uses for biomass products. Gasification applications range from small buildings where sustainable wood sources are used to produce tar free syngas to industrial uses for producing electricity in MWe. The syngas may also be used to produce heat, electrical and mechanical power. Though the gasification process may indirectly cause CO2 emission by slagging or plasma gasification, biomass can be a source of renewable energy as it uses as much CO2 as it produces.

ANALYSIS [1]
From the gas composition above, 12.3% of CO2 is produces. Assuming 1 tonne of gas is produced, the amount of CO2 produces will be 12.3% x1000Kg= 123Kg The total output from the Kymijarvi plant is about 167MWe/240MWth. The average electrical (e) and thermal (th) efficiencies of the plant are 31.2% and 49.7% respectively. If =

REFERENCES
1) PEME5451_Sustainable Energy Processes Handout: Biomass and Bioenergy_Prof Jenny Jones 2) Biomass Conversion and Technology_ Charles Y. WerekoBrobby, Essel B. Hagen 3) The Foster Wheeler Gasification for Biofuels (Journal)_ Juha Palonen, Timo Eriksson, Timo Attikoski 4) Case Study on Lahden Lampovoima Gasification Project. KYMIJARVI Power Station, LAHTI, FINLAND (Nov 2002 Journal)_ D.L. Granatstein: Natural Resources Canada/CANMET Energy Technology Centre CETC 5) www.project-technology.com/projects/kymijarvi 6) www.wikipedia.com

Re-arranging the equation = 535.256

3600 = 1926.92

Similarly, the thermal energy input can be found as = = =

.

482.897 3600 = 1738.43 . . . The average energy spent is = = 1832.6745 Since only 40% of woodchip is used while assuming maximum power input, the amount of wood chip needed will be 40% x 1832.674GJ=733.0698GJ For Energy Input= mass x calorific value Calorific value for woodchip = 20.5GJ/tonne Re-arranging the equation 733.0698 = = = 35.76 20.5 If 2.9odt/hectare/year is used to harvest forest woodchip, the amount of land used per year is: . = 12.33 /
.