Biomass technology

J. S. Robinson, Fuelsfrom Biomass Technology andFeasibility, Noyes Data Corp., Park Ridge, N.J., 1980. 

The FICFB process concept applied in the 8 MWlh Cussing plant (Austria). (Reproduced from Knoef, H., Handbook Biomass Gasification. BTG (Biomass Technology Group), Enschede, 2005. With permission.)... 

Source Reproduced from Knoef, Hv Handbook Biomass Gasification. BTG (biomass technology group), Enschede, 2005. With permission. 

The Biomass Technology Group (BTG, Enschede, The Netherlands) process is based on a rotating cone reactor that serves mechanical fluidization of hot sand, which is recirculated in the reactor system. Since 2005, there is a plant in Malaysia with a throughput capacity of 50 t/day of palmoil residues. 

The previous discussion on chemistry showed that oil components are intermediates that are susceptible to consecutive decomposition reactions, i.e., cracking and condensation. It is therefore essential to remove them from the reaction environment as soon as they are formed. In other words, the volatile components should have a very short residence time. The Pyrolysis process also requires the supply of heat to drive all these cracking and decomposition reactions. An elegant answer to these two challenges has been proposed and developed by van Swaaij et al. [30] and forms the basis of the Pyrolysis process that is commercialized by BTG, the Biomass Technology Group BV [31]. 

A third reason why, in the very long term, the use of biomass technology for energy conversion will remain limited is the much more favorable land use efficiency of solar energy. This is explained in Chapter 2. 

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) (a) UAion for Bioenergy Biobased Products in The United States, October 2002 bioproducts-bioenergy.gov/pdfs/BioVision 03 Web.pdf. (b) Roadmap for Biomass Technologies in the United States, December 2002 bioproducts-bioenergy.gov/pdfs/FinalBiomassRoadmap.pdf... 

Figure 2. Biomass technology and resource assessment chart...

USDA, in Roadmap for biomass technologies in the United States , USDA, 2002, p. 34, Volume. 

Collaborators Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (USA) Biomass Technology Group BV (The Netherlands). 

Mehrdad Arshadi Unit of Biomass Technology and Chemistry / BTK, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umea, SWEDEN... 

Reports on commercial implementation of pyrolysis are scarce, while there are several pilot-size units. For example, Dynamotive in Canada has built four fluidized-bed units with a total capacity of 200 tons of dry wood per day [14], Ensyn, also in Canada, has eight circulating fluidized-bed units with a total capacity of 100 dry tons per day [14], Biomass Technology Group from the Netherlands has designed rotating cone pyrolyzers with a total capacity of 2 tons of dry material per hour [14],... 

What can we conclude thus far about the role that biomass can play as a substantial source for our future energy supply It s worth aiming at. Competing with petroleum-derived energy is still a stretch, but there is still potential for improvement in the technology. As we move forward, we may find disappointments about biomass technology that force us to turn in other directions. 

Knoef, H.A.M., (2000) Inventory of Biomass Gasifier Manufacturers Installations, Final Report to European Commission, Contract DIS/1734/98-NL, Biomass Technology Group B.V., University of Twente, Enschede, (see http //btgsl. ct.utwente.nl/). 

BTG Biomass Technology Group BV, PO Box 217. HL-7500AE, Enschede, the Netherlands... 

The IGCC is competitive with conventional biomass technology for condensing applications at today s fuel cost. 

In most industrialised countries the investor can choose between the application of a biomass technology and a conventional alternative. The conventional alternative for the investor is normally to produce heat with a fossil oil/gas boiler and/or to buy electricity from utilities. This is specified as the standard situation in this paper. 

Robinson, J.S. (1980) Primary Biochemical Conversions, In Fuels from Biomass Technology and Feasibility, pp, 167-183, Noyes Data Corporation, Park Ridge, New Jersey. 

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