Development of biomass gasification system based on fluidized bed

technologies

Uen Do Lee and Won Yang

Energy system R&D group

Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH)

Korea Institute of Industrial Technology

Korea Institute of Industrial Technology

Energy System R&D Group

• 10 Principal researchers, 2 Senior researchers, 20 researchers• Research areas

Low-CarbonCombustion in PowerGen

System

Renewablefuel

conversion

IndustrialCombustion

HVAC system

• Oxy-fuel combustion for CO2 capture• Co-firing of renewable fuels in boilers• Management of coal power generation system• Flue-gas treatment system• Combustion diagnostics in thermal power plant

• Fluidized bed gasification (BFB/CFB/DFB) • Stoker and rotary kiln reactors• Pyrolysis: Torrefaction, Carbonization• Syngas & bio-oil utilization

• Low NOx burners for industrial boilers• low NOx combustion system• Melting furnace with combustion system• Clean combustion in engines

• Heat exchanger• Refrigeration system• Turbo-machinery• Renewable heat: Solar heat, geothermal

Related Projects in KITECH

Biomass co-combustion in a conventional boiler:

<TGA tester > <Tube Furnace >

EFB Pellet

<Furnace Test>

Woody biomass EFB

<FB reactor><Ash melting tester>

<Combustion Test>

(C)

(O)

EFB (INA)

<Ash melting test>

Waste/Biomass conversion

Waste Gasification System:• Multi-staged Waste Pyrolysis and gasification(2006-2009)

Waste/Biomass conversion

Tar Reformer

Multi-Staged Pyrolyzer

Heat Exchanger Alkali. Scrubber

Gas Cooler Bag Filter Gas Engine

BFB gasifier (KITECH):

SEI ISU EPI KITECH

Type BFB BFB BFB BFB

Fuel Wood Corn Wood Wood

Method Air Air Air Air

Temp (℃) 650~815 730 650 650~800

CO 15.5 23.9 17.5 16.1

H2 12.7 4.1 5.8 16.5

CO2 15.9 12.8 15.8 16.4

CH4 5.72 3.1 4.65 5.3

H2O dry dry dry dry

H2/CO 0.8 0.2 0.3 1.02

0 10 20 30 400

4

8

12

16

20

0 10 20 30 400

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Elec

tronic

Pow

er(k

We)

Conc

entra

tion(

vol.%

)

H2

CO2

CO CH4

Electronic Power

Time(min)

Waste/Biomass conversion

CFB biomass gasifier (Gwang-Yang):

1. Combustor2. Gasifier3. Lower loopseal4. Upper loopseal5. Cyclone

1

23

2

4

5

6

Feedstock Woody biomass

Capacity 3 MWth

DimensionGasifier 1.0m(W)×1.5m(L)×2.5m(H)

Combustor φ0.4m×17.5m

Fluidization velocity

Gasifier 0.3-0.5 m/s (3-5 Umf)

Combustor 4-5 m/s

Bed material Silica sand, 380㎛

Dimensionless Velocity Ratio, ucomb/ut (m/s)

1 3 5 7 90 2 4 6 8 10

Solid

s C

ircul

atio

n R

ate,

Gs(k

g/m

2 s)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

ChockingAbove ut

confidential

Designed by KITECHInternational collaborative project with CUT, Sweden

Waste/Biomass conversion

Biomass Gasification for BTL:

• Biomass gasification with a dual fluidized bed (2007~2012)– Can produce high-valued fuels such as

• Bio-diesel• Bio-SNG(Synthetic natural gas)• Bio-hydrogen

– Biomass gasification with syngas cleaning for F-T process– Scale: 1 ton/day

< Schematic diagram of BTL project >< 1ton/day Biomass Gasifier >

Waste/Biomass conversion

Oxygen enhanced BFB gasifier for RDF:

Feeding system for RDF

Feeding test result

Airintake

Hot water output

Exhaustgases

Waste/Biomass conversion

Re-gasification system for low rank oil :

Used cooking oilCooking oil

Pyrolysis oil/Byproducts

Used engine oil Coal water slurry

Fuel + Air

Waste/Biomass conversion

Gasification of byproduct from black liquor bio-refinery:

Fermentation(5C)

pH = 5.6

KraftPulping

BlackLiquor

Hydrolysisand

Filtration

Limingand

Filtration

Bioethanol

Pulp

WoodChip

Acetic acid

Formic acid

CaO

CaSO4

H2SO4enzyme

Solvent

Salt Residues

80g/LSugar

RecoveryBoiler

Green LiquorGreen Liquor

SmeltWeakwash

NaSO4

ElectricitySteam

Lignin

Gasification (H2, Co)

Electricitysteam

Waste/Biomass conversion

Indirect coal gasifier as a topping reactor:

Indirect coal gasifier (a) stand alone type (b) topping reactor type

Waste/Biomass conversion

Development of indirect biomass gasifier for BTL process

Biomass To Liquid (BTL) Process:

Wood(Biomass)

1 Tonwood

GasificationFischer-Tropsch

Synthesis

Biosyngas240 L

FT Wax210 L

BTL-Diesel

LightFT Product

Electricity & Heatfrom off-gas

Project details:v Biomass gasification including gas cleaning and biomass-to-liquid (BTL) with F-T process

v BFB gasification: H2/CO > 1, cold gas efficiency > 60%, gas cleaning for F-T process

v Biomass 1 t/d, Biodiesel 0.1 bbl/d (2010) à Biomass 1t/day, 1 bbl/d (2012)à 30-1000 bbl/d commercial plant

Sand + Char

Hot Sand

SteamMinimized O2

Raw material<Water contents<10%>

Low temperatureDrying(<120℃)

Solid-liquid separation

Hydrothermal reaction(250℃, <30 atm)

F-T process

Separation

Upgrading

BTL-Diesel

Woody Biomass

Feeder

BFB Gasifier FFB Combustor

Exhaust gasHeat exchanger Water

Minimized Tar Cracker

Scrubber & Filter

SyngasWGSR CO2 Remover

< Schematic diagram of ETI project >

KITECH

KIER

KRICT

Previous Researches on BTL Process:

Gasifier

Combustor

AirSteam

Flue gas

Heated sand

Sand,char

Product gas(CH₄, CO, H₂, CO₂)

Lower loop seal

Upper loop seal

Cyclone

Biomass Biomass

Hydrodynamics of DFB

* Simulation result from Barracuda

Dual Fluidized Bed Gasifier:

Development History:10kWth pilot plant 100kWth pilot plant 8MWth CHP Plant

Gussing8MWth CHP Plant

Oberwart14MWth CHP Plant

Seden

1993-1996 1995-1999 2003-2011 2008-now 2012

20kWth pilotPlant

200kWth pilot plant without gas cleaning system

200kWth pilot plant 3.2MWth Pilot plant(planned)

10MWth commercialplant(planned)

2007-2009 2009-2011 2011-2012 2013-2015 2015-2018

Long-term operation test with small BTL system:

20kW bench scale DFB gasifier for BTL

gasifier & 1st clesning process

syngas compressor & 2nd clesning process & FT reactor

□ Iron based FT catalyst - Productivity: C5+>150g/L-cat-h)- Rate of conversion: > 90%

□ 0.1 BPD FT reactor test (Fixed bed)

□ Catalyst life time > 2000 hours

■ FT catalyst

Iron Based FT catalyst (KRITC)

Long Term Operation of 20kW BTL Process:

Sampling pointSulfur components (ppmV)

H2S COS

SP-1 18 1.2

SP-2 0.5 1.2

SP-4 b.d. b.d.

200kW DFB Biomass Gasifier:

Syngas Cleaning System:

2nd cleaning process<MeOH absorption tower for acid gas removal>

1 bbl/day Fischer-Tropsch reactor

Gasifier

Combustor

Bucket Elev. Biomass hopper Biomass Feeder

1st cleaning process & syngas compressor

200kW DFB Biomass Gasifier:

Operation time (day)

0 5 10 15 20

Gas

com

posit

ion

(dry

vol

. %)

0

10

20

30

40

50 CO CO2 H2 CH4 O2

Tem

pera

ture

(o C)

600

700

800

900

1000

1100 Gasifier_bed Gasifier_freeboard Combustor_outlet

Long term operation results (Upper: temperature, Lower: syngas compositions) Average syngas composition

Gas Composition (vol %)

CO 21.3

CO2 19.0

CH4 10.0

H2 35.0

CnHm n.a.

H2/CO mole ratio 1.64

Gas yield (Nm3/kg of raw

biomass)>1.1

Lower heating value

(MJ/Nm3)>10.0

Cold gas efficiency(Ceff, %) >61.2

Long term operation results of BTL system:

Performance of KITECH DFB gasifier:

Mid Sweden Univ.(MIUN)*

150kW

Güssing*FICFB(8MW)

Chalmers*2-4MW

Univ. of Canterbury

100kW**

KITECH200kW

Gasifier Type DFB DFB DFB DFB DFB

Fuel WoodPellets

BiomassChips

Wood Chips/Pellets

Wood Chips/Pellets Pellets

Bed material Silica sand Olivine Silica Sand Silica sand/Olivine Silica Sand

Gasifying agent/Oxidizer Steam/Air Steam/Air Steam/Air Steam/Air Steam/Air

Temperature(℃) 800 850~900 780~830 642~753 766

H2 50.9 36~42 18.74~27 15~30 34.0

CO 29.6 19~24 26.9~33.3 28~40 20.4

CO2 12.6 20~25 14.6~18.3 13~21 18.6

CH4 9.5 9~12 11.1-11.7 9~15 9.8

H2/CO 1.7 1.8~1.9 0.7-0.8 0.78~1 1.7

*Data of the representative DFB gasifiers were adopted from the reference [Göransson, K. et al., 2011]** Data of the University of Canterbury, New Zealand [Bull, D. et al., 2009]

Characteristics of BTL fuel:

Direct photo of synthesis BTL fuels

BTL Diesel(170℃~320℃)

BTL Gasoline(60℃~170℃)

Courtesy of KRITC/KPETRO

Carbon number distribution of the hydrocarbon liquid produced in the FT reactor

Characteristics of BTL fuel:

min0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

pA

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

FID1 A, Front Signal (20110414\20110414 2011-04-14 10-05-16\SIG010000001.D)

F-T Diesel(replicate gas)

min0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

pA

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

FID1 A, Front Signal (20110117\20110117 2011-01-17 17-52-19\P_O50_2.D)

min0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

pA

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

FID1 A, Front Signal (20110125\20110125 2011-01-25 16-07-30\DIESEL.D)

Diesel(winter)

Kerosene

min0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

pA

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

FID1 A, Front Signal (20110727\20110728 2011-08-03 13-44-23\020F0101.D)

< 0

.010

< 2

.830

< 2

.831

< 2

.833

< 5

.575

< 5

.579

< 5

.580

< 9

.000BTL Diesel

Courtesy of KRITC/KPETRO

Comparison of conventional diesel and BTL diesel:

Test ItemsUnits Standard Diesel BTL diesel(100%)

℃ < 0.0 / < -17.5 (winter) -35.0 -22.5

Flow point ℃ - -4.0 -17.0

Cloud point ℃ Ø 40 44 50

Flash point mm2/s 1.9 ~ 5.5 - -

Dynamic viscosity ℃ - 150 171

Boiling

Initial ℃ - 172 190

10% ℃ - 243 232

50% ℃ < 360 334 290

90% ℃ - 367 312

Final wt% < 0.15 < 0.15 < 0.15

Residual carbon vol% < 0.02 < 0.01 < 0.01

Courtesy of KRITC/KPETRO

Test items Units Standard Diesel BTL diesel(100%)

Sulfur mg/kg < 10 6.4 1.7

Ash wt% < 0.02 < 0.01 < 0.01

Cetane number -> 52

> 48 (winter)51.9 68.6

Induced Cetane number - - 49.4 54.6

Corrosion - < 1 < 1 < 1

Filter clogging℃ < -16 -33.0 -17.0

Lubrication(HFRR wear)

μm < 400 234 438

Density kg/m3 815 ~ 835 817 779

Poly-aromatics wt% < 5 1.0 0.2

Aromatics wt% < 30 18.7 4.1

Test car/engine details

Performance test equipment with dynamometer

< Courtesy of KPETRO>

Model Odometer Engine Type Injection Type

Santafe (2010) 72,593D engine

(2,200 cc)CRDI

Engine performance test:

Original diesel fuel vs BTLD30

CO THC

NOx PM

Diesel BTL D300.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Test fuel

CO

emis

sion

(g/k

m)

Diesel BTL D300.00

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

Test fuel

THC

emis

sion

(g/k

m)

Diesel BTL D300.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Test fuel

NOx

em

issi

on(g

/km

)

Diesel BTL D300.00

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

Test fuel

PM e

mis

sion

(g/k

m)

Emission test results of BTL(30%)+Diesel fuel(70%):

Summary

1. Syngas composition and H2/CO ratio are suitable for F-T process and the

performance of DFB biomass gasifier was verified with the long-term

operation test over 500 hours.

2. In DFB system, tar reduction and increase of steam conversion rate are

the key technologies for increasing gasification efficiency.

3. As an alternative fuel, BTL diesel is almost sulfur free and has low

aromatic content and high Cetane number.

4. For low temperature characteristics, density and lubrication are the main

issues.

5. It was found that the mixture of BTL and conventional diesel reduces

engine emissions.

Thank you for your attention