SUCCESSFULLY USING BIOMASS TO HARNESS RENEWABLE ENERGY IN AN EFFICIENT AND COST-EFFECTIVE WAY

J.E. Naber and F. Goudriaan (BIOFUEL BV)

HTU 2000

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PERSPECTIVES FOR ENERGY FROM BIOMASS

1990 ENERGY DEMAND, FOSSIL FUELS, RENEWABLES EJ/a 350 255 80 2040 1000 480 >400

HYDROPOWER
WIND SOLAR BIOMASS

20
60

50
70 130 >200

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POTENTIAL FOR ENERGY FROM BIOMASS

FROM POTENTIALLY AVAILABLE LAND AREA @ 15 TON(DB)/HA.YR 9 (ENERGY FARMING ON 10 HA)

250 EJ/YR

BIOMASS RESIDUES (FORESTRY, WHEAT, RICE, SUGAR CANE, CORN, ETC.

70 EJ/YR

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HISTORY OF HTU

1982 - 1988 1994 - 1997

Process R&D, Shell Laboratory, Amsterdam Technical-Economic evaluation of HTU technology

Nov 1997 - July 2000: PROCESS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT EET-1

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WHAT IS HTU ?
Conditions: 300 - 350 o C; 120 - 180 bar reaction time 5 - 20 minutes liquid water present All types of biomass, domestic, agricultural and residues, wood Also wet feedstocks, no drying required Oxygen removed as Carbon Dioxide 45 Biocrude (%w on feedstock, dry basis) 25 Gas (> 90% CO2) 20 H2O 10 dissolved organics (e.g., acetic acid, methanol)

Feedstocks: industrial

Chemistry: Products

Thermal efficiency: 70 - 90 %
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HTU

Product

Biocrude

Heavy organic liquid Not miscible with water Oxygen content 10 - 18 %w LHV 30 -35 MJ/kg

Applications Biocrude as such: (co)combustion in coal- and oil- fired power stations After upgrading (hydrogenation): premium diesel fuel; kerosene luboil base stock chemicals feedstock (cracker)

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HTU PRODUCT FLEXIBILITY

Direct combustion as a liquid

(replacement of fossil fuels)

Combustion as a solid fuel

(cofiring with coal) Emulsified fuel (type Orimulsion)

Replacement of charcoal Upgraded product

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HTU

PROCESS BLOCK SCHEME

air External Fuel

Cat. DeNOx

Flue gas

Furnace Feedstock
Gas turbine, CC
electr.

Gas Pump system HEATING SECTION HTU REACTOR PRODUCT SEPARATION Waste water Anaerobic digestion Biogas
concentrated minerals soln

Pretreatment

Light biocrude Hvy biocrude

To Upgrading (HDO)

power station CHP

electr.

electricity

electr., heat

demineral.

Clean water

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Block Block scheme scheme of of HTU HTU pilot pilot pant plant
Biomass 10-20 kg/hr (db)
330 C

CO2 Condensor Gas /liquid separator Preheater/ Reactor 2 Reactor 1 Cooler gases

180 bar

High pressure pump

1 bar

Cooler

Pressure reducer

biocrude/ water collection

storage

storage

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THERMAL EFFICIENCY
Definition:

th

(LHV of biocrude output) * 100 % (LHV of feed) + (LHV from external fuel)

For present process design:

th =

55.62 72.98 + 1.3

* 100% = 74.9 %

(Theoretical maximum for this case is 78.6 %)

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Upgrading of biocrude by HDO

Principle of catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation has been demonstrated Upgrading cost compensated by higher product value Diesel fraction has excellent ignition properties Potential applications: Transport fuel
Kerosine Fuel in high-efficient gas turbine Feedstock for chemicals (via ethylene cracker) Etc. etc.

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HDO process scheme

NH3, H2S H2O Recycle gas compressor Hydrogen Naphtha C1-C4 gas

To refininery pool

Biocrude
(fromHTU)

HDO reactor system

Separator section

Fractionator

Kerosine

Air transport

Gas oil electricity

Diesel fuel for Road transport Lubricating oil; chemical feedstock

>370oC residue

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COST OF BIOCRUDE AND COST OF AVOIDING ONE TON OF CO2 ; EFFECT OF FEEDSTOCK PRICE

rest products

energy farming
+ 60

Biocrude cost, $/GJ

7
6

+ 40 5

$ per ton CO2 avoided

First Plant
4 3

+ 20

Future plant
0

2 1 0

Coal (2 $/GJ) / Crude Oil (12 $/bbl) Replacement

- 20

-1

Feedstock price, $/GJ

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PRODUCTION OF TRANSPORTATION FUEL

Cost of HTU plus HydroDeOxygenation

Total Product Cost, $/GJ

10
rest products energy farming

8 6 4 2 0
-2 -1 0 1 2 3
Premium Diesel ex crude oil of 25 $/bbl First Plant Future plant

Biomass HTU Feedstock Price, $/GJ

14

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HTU

R&D PROGRAM

GO / NO GO ITEMS Pressurizing Continuous integrated operation of pilot plant CRITICAL ITEMS Heating - up Oil/water separation Product properties / applications Effluent treatment DATA FOR DESIGN Phase equilibria Physical properties, esp. at reactor/separator conditions

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Process Development
Work in autoclaves,
10 ml, 1 liter, 2 liter Testing of feedstocks and process conditions

Continuous pilot plant

capacity 20 kg/hour (dry basis) commissioning 1 July 1999 first product prepared: 24 November 1999

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Development project EET-1

Mission: Design data for demonstration plant, validated in continuous pilot plant 1 November 1997 - 31 July 2000

Time period:

Cost and funding: Subsidy Stork E&C (Now Jacobs) Shell Nederland TNO, BTG, Biofuel Total

3 M$
1 1 1 6M$

(Dutch Min. of Economic Affairs, EET programme)

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PROJECT ACTIVITIES PROJECT ACTIVITIES

1. Autoclave experiments 2. Reactor Engineering 3. Waste water treatment 4. Process Modeling 5. Feedstock characterisation 6. Feed introduction equipment 7. Pilot plant design & contruction 8. Pilot plant operation 9. Product research 10. Materials selection 11. Commercial design & cost 12. Operational project support 13. Business development 14. Chemical analyses 15. Project management & coordination TNO BTG TNO TNO (Tech Univ Delft) BTG Biofuel TNO (Contractor) TNO BTG Biofuel (Contractor) Jacobs Engineering Nederland Biofuel Biofuel TNO Biofuel

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PROCESS DESIGN CASE STUDY

Basic process design by Jacobs Engineering Nederland

Process scheme, Mass & Heat Balances: ASPEN PLUS flowsheeter All disciplines involved, incl. layout

Case study: Feedstock: Intake Capacity:

Sugar beet pulp, 22 %w dry matter 130,000 tonnes/year (dry basis)

Focus on heat integration, thermal efficiency

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RESULTS OF EET-1 PROJECT

Pilot plant construction completed Pilot plant operation: - process principles verified
- most initial problems solved - 200 kg biocrude produced

Pressurizing of feedstock successfully proven with commercial prototype pump Data on thermodynamics and phase equilibria obtained; model operational Waste water treatment routes defined Product: various applications explored Process design and cost estimation completed Fundamental research to start: NWO Japan project.

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EET-2 PROJECT: FINAL PROCESS DEVELOPMENT

Mission:

Extended operation of pilot plant with commercial feeds Product application development 2002 2005

Time period: Cost and funding:

Subsidy:
Dutch Government, EET programme

3.6 MFl 1.2 0.5 1.9 7.2 MFl

TNO + BTG + Biofuel: St. Shell Research To be decided Total project cost

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COMMERCIAL HTU

DEMONSTRATION PLANT (1)

Study by Jacobs Engineering Nederland, 2000

Location: Large Waste Processing Company, The Netherlands

Feedstock: Organic Wet Fraction (ONF) of domestic waste Capacity: 81,300 tonnes of ONF per year 62,500 tonnes of washed ONF+ per year (= 25,000 tonnes per year dry basis)
Production: 14,470 t/yr Biocrude (incl ash) = 10,630 t/yr DAF Combustion in power plant gives 5.5 MWe

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COMMERCIAL HTU

DEMONSTRATION PLANT (2)

BASIS for ECONOMICS Capital: Washing plant 13 M Nfl HTU plant 37 Total capital 50 M Nfl

Availability: year 1: 40 % (of 8000 h/yr) year 2: 60 % year 3: 80 % years 4-15: 100 % Maintenance and overhead: 4% and 1% of capital/yr Operation: Worst case

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COMMERCIAL HTU

DEMONSTRATION PLANT (3)

50 M Nfl

Total capital required

CO2 reduction plan: EWAB: Net capital: Effect of VAMIL Effect of EIA Net Investment

minus minus

7.5 M Nfl 3.0 39.5 M Nfl 13.8 M Nfl 5.5 M Nfl 20.2 M Nfl

minus minus

TOK: Loan of 20.2 Mfl @ 7% interest, repayment in 10 years

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COMMERCIAL HTU

DEMONSTRATION PLANT (4)

NPV, M Nfl
License fee TOK (techn ontwikkelings krediet) Operating cost washing plant Operating cost HTU plant Biocrude sales (p.m.) (21.6) (24.8) (30.2) 10.4

over first 10 years

75% of equiv. coal price

Fee for ONF Total project NPV

Effect of REB buy-back NPV incl REB

80.7 14.5
32.2 46.7

(= 100 Nfl/ton ONF) NPV=0 if ONF fee= 77 Nfl/ton

NPV=0 if ONF fee= 39 Nfl/ton

NPV = Net present value of project over 15 years, discounted cash flow with 7% interest rate
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Technology Development Path ( S - curve)

Fully Commercial
Commercial Prototype Next S- curve Process Development Techn./Econ. Feasibility Scientific Base / Explanatory Process Scouting Improved scientific base

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NEXT S - CURVE
Focussed fundamental studies on principles

Chemical and physical characteristics of biomass feedstocks in relation to hydrothermal conversion (Wageningen Agricultural University)
Organic chenmistry: Reaction paths and kinetics with representative components and conditions (Delft University of Technology) Reaction engineering models/ complex kinetics (Twente University) Thermodynamics (Delft University of Technology)
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HTU-related work in Japan

NIRE:

Dr. Shin-ya Yokoyama Ms. Dr. Tomoko Ogi Publications since 1985

Upgrading of biomass residues and sewage sludge For sewage sludge: continuous bench scale unit, 15 kg/h, ca. 1988 process development unit, 5 tons/day
Cooperation with: Japan Organo Co., Ltd, Dr. Akira Suzuki; contacts since 1991 Ebara corp. Institute for cellulose Industry, Bandung Indonesia, publication 1998

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NWO Japan Project

NWO = Dutch Government Agency for Fundamental Scientific Research Commemoration of 400 years contacts Japan the Netherlands Multimillion Treaty on fundamental research on renewable energy.

Netherlands:

4 out of 20 projects are on HTU fundamentals

Japan:

Involvement of NIRE

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AVAILABILITY OF ORGANIC RESIDUES IN THE NETHERLANDS

Cumulative kton/year (db)

5000

HTU

Gasification, Pyrolysis

4000
3000 2000 1000
food ind. waste wood cuttings verge grass houshold waste potato leaves beet leaves

energy farming (NL) straw

wood waste

-6

-4

-2

Price ( $/GJ ) BIOFUEL B.V.

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HTU

OPPORTUNITIES

1 - The Netherlands

Industrial organic waste and residues Organic household waste Poultry litter Manure
(combination with anaerobic digestion)

1.8 Million tons/a (db) 1.1 ,, 0.5 ,, 2.0 ,,

5.4 Million tons/a (db)

TOTAL

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HTU OPPORTUNITIES
2 - Europe

Agricultural / Industrial Residues

(Source: Eurec agency, 1996)

200 Million tons/a (db)

Short-term niches for HTU: - Olive Oil Industry - Organic household waste
(from centralized waste separation)

3 - 5 Million tons/a (db) 26 ktons/a (db) per

250,000 inhabitants

- Residues from sugar and beer production.

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HTU OPPORTUNITIES
3 - World

Agricultural and industrial residues

(Source: Renewable Energy; sources for fuels and electricity, 1993)

4,000 Million tons/a (db)

(approx. 70 EJ/a)

Future organic household waste

(own tentative estimate)

800 Million tons/a (db)

Short-term niches for HTU:

- Organic household waste - Bagasse (> 100 Mtons/a) - Forestry residues from existing plantations - Coir dust

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