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Gasification Technologies for Fuel Production

Tim Eggeman, Ph.D., P.E.

June 29, 2009

Third Meeting of the International Sugarcane Biomass Utilization ConsortiumShandrani Resort & Spa, Mauritius

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Gasification Can Be:

“Simple”

WWII Automobile

“Complex”

SASOL

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Fuel Gas Applications Are Simplest

Central Minnesota Ethanol Cooperative15 Million gal/yr Corn Dry Mill

$15 Million Gasifier Retrofit

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Another Fuel Gas Application

Retrofit a Pulverized Coal Boiler to Allow Co-firing BiomassLahti, Finland

50 MWth

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Why are Fuel Gas Applications “Simple”?

• Atmospheric Pressure Operation

• Air Blown:– Low Calorific Gas w/ N2 is OK

• Low Temperature– High Make of Methane and Tars is OK– Dry Ash…generally OK

• Moving Bed is Common

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Gasifier Flow Patterns

c) Entrained Flow

a) Moving Bed b) Fluidized Beds

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Fuel Capacity

Entrained Flow

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BIGCC Are More Complex

Värnamo, Sweden18 MWth Input as Wood

Gasifier: Circulating Fluid Bed,Air Blown,

18 bar, 950-1000 °C

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Repotec Gasifier

CONFIDENTIAL

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Repotec – Güssing 8 MWth

Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Gasifier 3182 4695 6137 7078 7191

Gas Engine 1251 4152 5463 6487 6826

Operating Hours Per Year

CONFIDENTIAL

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Not All Projects are Successful

• Many Fail to Get Funding– SIGAME (Eucalyptus BIGCC in Brazil)

• Technical and Management Problems

Paia, Hawai’iBagasse BIGCC

Had Problems withBagasse Supply/Feed

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Feedstock PropertiesHerbaceous

BiomassWoody

BiomassIllinois No. 6

Coal

UltimateAnalysis

C: 45%O: 40%

C: 50%O: 40%

C: 80%C: 10%

Proximate Analysis

Moisture: 15%

Volatile C: 80%Fixed C: 15%

Moisture: 50%

Volatile C: 80%Fixed C: 15%

Moisture: 11%

Volatile C: 45%Fixed C: 45%

Heating Value,MJ/Kg (dry)

18 20 29

Ash Minerals Si, K Si, K, Ca, Mg Si, Al, Fe, Ca

Ash PropertiesTInitial Deformation, °C

TFluid, °C

700-8501500

800-900 1000-11001200-1300

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Ash Properties

TInitial

Deformation

TFluid

StickyAsh

Regime

Forbidden Temperature

Range

Dry AshGasifiers

AgglomeratingGasifiers

SlaggingGasifiers

Raw Gas Quenching

Instantaneous Feed HeatingSlagging

Operations

T250

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Ash Properties

a) Coal AshFrom: www.ultrasys.com.au/bits.html#

b) Biomass AshFrom: Miles et. al. (1996)

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ThermodynamicsEffect of Pressure at T = 1000 °C Effect of Temperature at P = 30 Bar

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Fuel Footprint

a) Iso-lines of Cold Gas Efficiency b) Iso-lines of Syngas (H2 +CO) Yield

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Chemicals

Tail Gas(Heat, Steam/Power)

SynthesisGas

TarReforming

SyngasProcess

Gasification for Chemicals is Most Complex

Biomass

Producer Gas(Heat, Steam/Power)

Low Temperature Gasification

~800°C

High Temperature Gasification

~1300°C

Feed Conditioning

PyrolysisTorrefaction

Grinding

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Biomass to Liquids (BTL)

Gasification:

Fischer-Tropsch:

22 xHCOOBiomass

OHCHnHnCO n 222 )(2

Distribution of Products MeansAdditional Hydrotreating Is Needed

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Choren

Freiberg SiteBlue Stripe Building (Back) – Alpha PlantRed Stripe Building (Center) – Beta Plant

Open Space (Center Left) – Future Shell FT Plant

Installation of Entrained Flow Gasifier,Beta Plant

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Choren

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Mixed Alcohol Synthesis

OHnOHHCnHnCO Nn 2122 )1(2

222 HCOOHCO

Chemistry:

Shift Lowers H2:CO ~ 1Products Follow Flory DistributionRequires High Pressures

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Range Fuels

Demonstration Plant in Soperton, GA in Planning

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Syngas Fermentation

Same Chemistry asMixed Alcohol Synthesis!

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Coskata

Working WithAlterNRG for

Plasma Gasification

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ZeaChem Technology

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HydrogenResidue to Gasifier

Sales

Biomass:• Hardwood• Softwood• Switch Grass• Corn Stover

EthanolSales

Ethyl Acetate

Sugar Solution

Acetic Acid

ZeaChem’s Core Technology

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Theoretical Yields

Cellulose, 40

HemicelluloseSugars, 18

HemicelluloseAcetate, 2

Lignin, 30

Other, 10

Biochemical OnlyYield: 78-112 gal(neat)/BDT

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Biochemical Processing

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Balance61-44

Thermochemical OnlyYield: 112 gal(neat)/BDT

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100

Balance30

Mixed Alcohol Synthesis

Thermochemical Processing

Balance14

Syngas

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Values in Italics Indicate Chemical Energy Flow Normalized to Biomass = 100

Yield assumes 200 gal(neat)/BDT for 100% Chemical Efficiency

Syngas FermentationYield: 112 gal(neat)/BDT

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100

Thermochemical Processing

BiochemicalProcessing

Balance30

Balance14

Syngas

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ZeaChem HybridYield: 156 gal(neat)/BDT

78

100

60 40

Thermochemical Processing

Biochemical Processing

Hydrogenolysis

Balance4

Residue8

Balance18

Ester

52

H2

30

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Recommendations for ISBUC• Have Well-Defined Scope

– Start Simple then Build Complexity– Need a Strong Operating Partner with

• Form a High-Level Business Case Early– Incremental Economics for Addition of a BIGCC to a

“Typical” Mill– Refine as Progress is Made

• Project Plan– Sources of Funds– Location– Schedule

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Potassium ContentPotassium Content of Biomass

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5

Mixed waste paperFir mill waste

RFD - TacomaRed oak sawdust

Sugar Cane BagasseUrban wood waste

Willow - SV1-3 yrFurniture waste

Willow - SV1-1 yrAlder/fir sawdustSwitchgrass, MN

Hybrid poplarSwitchgrass, D Leaf, MN

Demolition woodForest residualsPoplar - coarse

Miscanthus, SilberfederWood - land clearing

Almond woodWood - yard waste

Danish wheat strawRice husks

Switchgrass, OHOregon wheat straw

Alfalfa stemsCalifornia wheat straw

Imperial wheat strawRice straw

Potassium Content (lb/MMBtu)

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Table 2.1 - Typical Feedstock AnalysesComplied from Phyllis (2006), US DOE Biomass Database (2006),

Neto (2005), Meyers (1981) and othersHerbaceous Biomass Woody Biomass Fossil

Corn Corn Hardwood CoalStover Stover Cane Cane Trash Cane Trash Cane Trash Hybrid Hardwood Hardwood Softwood Coal Illinois No. 6

(Whole) (Cob) Switchgrass Bagasse Dry Leaves Green Leaves Tops Poplar Eucalyptus Oak Pine Lignite Bituminous Pet Coke

Ultimate Analysis, wt% dry

C 46.80 46.60 47.39 44.60 46.20 45.70 43.90 50.20 49.50 49.90 51.30 65.70 70.00 88.24H 5.74 5.87 5.67 5.80 6.20 6.20 6.10 6.06 5.75 5.94 4.69 4.50 4.90 3.68N 0.66 0.47 0.55 0.60 0.50 1.00 0.80 0.60 0.14 0.38 0.51 1.20 1.40 2.18S 0.11 0.01 0.06 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.02 0.03 0.50 0.15 1.00 3.80 5.69O 41.40 45.50 39.13 44.50 43.00 42.80 44.00 40.40 44.00 41.30 40.30 18.40 10.70 0.51Cl 0.27 0.21 0.09 0.02 0.10 0.40 0.70 0.01 0.06 0.01 0.02 - - -Ash 5.10 1.40 6.54 2.20 3.90 3.70 4.30 2.70 0.50 2.40 3.00 9.20 9.20 0.30

Proximate Analysis, wt% dry

Moisture 6.1 8.0 13.9 50.2 13.5 67.7 82.3 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 35.5 11.2 7.0

Volatile Carbon 80.9 80.1 77.0 79.9 84.5 80.6 79.3 84.8 86.6 84.2 75.6 48.7 46.3 13.4Fixed Carbon 14.0 18.5 15.9 18.0 11.6 15.7 16.4 12.5 12.9 13.4 21.4 42.1 45.6 86.3Ash 5.1 1.4 6.5 2.2 3.9 3.7 4.3 2.7 0.5 2.4 3.0 9.2 8.1 0.3

Biochemical Analysis, wt% dry

Cellulose 37.3 40.2 36.9 39.1 43.2 48.5 38.6 44.2Galactan 0.9 1.7 1.4 0.4 0.8 0.9 2.1 2.0Mannan 0.5 0.0 0.3 0.3 2.5 1.0 0.0 12.3Xylan 16.4 23.6 23.0 20.2 16.4 11.6 17.7 5.2Arabinan 3.1 3.2 2.4 1.6 0.7 0.4 0.6 0.7Lignin 14.6 12.3 9.6 24.3 24.2 27.7 27.4 27.9Balance 27.2 19.0 26.4 14.0 12.3 9.9 13.6 7.7

Total Sugars 58.2 68.7 64.0 61.7 63.5 62.4 59.0 64.4

Heating Value

HHV, MJ/kg (dry) 18.10 18.77 18.90 18.10 17.40 17.40 16.40 19.02 19.22 20.45 20.59 25.52 29.20 35.64

Ash Composition, as Oxides wt% of Ash

Al2O3 2 6.98 2.3 3.5 1.4 0.5 0.8 7.9 0.9 10.9 13.6 17.9CaO 8.7 1.3 7.14 0.7 4.7 3.9 2.6 49.9 26.5 65 29 17.6 5.8CuO 0.00006 0.00006 0.00006Fe2O3 4.1 3.56 2.3 0.9 0.5 0.2 1.4 0.5 4.5 6.6 20.1K2O 20.7 2 7 1.7 2.7 13.3 29.5 9.6 7.2 9.9 13.1 0.1 1.8MgO 6.1 2.5 3.17 0.5 2.1 2.2 2.5 18.4 7.3 8.3 4.7 2.5 1MnO2 0.062 0.169 0.12 0.155

Na2O 0.2 1.2 1.03 0.045 0.123 0.128 0.119 0.1 5 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.4P2O5 8.7 6.9 2.8 0.5 0.5 2 2.5 1.3 29.1 7.5 5.3 0.1 0.1SiO2 54 40.3 65.42 5.9 17.8 2.3 46.1 41.8 47.5SO3 8.7 2 2 2.2 14.6 4.6

TiO2 0.34 0.3 0.1 0.2 1.5 0.8ZnO 0.009 0.015 0.035Balance -0.4 33 0.56 91.893 85.29894 76.43694 61.89094 10.3 -0.8 2.5 -14.4 1 0

Alkali, kg/GJ Feed (dry) 0.59 0.02 0.28 0.02 0.06 0.29 0.78 0.14 0.03 0.13 0.20 0.03 0.06

Ash Fusion Temperatures, C

Reducing ConditionsInitial Deformation 1129 1079 1093Spherical 1234 1166 1182Hemispherical 1414 1177 1193Fluid 1518 1227 1271

Oxidizing ConditionsInitial Deformation 1160 1132 1260Spherical 1266 1199 1332Hemispherical 1377 1210 1343Fluid 1500 1254 1432