Industrial Scale Biomass & Waste Gasification

Gasification Technologies ConferenceOctober 3rd, 2006Washington D.C.

By: Benjamin D Phillips, President

Emery Energy Company

Support Organizations

U.S DOE U.S EPA

Idaho National Lab Brigham Young University

Financial

Technical

Discussion Summary

• Company Background• Past Technology Activities• Technology Description• Current Development Activities

– Thermal Applications (Nat. Gas Displacement)– Power Applications (I/C engines; Steam Turbine or

IGCC)– Other Applications (oxygen blown, syngas

production for liquid fuel synthesis or H2 production)

Relative Scales: Biomass vs. Coal

150 600+0 30075MWe (electric equivalents, but can be thermal or chemical applications)

Biomass& Waste Coal IGCC

Blended FuelsOr Industrial Scale Coal

Emery’s Initial Target Segment 5 – 70 MWeUsing Wood & MSW

Feedstocks

• Began technology development in mid-90’s under different entity name

• Initial testing of technology on MSW and other waste feedstocks, enable Emery to secure private & state funding

• With pilot plant operational experience, Emery secured U.S. DOE monies for further design development of a 70MWe Biomass IGCC

• Formally established Emery Energy Company in 2002• Currently commercializing initial modular gasifier

configurations for thermal and power applications

Company Background / History

70 MWe Biomass IGCC Design• ~70 MWe (net) IGCC

• ~1200 tpd Refuse Derived Fuel (base case); other cases evaluated: wood, coal, switchgrass and blends

• 2 Gasifier trains + 1 spare

• Oxygen-blown, pressurized gasifiers

• Annual availability of >90%

• Technical Participants: Idaho National Lab, BYU and GE Power Systems

This design project created the ‘stretch-goal’ for the technology for biomass feedstocks as well as the roadmap for technology progression and scaling activities

Emery’s Focus & Challenges

• Creation of a technology for multiple feed stocks, some that vary over the year.

• Producing an adequate quality of gas at a reasonable capital and operating price.

• Producing a technology that is robust, low maintenance, and not sophisticated to operate.

• Simple and cost-effective gas cleanup and conditioning.

• Capable of load swings & load following (turn down ratios).

25 TPD Pilot Plant

• ~ 7 MW(th)• Scrap tires & wood• 2100+ hours of testing

25 TPD Pilot Plant

• Funding support from State Gov’t • 3rd Party Testing & Analyses• Robust, Simple Operation

3-D Model of 2 TPD Test Facility

Completed 2 TPD Test System

• 0 - 125 psig (ASME coded)• System used to test

various fuels and associated reaction kinetics: wood pellets, tire chips, RDF, coal

• Provides additional design data for scale up

• Fully Automated Control System and Gas Analyses equipment installed

U.S. EPA Funding

• Received Grant from U.S. EPA’s MSW Gasification Initiative in 2005 to develop novel tar/oil mitigation methods for MSW / RDF Gasification

• Purpose: to mitigate need or size of downstream tar cracking and condensable gases management systems

• Initial successful technology testing in 2005• Subsequent development & testing planned

Emery Gasification Technology

• Unique Gasifier, founded in fixed-bed technology while leveraging other Gasification Phenomena types

• Issued and pending U.S. & foreign patents • Ash Removal: Dry-Ash OR Slagging• Scalable / Modular (25 tpd >> 100 tpd >> 500 >>)

• Bio-Refining Enabling – Thermo chemical platform• Technology has merit for coal, at larger scales• Benefits:

– Greater Fuel Flexibility– Tar mitigation measures– Reduced # of unit operations compared to other fixed-bed and

fluidized bed processes resulting in CAPEX / OPEX reductions

Boiler

Gasifier

TarCracker

Cyc FilterRecip.

Engines

HX

Steam

FeedwaterHeater

ASH Catalyst ASH

Typical Fluidized Bed Schematic (non-Emery)

MWe

For a Combined Heat & Power Projectin the Northeastern U.S. for 200 tpd wood

Natural GasDisplacement

using producer gas

Boiler

Gasifier

TarCracker

Eliminated

Cyc FilterRecip.

Engines

HX

Steam

FeedwaterHeater

ASH

ASH

Proposed Emery System - Illustrative

+ Lower CAPEX/ OPEX

MWe

ASH

Aims to eliminate need for tar cracker and reduce size of other unit operationsto reduce capital and operating costs while increasing overall efficiency

Natural GasDisplacement

using producer gas

For a Combined Heat & Power Projectin the Northeastern U.S. for 200 tpd wood

Smaller Quench

Air-Blown Thermal / Steam / Power

FUEL PREP

GASIFIER

AIR / STEAM

DRY ASH OR SLAG

HOT CYCLONES

THERMAL OXIDIZERBURNER

HRSG / BOILER S.T. GENERATOR

FLUE GAS CLEANING

% STEAM

P&ID of Recent Project Design

FD Fans

Gasifier

Cyclone

Flare

T.O. + HRSG

ID Fan

Thermal Applications

BURNER BOILER

Technical Aspects of Gas Usage

1.Flame Characteristics• Swirl Number• Flame Speed Factor

2.Heating Value• Wobbe Number

3.Matching Overall Energy Delivery

4.Multi-Fuel Options

Air-Blown I-C Engine Power Schematic

GAS CLEANING / COOLING I-C ENGINES GENERATOR

% STEAM

FUEL PREP

GASIFIER

DRY ASH OR SLAG

HOT CYCLONES

AIR / STEAM

BY-PRODUCT UTILIZATION

Small Scale Power Applications

Gas Cooling/Cleaning

Power Generation

Technical Aspects of Power Application

• Gas Cleaning• particulate removal • tar & oil removal • gaseous phase pollutants (H2S, etc. - as function of feedstock

composition)

• Gas Cooling• For engine input temperature limitations

• Gas Quality• ~140 - 200 btu’s/scf air-blown (depending on gas composition)• ~275 - 330 btu’s/scf 02-blown (depending on gas composition)

• I/C Engine de-rate (no de-rate on gas turbines)• ~40% de-rate on air-blown gas (depending on gas

composition) compared to Natural Gas • De-rate increases installed costs ($/kWe), but does not

impact overall fuel-to-electric efficiencies

100 TPD with I/C Engines (~ 5MWe)

GAS COOLING / CLEANING Gas Turbine GENERATOR

FUEL PREP

GASIFIER

DRY ASH OR SLAG

HOT CYCLONES

STEAM

O2-Blown IGCC Schematic

ASUNITROGEN

O2

Steam Turbine

GENERATOR

STEAM

STEAMBY-PRODUCT UTILIZATION

O2-Blown Biomass IGCC (~70MWe)

Conclusion

• Biomass is carbon-neutral• Can mitigate waste (industrial & municipal)

• Project scale opportunities that match distributed generation needs and fuels production

• Emerging growth and demand for reducing industrial fuel costs while meeting carbon-reduction goals

500500500

Planned Gasifier Scale Progression

1 225

100 100

500

Tons Per Day

Emery’sPilot Plants

Air-blownCommercialModules

O2-Blown & PressurizedOfferings

Multiple modules to match various project scales

Thank You

Contact Information

Emery Energy Company159 Pierpont Avenue

Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 USA

801-364-8283info@emeryenergy.comwww.emeryenergy.com