Thermal Net

JULY 2006 ISSUE 02
STARTS
PAGE 2
The University of Georgia

Biorefinery / Carbon Cycling Program Biorefining and Carbon Cycling
Program at the University of Georgia
In 2004, the University of Georgia (UGA) began a coordinated effort in biorefining
and carbon cycling research, outreach, and education. The vision of the program
is to combine biomass production and conversion with carbon cycling.
full article on page 2
STARTS
PAGE 14
Successful Long Duration Test with

ECN Pilot Gasification Installation
In the first quarter of 2006 ECN operated the pilot gasification installation
continuously for 700 hours with two operators per shift (3 shifts in total).
STARTS
PAGE 28
Combined Heat and Power Plant

for Integral Green Residues in
Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands
A CHP (combined heat and power) plant of 1.1 MWe/5.5 MWth has been built
using green residues as fuel. The heat is delivered to approximately 1100 homes,
a large industrial complex, a school, a nursing home and sheltered workshop.
STARTS
PAGE 37
Energy Prices and Taxes 2004 Prices for Heavy Fuel Oil
This regular feature provides a comprehensive review of European and American

fuel oil, diesel, gasoline, natural gas and electricity prices for 2004.
ISSN 1750-8363
Comments and contributions are most welcome on any aspect of the contents.
Please contact Emily Wakefield for further details or to send material.
Biorefining and Carbon
Cycling Program at the
University of Georgia
By Dr K C Das, University of Georgia, USA
In 2004, the University of Georgia (UGA) began a coordinated effort in biorefining

and carbon cycling research, outreach, and education. The vision of the program is to
combine biomass production and conversion with carbon cycling (Figure 1), thereby
creating a sustainable process. Biomass is obtained from agriculture, forestry, and
municipal sources and processed to multiple products in a biorefinery. Some products,
e.g. carbon based products from a pyrolysis biorefinery, are transformed to fertiliser
products that are returned to the soil for nutrient value and long-term carbon
sequestration. The UGA program includes different colleges and departments on the
university campus, departments from other partner universities and national
laboratories. The focus of the effort covers biorefining through both thermochemical
(pyrolysis) and biological routes and integration within these two pathways.
ISSUE 20
The University of Georgia
PyNe contents Biorefinery / Carbon Cycling Program
Biorefining and Carbon 2
Cycling Program at the
University of Georgia
Biomass Fast Pyrolysis in a 4

Fluidised Bed: Results of Modeling
and Laboratory Scale Experiments
Upgrading of Flash Pyrolysis Liquid 5
using Mild Oxidation with Ozone
Pyrolysis of Perennial Grasses 6

from Southern Europe
Preconditioning of Biomass Through 8

Fast Pyrolysis for Different
Biofuels Applications (PRECOND’)
The All-Russian Scientific Research 9

Institute for Electrification of
Agriculture (VIESH)
Figure 1: Biomass production and conversion with carbon cycling.
PyNe Biorefinery Task Activity 11
Report Lignin Pyrolysis Round Robin
Characterisation and Analysis of The key strengths of the UGA program include:
Pyrolysis Liquids – Progress in PyNe
12
1. A world class school of forest resources.
2. A well integrated cooperative extension service that works closely within the agricultural and forestry sectors.
PyNe Contact details:
3. A wide range of scientists and educators in the basic sciences and engineering, who understand plant
Co-ordinator: Tony Bridgwater
biology, chemistry, processing, etc.
Tel: +44(0)121 204 3381
Fax: +44(0)121 204 3680 4. Close links to private companies in Georgia that are commercialising biomass conversion technologies.
Email: a.v.bridgwater@aston.ac.uk
5. Research collaboration with national laboratories who are leaders in the field of technology development
Newsletter /website administrator: and dissemination.
Emily Wakefield
Tel: +44(0)121 204 3420
IEA Bioenergy
Fax: +44(0)121 204 3680 PyNe is also sponsored by
Email: e.l.wakefield@aston.ac.uk
Web: www.pyne.co.uk
2 Please contact Emily Wakefield for further details or to send material.
Please contact your country representative for further details or send material to Emily Wakefield.
Activities within the program include development of Research efforts at the UGA are highly interdisciplinary and multidirectional. They can be broadly classified
new technology, accelerating technology transfer, and into seven areas:
offering educational programming that facilitates the
transition to a future biobased economy. The UGA 1. Biomass development including breeding and genetic engineering in forestry and agriculture.
is assisting a key local partner to commercialise 2. Harvesting technologies, time motion studies, and pretreatment of biomass.
biomass pyrolysis technology (see www.eprida.com
for additional details). The present focus is on 3. Fermentation technology – including ethanol from lignocellulosics.
completing a 1000-hour demonstration of pyrolysis and 4. Thermochemical conversion technology.
steam reforming to produce hydrogen from biomass.
5. Products from pyrolysis oil.
The UGA Faculty of Engineering Outreach Service
(see http://www.engr.uga.edu/service/outreach for 6. Applications of char including catalyst applications and soil applications.
additional details) is conducting bioenergy based 7. Carbon dioxide used as a carbon source for fermentation.
technology transfer to industries in the southeastern
USA. Activities include emission testing from Other fundamental research efforts include development of the atomic layer epitaxy process applied to fuel cell
commercial biomass gasification operations, manufacturing [Chemistry department]. Biotechnology researchers are working on metabolic engineering of
collection and upgrading of pyrolysis oil from pilot biochemical pathways to enhance the ability of organisms to use gaseous CO2 as a co-substrate and produce
and commercial operations, development of ethanol value added chemicals. Engineering faculty members are working on upgrading pyrolysis oil for use in diesel
and biodiesel pilot plants, and offering training engines. Other partners are looking at extracting products out of pyrolysis oil using a fractionation process
courses in biodiesel production. within a condensation train. Products include developing nutrient enriched manufactured soils, binding agents
for pellet production, and odour suppressants for the poultry industry. In addition, char is being used as a
catalyst for air pollution control.
For further details contact:
The UGA program has a strong interdisciplinary focus that targets educational programming to provide unique,
Dr. K.C. Das
pertinent, and comprehensive training and educational experiences to prospective students. Degree programs
Associate Professor and Coordinator
are available in varied disciplines including Engineering, Forestry, Ecology, Economics, Biology, Microbiology,
Biorefining and Carbon Cycling Program
Biochemistry, Physics, Chemistry, etc. Students pursuing masters and doctoral degree objectives can work
The University of Georgia,
with researchers in more than one field of work, thereby developing a truly interdisciplinary program of study.
Driftmier Engineering Center, Athens, GA 30602
USA
Email: biomass@engr.uga.edu
General Info: http://biorefinery.sref.info
Graduate student information:

http://www.engr.uga.edu/Admission_process.php
http://www.gradsch.uga.edu:5080/info/
Biomass Fast Pyrolysis

in a Fluidised Bed:
Results of Modeling
and Laboratory Scale
Experiments
By Dr Wolter Prins, The University of Twente, The Netherlands
A recently completed project at the Reaction modeling

University of Twente has investigated Unfortunately it is quite difficult to extract reliable
biomass fast pyrolysis both theoretically quantitative information on conversion rates and
product yields from the literature on biomass pyrolysis.
and experimentally in a laboratory-scale There is an extensive scatter in the reported biomass
fluidised bed. The work was carried out kinetics and selectivity data, even for a single biomass
by Xiaoquan Wang. The objectives were type. Intrinsic reaction rates published for different
to both assess the value of fundamental biomass types vary by up to a factor of 10, and even
(single-particle) modeling for reaction trends are not always uniform. For kinetic studies,
pyrolysis products have usually been lumped into
engineering purposes and develop a three classes: gas, liquid and char. However the
new concept of in-situ filtering of the quality/composition of these product classes (e.g.
fast pyrolysis vapors by filter elements the water content of the liquid) remains unspecified,
submerged in the fluidised bed. which is a serious shortcoming in practical application.
Continued overleaf...
3
The pyrolysis time of biomass particles in the size • Existing single particle models have a limited
range of 1 to 5mm, usually applied in full-scale predictive power with respect to the product
reactors at 500ºC, is influenced by the following distribution and the conversion time of small
three mechanisms: particles (< 3 mm), due to a wide variation in
reported decomposition kinetics.
1. The heat transfer from the bulk of the
reactor to the particle. • Variations in bio-oil quality (e.g. water content
of the liquid) cannot be predicted by existing
2. The intra-particle heat conduction. single particle models.
3. The pyrolysis kinetics. In-bed filtration

The concept of in-situ extraction and cleaning of
Model calculations further show that the external heat pyrolysis vapors through a filter immersed in a fluidised
transfer coefficient (related to the reactor type) has bed reactor has been tested in various arrangements.
hardly any influence on the product yields at typical Oil samples have been produced that were free of solid
fast pyrolysis conditions (t = 500ºC; dp > 1mm). particles, magnesium and sodium. These samples still
Single particle models also predict (for all available contained some potassium that may have entered the
kinetics) that the influence of the particle size on oil via the vapor phase.
the liquid yield is small.
With respect to the filtering, no severe problems have
Millimetre sized wood particles (pine, beech, bamboo, been encountered while operating a continuous
demolition wood) have been pyrolysed batch-wise in a bench-scale setup (1 kg/hr feed rate). The filtered oil
fluid bed laboratory set-up. The results of the various contained half the particles but five times less ash
experiments were compared with model predictions. than the non-filtered oil: the difference is caused by
The main observations are listed below: solids formation behind the filter. The bio-oil was
Figure 1: 1kg/h fluid bed pyrolysis unit. shown to be much more stable than the non-filtered
• Wood particles stay intact during fluid bed oil. From visual inspection, there is evidence that char
pyrolysis but shrink in volume by fines and bed material passed through the 10 to 15 µm
approximately 40%. filter during the 13 hours of operation.
• Product yields of pine and beech wood obtained A full-scale filter-assisted fluid bed reactor (10 tons
are quite similar. Between 450 and 550°C, the of biomass per hour) in which 80% of the vapors and
bio-oil yield is maximised, and the water content gases are extracted through immersed filters, would
of the bio-oil is minimised. A relatively high be significantly smaller in volume than a fluid bed
yield of char is produced from bamboo particles pyrolysis reactor without filters, but only when the
and demolition wood pellets. biomass feed particles are below 3mm diameter.
For larger biomass particles, hold-up considerations
• In the fluid bed setup used, (with a low char
determine the reactor volume.
hold-up), the residence time of the pyrolysis
vapors was not very critical: µ < 5 seconds For further details contact:
appeared to be acceptable at 500°C.
Dr Wolter Prins
• In agreement with the model predictions, University of Twente
experiments showed that the particle size only PO Box 217, 7500 AE
has a minor effect on the total liquid yield up Enschede,
to a diameter of 20mm. But when measured The Netherlands
for 3mm pine wood particles, the water content Tel: +31 534 892891
of the bio-oil produced increases substantially. Email: w.prins@tnw.utwente.nl
Figure 2: Close up of the reactor section.
Bibliography
1. Biomass fast pyrolysis in a fluidized bed, PhD thesis by Xiaoquan Wang, University of Twente, 2006, ISBN 90-365
2. S.R.A. Kersten, X. Wang, W. Prins and W.P.M. van Swaaij: Biomass Pyrolysis in a Fluidized Bed Reactor. Part 1: Literature Review and Model
Simulations, 2005, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 44(23), pp. 8773-8785.
3. X. Wang, S.R.A. Kersten, W. Prins and W.P.M. van Swaaij:Biomass pyrolysis in a fluidized bed reactor. Part 2: Experimental Validation of Model Results,
2005, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 44(23), pp. 8786-8795.
Acknowledgements
The work was carried out in the research group of Prof. Van Swaaij at the University of Twente by PhD student Xiaoquan Wang, supervised by Dr. Sascha Kersten.
The research was enabled by financial contributions from the EC, the Dutch government through NWO and Senter, and Shell.
4
Upgrading of Flash
Pyrolysis Liquid
using Mild Oxidation
with Ozone
By F. Mahfud, H. Heeres and H.J. Heeres, University of Groningen, Netherlands
Flash pyrolysis liquid (also called bio-oil or bio-crude-oil, BCO) is a biomass derived
liquid product. It is produced using a fast pyrolysis process in yields up to 70wt% [1-4].
BCO may be used for energy and heat generation (boiler fuel, co-firing in power stations)
and also has potential to be used as a liquid transportation fuel for internal combustion
engines. For the latter applications, upgrading will be required for example to improve
the caloric value and to reduce colour and odour.
We have performed exploratory experimental studies Storage of the treated BCO at room temperature for at
on the upgrading of BCO using ozone with the primary least a month preserved the yellow colour and did not
aim to produce a colourless, odourless and transparent cause the colour to darken.
liquid bio-oil. Ozone is a known oxidant for
wastewater treatment and bleaching processes [5]. To gain insights in the molecular processes taking place
during ozone treatment, the samples were analysed with
Treatment of BCO (obtained from beech wood by several analytical techniques including 2D-GC, GC/MS
fast pyrolysis using the Rotating Cone technology) and NMR. BCO is a complex mixture with hundreds
in methanol with ozone under mild conditions of of oxygenated organic molecules present [1]. Analysis
atmospheric pressure and 1ºC for less than 15 minutes, reveals that the phenolic compounds that arise from
resulted in the formation of a slightly yellow, transparent the lignin fraction of wood, are converted to form
BCO with a mild odour. Extended ozonation did not ring-opened oxygenated compounds. Large amounts of
result in significant colour changes as shown in Figure 1. oxalic acid and the methylester of oxalic acid (due to
esterification with methanol) were produced. These findings
are in line with the results obtained by Rubio et al. [6]
for ozonation of raw almond shell.
A number of the oxygenates formed by ozonation

(such as oxalic acid) are interesting chemicals for bulk
and fine-chemical applications. As such, ozonation
could be a useful technology to be incorporated in an
integrated energy-chemical concept for BCO upgrading
as indicated in Figure 2.
Figure 1: Visual appearance of BCO during ozonation In conclusion, we have shown that mild oxidation
(time in minutes). of BCO with ozone is an interesting methodology to
upgrade the properties of BCO. In addition, a variety
of interesting oxygenated products are produced with
high added value. Further studies to identify and
Bulk and fine chemicals quantify the amounts of the various oxygenates and
the development of efficient separation technology
Pyrolyser Upgrading Separation are in progress.
Liquid Technology Technology
Energy carriers Prof H J Heeres

Chemical Engineering Department,
Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science,
Figure 2. Integrated concept for BCO upgrading. University of Groningen (RUG)
Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen,
The Netherlands
Reference Tel: +31-50-363 4497
1. Bridgwater, A.V., Czernik, S., Diebold, J., Meier, D., Oasma, A., Peackocke, C., Pizkorz, J., Radlein, D., Fast Pyrolysis of Biomass: A Handbook. Fax: +31-50-363 4479
1st ed. Vol. 1. 1999: CPL Press, Newbury Berkshire, UK. Email: h.j.heeres@rug.nl
2. Bridgwater, A.V. and G.V.C. Peacocke, Fast pyrolysis processes for biomass. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2000. 4(1): p. 1-73.
3. Czernik, S. and A.V. Bridgwater, Overview of applications of biomass fast pyrolysis oil. Energy & Fuels, 2004. 18(2): p. 590-598.
4. Czernik, S., D.K. Johnson, and S. Black, Stability of Wood Fast Pyrolysis Oil. Biomass & Bioenergy, 1994. 7(1-6): p. 187-192.
5. Meltzer, T.H., Pharmaceutical water systems, Chapter 3, Ozone and its application, Tall Oaks Publishing Inc. Littleton, 1997, p. 125-164.
6. Quesada, J., Teffo-Bertaud, F., Croue, J.P., Rubio, M., Ozone oxidation and structural feature of an almond shell lignin remaining after furfural
manufacture, Holtzforschung, 2002, 56(1): p. 32-38.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank BTG, Enschede for providing the pyrolysis oil and for stimulating discussions.
5
Pyrolysis of
Perennial Grasses
from Southern Europe
By Mark Coulson, Aston University, UK
Introduction
Aston University has recently completed work on the EC funded Framework 5
“Bio-Energy Chains” project. The three-year project focussed on four promising energy
crops previously identified as producing high biomass yields in southern Mediterranean
climatic conditions. These were:
• Giant reed (Arundo donax) • Elephant Grass (Miscanthus giganteus)

• Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) • Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus)
The objective of the overall project was to examine the full energy chain from the
planting of the crops to the delivery of a final energy product. The project involved
ten partners from eight countries and included conversion of biomass by pyrolysis,
gasification and combustion.
Pyrolysis of grasses Crop samples were provided from the agricultural

The main focus of the pyrolysis investigation was to partners in the project, which had been grown and
determine the yields, composition and quality of the harvested in a number of different ways and it was
pyrolysis products from each crop. Experiments were immediately apparent that the ash content and
performed at a range of temperatures in order to composition of each crop could vary significantly.
determine the best reactor temperature to maximise This was expected to have an impact on pyrolysis
the yield of organic liquids, and hence the overall yields since it is known that high ash biomass tends
energy conversion efficiency of the process. to produce low liquid yields. In particular, the presence
of alkali metals is known to catalyse secondary
reactions in the vapour phase that reduce liquid
yield and increase gas and water yields.
In particular, crops that matured late in the year and

were then left to over-winter in the field had lower
ash and alkali metals content due to rain leaching.
Conversely, crops harvested in dry dusty conditions
and with poorly developed harvesting methods had
extremely high ash contents due to soil contamination,
even up to 18wt% on a dry basis. The lowest ash
content samples from each type of crop were selected
for pyrolysis experiments, and ranged from 1.9 to
5% d.b. The alkali metal content varied from ~0.1
to ~0.7wt % on biomass d.b.
Pyrolysis experiments were performed in the laboratory

fluid beds at Aston. The smaller rig of 100g/hr was
used for determining optimum yield conditions by
testing at a range of temperatures, and the larger rig
of 1kg/hr was used to obtain larger oil samples for
quality assessment and for performing more detailed
energy balances. See Figures 1 & 2.
Figure 1: 1kg/hr fluidised bed pyrolysis rig with two cyclones, quench and electrostatic precipitator.
6
Figure 2: Schematic of 1kg/hr fast pyrolysis unit.
Results Similarly, the low alkali metal content crops produced

A total of 21 tests with detailed mass balances were performed and it became apparent that the liquid yields oils of the highest quality, with the lowest water
were not strongly dependent upon the particular crop but upon its inorganic (ash) content and composition. content. These oils were single phase and comparable
The composition of each crop was measured, and the yields were correlated with ash content, and a range of with oils produced from wood feedstocks. The best
individual metal contents. oil produced, from rain leached miscanthus at a
temperature of 500°C had a water content of 23%
The results of the analysis showed that the temperature at which the maximum organic liquid yield occurred and a lower heating value of 17 MJ/kg, and
increased as the alkali metal content reduced. Similarly, as the alkali metals reduced, the organic liquid yield represented an energy conversion of 70%.
increased as shown in Figure 3.
Problems were experienced with the conversion of
When crops had alkali metals of <0.1 wt% then their optimum pyrolysis temperature was around 500°C and cardoon. In particular, bed agglomeration was
at this temperature their organic liquid yields were over 60wt% on a dry ash free feedstock basis (d.a.f.). observed, and it proved impossible to pyrolyse this
These results are similar to those presented in the literature for clean wood feedstocks. crop at temperatures above about 470°C. Reasons for
this are unclear but sticky low melting point eutectics
Conversely as alkali metals increased (to >0.5wt % d.b.) the optimum temperature reduced towards ~450°C and the in the ash fraction of the char are suspected.
maximum organic liquid yield obtained at this temperature decreased to as little as 44wt% d.a.f.
Washing
While the lignin content of the samples was not measured, literature data suggested relatively small variation
The work detailed above led to the conclusion that
between the crops tested and it would seem that alkali metals are the dominant influence on yields.
these crops will only be suitable for fast pyrolysis if
their alkali metals and in particular potassium
content can be minimised. Since rain leaching is not
a reliable means of achieving this, a number of simple
Organic Liquid Yield vs Total (Feedstock) Alkali Metal Content washing methods were investigated to evaluate their
effectiveness in reducing such metals.
These experiments showed that (when the biomass is

ground to a small particle size suitable for pyrolysis)
alkali metals reductions of >80% should be easily
achievable with a short (<1hr) wash/rinse cycle using
cold water. However, the amount of water required to
do this is relatively large (perhaps >15 times the mass
of the biomass) and economics would probably dictate
that such a process is not feasible. More work needs
to be done to consider the economics and process
integration aspects of washing, for example combining
washing with a densification process to reduce biomass
transportation costs.

Bio-Energy Research Group
School of Engineering and Applied Science
Aston University
Birmingham B4 7ET
UK
Email: e.wylde@aston.ac.uk
Figure 3: Liquid yield vs feedstock alkali metal content.
7
Preconditioning of
Biomass Through Fast
Pyrolysis for Different
Biofuels Applications
(PRECOND’)
By François Broust and Philippe Girard, CIRAD-Forestry Department, Montpellier, France
A new French project funded by the Research National Agency (ANR) and coordinated
by CIRAD aims at defining a decentralised route of biomass preconditioning through fast
pyrolysis for the production of bio-oils as intermediate bio-fuels dedicated to centralised
bio-energy production.
Scope of project Objectives of the project Work programme

The PRECOND project covers thermochemical conversion The main purpose consists of validating the concept of
The project is divided into 5 main work packages:
of biomass for production of the following bio-energy a fast pyrolysis reactor for:
products: 1) Definition of bio-oil specifications required for
• producing bio-oils which meet the specifications
the final utilisation in transformation units by
• transport bio-fuels through gasification and required for transport and further upgrading for
evaluation of the existing processes with regards
FT-synthesis each projected method of utilisation
to these specifications.
• transport bio-fuels through petroleum co-refining • high bio-oils yields (>75%) and high thermal
2) Design and construction of a laboratory scale pilot
efficiency (80%)
• heat and/or electricity through combustion reactor (3-5 kg/h) at CIRAD. Experiments will be
in boilers. • able to accept a wide range of biomass resources carried out on different kinds of biomass, with the
from various origins, in particular those that aim of evaluating the optimisation parameters
Biomass is a resource with variable composition, with regards to mass and energy efficiencies and
are identified as the most promising at the
wide geographical dispersion and low energy density. the specifications of the bio-oils produced.
national scale.
These are important drawbacks when large-scale
bio-energy production units are considered: for Outcomes 3) Modelling of the reactor for its further
instance, throughputs of about 3 million t/year of dry optimisation and scale-up.
The outcomes will be to:
biomass are necessary to make a FT unit competitive.
4) Development of new methods for characterisation
In order to minimise the impact of transport, an • define the final technical requirements of a
of bio-oils and their formulation into
alternative to the direct upgrading of biomass demonstration-scale pilot unit (0.5-1 t/h feed rate)
pre-conditioned feedstocks suitable for transport
consists of preconditioning it on decentralised sites that will be dedicated to large scale tests
and feeding into the transformation units.
before transportation to a centralised bio-energy
• assess the viability of the whole route from the
production unit. 5) Finally, a techno-economic and environmental
resource to the transformation unit in technical,
assessment of the whole pre-conditioning route
The route considered in this project is fast pyrolysis economical and environmental terms (Figure 1).
will be performed from the data collected, and
for the preparation of a liquid biofuel (in this case
The main scientific stakes are: compared to other routes such as torrefaction.
bio-oil), which has a promising potential either for
overcoming the problem of biomass variability and/or • to define these specification limits regarding Project information
for improving bioenergy system efficiency in both each end-application: gasifier (to syngas),
Partners
mass and energy terms. petroleum refinery unit or boilers
Research centres: CIRAD (coordinator); IFP; CEA
• to evaluate the optimisation parameters of the University laboratories: CNRS-LSGC; GRADIENT-UTC
reactor with regards to mass and energy efficiencies Industrial partners: TOTAL; EDF R&D
and the specifications of bio-oils produced. University overseas partner: Aston University
Funding
The project is funded by the French National Research
Agency (ANR) / Programme National de Recherche
sur les Bioénergies. Starting date: January 2006.
Duration: 3 years.

Figure 1: Bioenergy system to be evaluated.
CIRAD Forestry Dept - Biomass-Energy
73 rue Jean-François Breton - TA 10 / 16
34398 Montpellier Cedex 5 France
François Broust
Tel : +33 4 67 61 58 43
Fax : +33 4 67 61 65 15
Email : francois.broust@cirad.fr
Philippe Girard
Tel : +33 4 67 61 44 90
Fax : +33 4 67 61 65 15
Email : philippe.girard@cirad.fr
8
The All-Russian
Scientific Research
Institute for
Electrification of
Agriculture (VIESH)
By Prof. Dr. Dmitry S. Strebkov, VIESH, Russia
VIESH is a State scientific institution, founded in 1930, which is a federal research

centre on power supply, electrification and automation in agriculture, technological
development and utilisation of renewable and non-conventional energy sources.
There are 220 skilled experts, including 20 doctors of sciences and 70 researchers.
The institute offers postgraduate studies and the specialised Council on doctor's and
master's theses in four areas of speciality:
• Electricity technologies and electrical equipment in agriculture.

• Energy installations based on renewable energy sources.
Figure 1: Pyrolysis module: 3 kg of plant biomass • Automation and control of technological processes in agricultural production.
(wood dust, peat, etc) per hour.
• Agriculture technologies and mechanisation.
VIESH issues reports on power, electrification and automation in agriculture and
organises scientific and technical conferences on rural energy and electrification.
Basic activities of VIESH
1. Scientific forecasts and strategies for power supply, electrification and energy saving in agriculture,
environmentally safe technologies, and systems for electrification of agricultural processes.
2. Effective electricity generation technologies, thermal and electrical equipment and automation systems
for animal industries, plant cultivation, primary processing and storage, electric tractors and electric
transportation systems in agriculture.
3. Development of methods and systems for reliable rural power generation and transmission systems,
electrical installations, operation and safety of electrical equipment, including stand alone power systems.
4. Systems and methods for electrification and mechanisation in cattle breeding.
5. Prospective technologies and development of new applications of renewable energy sources in agriculture.
6. Scientific education and improvement of professional skills.
7. Commercial activities and international scientific and technical cooperation in the field of rural and
renewable energy.
8. Information, consulting and implementation services.
In the field of biomass, we focus on micro- and mini-thermo-electric systems with plant biomass pyrolysis modules
based on the principal of direct contact heating. Our main objectives are the minimisation of plant weight and
dimensions; and the cost of pyrolysis equipment.
9
Steam Heat exchanger Hot water
Pyrolysis gas
Seperator Condenser Hot water
Hot water
1st 2nd Diesel
Wood Stage Stage Bio-oil
Sawdust tank generator
Electric
Reactor Power
Storage
bin
Liquid Fuel
Diesel Blender
Figure 2: Block diagram of pyrolysis process.
Pilot pyrolysis unit Bio-oil can be used as boiler fuel or blended into
A pilot plant for production of fluid fuels from conventional diesel fuel fed to the diesel engine.
sawdust and other plant wastes has been developed This fuel blend normally comprises about 5% of
in the frame of a contract from the RF Ministry of bio-oil but the proportion can be increased up to
Power. The plant is designed to produce more than 15%, if necessary. Heat produced from the
500 kg/day of liquid and gaseous fuels. A block thermochemical process is recovered in heat
diagram of the process is shown in Figure 2, followed exchangers for local heating and hot water supply.
by a short description. Figure 1 (previous page) and
Figure 3 show two of the pilot installations. The pilot plant has been tested with different
feedstocks such as wood chips, wood sawdust, peat,
Wood sawdust or other crushed organic material is lignite, rice husks, wastes from coffee extraction, etc.
processed to separate possible extraneous objects. The typical product distribution from wood sawdust
The prepared feed is then fed into a two stage pyrolysis at temperatures of 450°C to 550°C is
thermal conversion reactor where drying is carried shown in Table 1.
out in the first stage. The second stage comprises
pyrolysis that produces mainly vaporised products. Table 1 – Product distribution from fast pyrolysis
The byproduct char is removed from the reactor and plant at VIESH.
is collected in a storage bin.
Product fraction Yield (mass %)
In the separator, the vaporised products are
separated from the suspended solids and are then Char 15 to 20
cooled to give liquid bio-oil, which is collected in a
tank. The non-condensable fraction, pyrolysis gas, is Bio-oil 40 to 60
fed to a diesel engine operating in gas-and-diesel Pyrolysis gas 15 to 40
mode to generate electric power.

Prof., Dr. Dmitry S. Strebkov
Academician of Russian Academy of Agricultural
Sciences, VIESH 1-st Veshnyakovsky proezd,
2, 109456, Moscow
Russia
Tel : (495) 171-19-20
Fax : (495) 170-51-01
Email : viesh@dol.ru
Figure 3: 50 kg/h plant biomass pyrolysis module.
10
PyNe Biorefinery Task
Activity Report Lignin
Pyrolysis Round Robin
By Doug Elliott, PNNL, USA
Table 1 – PyNe member laboratories and relevant facilities. Round Robin

At the PyNe meeting in Innsbruck in September 2005, a Round Robin on lignin pyrolysis
Laboratory Process
was ranked as a high interest item to include in the Biorefinery Task. After some
discussion it was decided to proceed with both process scale testing and fundamental
Institut Francais de Petrol Analytical, TGA
testing, e.g. Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), as available at individual laboratories.
Aston University Fluid bed, TGA, Py-GCMS Potential laboratory participants and test types are listed in Table 1 (left).
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe Fluid bed, screw feed
The amount of feedstock needed by each laboratory was also estimated. For each lignin feedstock to be
ECN Fluid bed
tested in all laboratories, we will need about 130 kilograms. The types of available lignin were also discussed.
University Napoli Batch It appears that only Kraft lignin is available easily and cheaply in the large quantities required for this round
University Twente Fluid bed robin. Other potential sources were identified. Commercial sources of a wide variety of lignin types are
advertised but are priced at dollars per gram or at best a few grams per dollar, such that the costs for the
USDA-ERRC Fluid bed, TGA process scale tests would be very expensive. Potential lignin sources are listed in Table 2 (left).
CIRAD Analytical
BFHamburg Fluid bed, EF Pyrolysis Biorefinery Techno-Economic Assessment
Development of a techno-economic assessment of pyrolysis biorefineries was also identified as a topic of high
VTT Py-GC-AED interest at Innsbruck. Additional input was received on biorefineries concepts and was discussed. Some other
PNNL Analytical, TGA activities on biorefinery were identified, however it was noted that most projects mentioned are in very early
NREL Entrained flow stages or have not yet started. It is therefore unlikely that they will provide results which can be used by the
PyNe group. There is a US industrial activity on this area that will soon be available and the USDOE will also try
to involve pyrolysis in their work on biorefineries.
Table 2 – Potential sources of lignin for testing.
Biorefinery Concepts to be evaluated
Lignin without sulfur
The following institutions agreed to provide the relevant information for the concepts listed below, and these
would form the basis of an evaluation exercise. It was agreed to keep to processes where pyrolysis is involved.
ENEA, steam explosion
• USDA - compare pyrolysis to combustion in ethanol plants.
Baltic hydrolysis
• IWC – pre-separation concept and pyrolyse products (lignin), maximise by-products and chemicals
ILI
from the process, particularly phenols.
Abengoa hydrolysis lignin
• FZK – bio-slurry gasification + synthesis.
Genencor enzyme hydrolysis lignin
Mondi • PNNL – distributed pyrolysis to central refinery for upgrading and integration.
Lignol • BTG – direct gasification of bio-oil in existing gasifier + synthesis.

Iogen • Aston – speciality chemicals and fuels.
Sulfur containing lignin • Rodim – chemicals and animal pharmaceuticals and fertiliser.
• JR – pyrolysis + CHP stand-alone.
Kraft lignin
• ECN – comparison with biomass gasification routes.

Doug Elliott
Battelle PNNL
902 Battelle Boulevard
PO Box 999
Richland
Washington 99352
USA
Tel: +1 509 375 2248
Fax: +1 509 372 4732
Email: dougc.elliott@pnl.gov
Figure 1: Biorefinery workshop in Lille, April 2006.
11
Characterisation and
Analysis of Pyrolysis
Liquids – Progress
in PyNe
By Anja Oasmaa, VTT, Finland and Dietrich Meier, BFH-IWC, Germany
Scope
The main scope of this activity within PyNe and ThermalNet is to:
• provide data on factors affecting fuel oil quality of pyrolysis liquids (PL)
• suggest methods to characterise the critical properties
• find solutions for possible problems in liquid fuel oil use.
Figure 1: Scope of activity on analysis and characterisation.
Feedstocks Methods for characterisation of pyrolysis liquid

In feedstock issues, co-operation with the feedstock Pyrolysis liquid is a complex mixture of various
activity in ThermalNet and EUBIONET is agreed. compounds often present in small quantities.
Correlations between feedstocks and liquid quality About 40 wt% of the components of pyrolysis liquid
will be studied by initiating a database containing can be characterised by GC-MS methods.
data on feedstocks, pyrolysis process and conditions,
yields, and the properties of feedstocks and products. Overall Composition of Fast Pyrolysis Liquids
A questionnaire on these subjects has been circulated
within the ThermalNet network.
Fuel oil quality

Pyrolysis liquid fuel quality is a critical issue for most
end users.1 Quality control should cover the whole
chain from feedstock processing through pyrolysis to
the customer. Feedback from liquid end-users will
provide information on the critical properties to be
specified and standardised. Methods for quality GC-detectable polar (HPLC)
control and characterisation and analysis will be oligomers (pyrolytic lignin) water
provided. Fuel oil analyses suitable for pyrolysis
liquids have been reviewed in earlier studies.2-4 Figure 2: Overall composition of fast pyrolysis liquid.
12
Figure 4: Methods for the characterisation
and analysis of lignin.
Isolation of Pyrolytic Lignin
Figure 3: Product groups in pyrolysis liquid and methods of analysis.
In the latest Round Robin5, uniform methods for GC-MS characterisation as well as a standard samples for
calibration were suggested. The whole pyrolysis liquid can be fractionated into compound groups using solvent
fractionation methods.6 These two approaches can also be combined7 to get more information on the fractions.
IFP (Institute Français du Pétrole) have carried out pyrolysis liquid analyses using IR, 2D-GC, 1H and 13C NMR,
TG-MS, and Maldi/TOF/MS, including hyphenated techniques. On-line hyphenation with two different types of Figure 5: Isolation of pyrolytic lignin.
columns through a cryogenic modulator gives highly structured chromatograms in three dimensions showing
“boiling point” versus “polarity” versus “concentration”. In the future IFP will compare various pyrolysis liquids
and their fractions and also gather quantified information using sophisticated methods.
MALDI-TOF/MS - principle
Methods for characterisation of lignin and pyrolytic lignin
Recent work in PyNe has mainly focused on lignin characterisation of pyrolysis liquid. A recent paper8
presents the results from using SANS (Small Angle Neutron Scattering) on studying the shape and size
of high-molecular-mass lignin during ageing of pyrolysis liquid.
Meier has characterised 9 pyrolytic lignin by SEC, Py-FI/MS MALDI-TOF/MS, and LDI-TOF/MS. The amount
of pyrolytic lignin in the liquid can be determined by water extraction. The amount of pyrolytic lignin for
softwood liquids is 15-21 wt%, and for hardwood liquids 12-19 wt%.
By SEC (Size Exclusion Chromatography), the mean Mw (molecular weight) of PL‘s between 700 and 1000 Da
(Dalton) was measured. Using Py-FIMS (Pyrolysis-Field Ionisation Mass Spectroscopy) it was shown that PL
gives more dimers compared to MWL (milled wood lignin). Maldi-TOF/MS (Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption
Ionisation – Time of Flight/Mass Spectrometry) was suitable for molecules below 200 000 Da, and Figure 6: Principle of Maldi TOF analysis.
measurements of fractions with low dispersity was possible. By LDI-TOF/MS good separation in the lower
mass range (below 400 Da) was obtained and there were no disturbance by matrix effects. The conclusions
for the analyses were:
• The average Mw of the examined PL is between 560 and 840 Da, with a maximum deviation of 20%,
depending on the age (storage time below one week) of the liquid.
• The size of PL-dimers was between 270 and 400 Da.
• The numerous detected masses indicate, in contrast to native lignin, a big variety of different types
of side chains or linkages.
Reference
1. Oasmaa, A; Peacocke, C; Gust, S; Meier, D; McLellan, R. Norms and Standards for Pyrolysis Liquids. End-User Requirements and Specifications.
Energy & Fuels., vol. 19 (2005) 5, s. 2155-2163.
2. Oasmaa, A; Peacocke, C. 2001. VTT Energy, Espoo. 65 p. + app. 34. VTT Publications : 450
3. Oasmaa, A; Gust, S; McLellan, R.; Meier, D; Peacocke, C.Pyrolysis and Gasification of Biomass and Waste - The Future for Pyrolysis and Gasification For further details contact:
of Biomass and Waste: Status, Opportunities and Policies for Europe. Strasbourg, FR, 30 Sept. - 1 Oct. 2002. Bridgwater, A.V. (Ed.). CPL Press. UK
(2003), 161-168 Anja Oasmaa
4. Oasmaa, A; Meier, D. Fast Pyrolysis of Biomass: A Handbook. Vol. 3. A.V. Bridgwater (ed.). Aston University, Bio-Energy Research Group (2005), 19 - 60 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
5. Oasmaa, A; Meier, D. Norms and standards for fast pyrolysis liquids 1. Round robin test. J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis., vol. 73 (2005) 2, s. 323 - 334. Liquid Biofuels
6. Oasmaa, A; Kuoppala, E; Solantausta, Y. Fast Pyrolysis of Forestry Residue. 2. Physicochemical Composition of Product Liquid. Energy and fuels., vol. Biologinkuja 3-5
17 (2003) 2, s. 433 - 443. PO Box 1000, Espoo
7. Oasmaa, A. Fuel oil quality properties of wood-based pyrolysis liquids. Academic dissertation. Jyväskylä, Department of Chemistry, University of FIN-02044 VTT
Jyväskylä, 2003. 32 p. + app. 251 p. Research Report Series, Report; 99. ISBN 951-39-1572-7
FINLAND
8. Fratini, E; Bonini, M; Oasmaa, A; Solantausta, Y; Teixeira, J; Baglioni, P. SANS Analysis of the Microstructural Evolution during the Aging of Pyrolysis
Oils from Biomass. Langmuir, vol. 22 (2006) 1, s. 306 - 312. Tel: +358 20 722 5594
9. R. Bayerbach, Van Dy Nguyen, U. Schurr , D. Meier. Characterization of Pyrolytic Lignin with SEC, Py-FI/MS MALDI-TOF/MS, and LDI-TOF/MS. J. Anal.
Fax: +358 20 722 7048
Appl. Pyrolysis 2006 (in press, on-line available since 4th April 2006 at www.science-direct.com). Email: Anja.Oasmaa@vtt.fi
13
Successful Long Duration
Test with ECN Pilot
Gasification Installation
By Sander van Paasen and Harold Boerrigter ECN, Netherlands
In the first quarter of 2006 ECN operated the pilot gasification installation continuously
for 700 hours with two operators per shift (3 shifts in total). The installation
comprised of the ECN 500 kWth air blown circulating fluidised bed (CFB) gasifier, gas
cooler, cyclone, OLGA tar removal unit, and a wet scrubber to remove NH3 and HCl.
Cleaned product gas from the gasifier was used as fuel for a gas engine and a combustor
that were operated in parallel. See Figure 1 for the process diagram. The objective of
the duration test was to demonstrate the performance of different unit operations in
the installation and especially the OLGA tar removal system.
The process
ISSUE 07 In the CFB gasifier, 60 tonnes of crushed wood pellets were converted into a product gas containing CO, CO2,
H2, CH4, C2H4, H2O, N2, benzene, and toluene as the most important components. In the gas conditioning
the raw product gas was cooled down to 400ºC in the double pipe cooler. Downstream from the cooler almost
GasNet contents 2,000 kg of coarse particles were removed with a cyclone. The remaining (fine) particles and 1,730 kg of tar
were removed by the OLGA unit. Two wet scrubbers downstream of the OLGA unit removed almost 12,800 litre
of water condensate and 12 kg of NH3 (see Figure 2). Part of the cleaned product gas was fed to the 45 kWe
Successful Long Duration Test with 14 gas engine to produce 25,000 kWhe in total.
ECN Pilot Gasification Installation
The Castor Gasification CHP 16

Plant at Græsted Fjernvarme
Eqtec Iberia and Energia 18

Natural De Mora Initiate
Construction of 5.5 MWE
Integrated Biomass Gasification
Cogeneration Power Plant
Gasification: Latest Developments 20

Downdraft Gasification 21
Expansion into Europe
The Tar Measurement Standard, 22
a CEN Approved Standard for the
Measurement of Tars and Particles
in Biomass Producer Gases
Identification of Providers of Small 24

Wood Gasification Plants for
Implementation in Styria, Austria
Workshop on Gas Cleaning 26

Figure 1: Process diagram of integrated pilot test system at ECN.
Review and Interlinking of 27
Work Packages for Gasification
GasNet Contact details: Newsletter /website administrator:

Co-ordinator: Hermann Hofbauer Harrie Knoef
Tel: +43 1 58801 15970 or Tel: +31 53 486 11 90
+43 1 58801 15901 Fax: +31 53 486 11 80
Fax: +43 1 587 6394 Email: knoef@btgworld.com
Email: hhofba@mail.zserv.tuwien.ac.at Web: www.gasnet.uk.net
14 Please contact Harrie Knoef for further details or to send material.
OLGA
The OLGA is a patented tar removal technology
invented by ECN (see Figure 3). In OLGA tars and fine
dust are removed by oil scrubbing. The oil is used
as a solvent, to reach low tar dewpoints and
to prevent plugging of the system with tar and dust.
Tars are removed at a temperature above the water
dewpoint (typically 60-80°C) and starting at a
temperature just above the tar dewpoint (typically
350-400°C for a CFB). The heavy and light tars are
removed in separate OLGA columns. First the heavy
tars are separated in a scrubber, which is equipped
with a wet/oil ESP to remove carry-over fine dust
and droplets. The light tars are finally removed in
an absorber. The oil from the absorber is regenerated
with air in a stripper. The amount of air is adapted
to the amount necessary for the gasifier process.
Both the light tars in the air stripper and the liquid
heavy tars from the scrubber are recycled to the
gasifier where the tars are destroyed, avoiding tar
related waste streams.
With the conclusion of the duration test, OLGA

technology is now ready for demonstration and
market implementation. Dahlman Industrial
group is the industrial partner of ECN in the OLGA
development. Dahlman will commercialise the
technology; the first pilot project is in progress
Figure 2: Gas cleaning at ECN, from right to left: cyclone OLGA, wet cleaning (in building), and ESP. in France.
Operational experience
The gas conditioning components were operated
continuously without problems. The cool capacity
of the cooler did not change over time and the
cyclone had a stable solids removal flow of 3 kg/h.
The tar dewpoint downstream OLGA was between
-1 and 5ºC, while phenol was completely removed.
The gas engine had an availability of 92% of the
time, counted from the first start of the gas engine.
The oil in the gas engine was replaced after 250
hours of operation. Analysis showed that the quality
was similar to the oil quality when the gas engine
ran for 250 hours on natural gas.
One problem that occurred repeatedly during

the test was plugging of the piping between the Figure 3: OLGA tar removal unit (view from above).
cyclone and the OLGA with fine dust. After 450
hours of operation the most accessible part of the
piping was modified (i.e. removal of excess of seven
bends, valves, expansion pieces, and 14m of piping
from previous R&D projects). After the modification Ir. Sander V.B. van Paasen
the operating period was increased significantly, Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN)
but not yet satisfactorily. Further streamlining of Unit Biomass, Coal & Environmental Research
the piping configuration is possible and necessary. P.O. Box 1
1755 ZG Petten
Netherlands
Tel: +31-224 564879
Fax: +31-224-568487
Email: vanpaasen@ecn.nl
Web: www.ecn.nl/en/bkm
15
The Castor Gasification
CHP Plant at
Græsted Fjernvarme
By Henrik Houmann Jakobsen, BioSynergi Proces ApS, Denmark
Introduction
Late in 2003, BioSynergi finished the erection of a complete open-top gasification
CHP plant named the Castor plant (see Figure 1). Græsted Fjernvarme (a district heating
plant) in Denmark hosts the plant (see Figure 2) and purchases the produced heat
(175 kWth), while the responsibility for the operation belongs to BioSynergi.
The electricity (75 kWe) is sold to the local electric

distribution network. The plant is designed for
unmanned operation using common wet forest
wood chips (app. 45-50% moisture on wet basis).
In order to deal with the natural variations of fuel
moisture the plant design includes an integrated
drying process.
The downdraft air staged gasifier is refractory lined

and water-sealed at the bottom. A moveable grate
is located in the lower part of the gasifier, which is
automatically operated depending on the pressure
drop. The gasifier design allows easy inspection and
removal of the grate through a horizontal aperture.
Just below the grate, the ashes fall down into the
water-sealed bottom.
Figure 1: The Castor open-core gasifier at Figure 2: Building of the Castor plant in Græsted.
BioSynergi, Denmark.
A scraper on the bottom takes the ash to a conveyor
for transport of the wet ash away for disposal.
Furthermore, the water sealing prevents air
coming in through the bottom. The gasifier also
features a design on the partial oxidation zone
and the throat construction, which is covered by a
European patent. Figure 3 (overleaf) shows the
principle of the process.
Wet wood chips are dried in a five-metre long

rotating dryer, which is heated by the exhaust gas
from the gas engine. On demand, the dry woodchip
is automatically conveyed to the top of the gasifier
and fed into it.
16
Figure 3: Process diagram of the Castor plant.
Since the raw producer gas from the gasifier only Operational experience
contains a small amount of tar, the gas cleaning The first half of 2004 was dedicated to testing of
system is kept rather simple. Directly after the outlet individual components and minor improvements of
from the gasifier, the producer gas enters a heat the plant design. The majority of the needs for
exchanger for preheating of the air to the gasifier. modification were concentrated in the fuel
The next step is cooling of the producer gas to transportation system while the gasifier design
a temperature of approximately 120ºC in a worked as well as anticipated. The goal for the
water-cooled heat exchanger. At this temperature ongoing demonstration activity is set at 3,000
the gas passes through a baghouse filter for removal operation hours with electricity production and heat
of particles and tar. During start-up the baghouse delivery. It is planned that a future scale-up to a
filter is by-passed to avoid water condensation in the range of 250 –1,000 kW electrical output is viable.
filter, when the producer gas is burned in an outdoor Operation of the entire plant has been tested with
flare with energy recovery. Following the baghouse the focus on unmanned electricity and heat
filter, another water-cooled heat exchanger cools production, along with the gain of operational
the gas down further to approximately 60ºC ahead experiences from the interaction between the
of the gas engine inlet. gasifier, gas engine and dryer system.
The complete gasification and cleaning process takes

Testing of unmanned 24 hour combined heat and
place at just below atmospheric pressure. This is
power production with engine operation has been
achieved with a centrifugal blower installed before
successful. All safety precaution procedures function
a naturally aspirated Deutz MWM gas engine.
well and enable safe and complete unmanned
Heat from the cooling water and lubrication oil of
shutdown of the plant. The overall process behaves
the engine is supplied to the district heating system,
as predicted and the dry gas cleaning functions
while the exhaust gas initially is used for wood chip
without any problems. The anticipated maximum
drying. After the drying process, the energy in the
power output of 75 kW electricity has been proven.
exhaust gas is recuperated in a water-cooled flue gas
During wintertime, it was concluded that the plant
condensation unit. This heat, together with the heat
was capable of operating with moisture content up
from the two water-cooled producer gas heat
to a limit of 52% (wet basis) in the wood chips.
exchangers previously mentioned, is also supplied to
Lumps of frozen wood chips at that time did not
the district heating system. The exhaust gas is
make the operation conditions more favorable.
saturated with water when it leaves the stack with a
Most recently, a project has proved the plants
temperature of approximately 50-60ºC.
capability to operate at partial load in the range
of 30-100% of nominal power output.
Other project activities have been initiated to

improve handling and reduce the manpower
assistance regarding disposal of ash from the
gasifier and water condensate from the wood
drying system. Additionally, an improved start-up
procedure has been tested with the aim of a shorter
idle period and the reduction of need for manpower.

Henrik Houmann Jakobsen
BioSynergi Proces ApS
Slotsbakken 108
Dk-2970 Hørsholm
Denmark
Tel: +45 45 86 14 30
Acknowledgements
Fax: +45 45 86 14 31
For the development and projects regarding optimisation of the plant, BioSynergi
Proces has received grants from the Danish Energy Authority and Energinet.dk. Email: hhj@BioSynergi.dk
17
Eqtec Iberia and Energia
Natural De Mora Initiate
Construction of 5.5 MWE
Integrated Biomass
Gasification Cogeneration
Power Plant
By Luis Sánchez, EQTEC Iberia, Spain
EQTEC IBERIA and ENERGIA NATURAL DE MORA have been awarded with an order for
the construction of their second Integrated Biomass Gasification Cogeneration Power
Plant (IBGPP). The customer is MOVIALSA, an alcohol distillery located at Campo de
Criptana, Ciudad Real, Spain.
The plant has an electrical output of 5.5 MW and it The biomass gasification plant is based on fluid bed
generates 5340 kg/h of saturated steam at 4 bar (g) gasification technology developed by ENERGIA
and 200 m3/h of hot water at 90ºC, which are used NATURAL DE MORA, a company located at Mora de
in the processes of the alcohol factory. The plant will Ebro, Tarragona, Spain. EQTEC and ENAMORA already
gasify 4000 kg/h of waste bagasse from the distillery have a biomass gasification plant in operation, with
and will allow the total elimination of the bagasse an electrical power of 750 kW, with more than
and liquid effluent of the alcohol factory. 20,000 hours of commercial operation. After this
Bagasse is used as fuel into the gasifiers and liquid first installation, the plant under construction in
effluent (water with 1 or 2% of organic matter) is MOVIALSA is the second order of this gasification
concentrated on a multistage evaporator using heat technology, whose key aspects are its high
from gas engines. Concentrated matter produced in electrical and thermal efficiency, low operation and
the evaporator is used as fertiliser. The project maintenance costs and low pollutant emissions.
therefore has a double environmental improvement;
firstly it generates renewable electricity and heat Emissions of the plant are limited to:
from the waste bagasse and secondly it solves
any disposal problems of the waste bagasse and • 500 mg/Nm3 of NOx
eliminates liquid effluent.
• 880 mg/Nm3 of CO
• 670 mg/Nm3 of SOx
• < 5 mg/Nm3 of particles
The plant is designed to run on continuous operation,

7800 hours per year.
The plant is under construction, and it has received a

grant from I.D.A.E. “Instituto para la Diversificación y
el Ahorro de la Energía”, a governmental institute of
the Spanish Ministry of Industry. The first gasifier will
be delivered in February 2006, and the first tests will
be performed in June 2006. The plant is expected to
be fully commissioned in March 2007.
The total investment of the plant is 9.500.000,– €

and it is financed by CAJA ESPAÑA under a project
finance scheme, where MOVIALSA pays cash for 20%
of the investment and 80 % is financed over a period
of 10 years.
Figure 1: First gasification plant built by EQTEC and

ENERGIA NATURAL DE MORA.
18
The biomass gasification power plant under construction is made up of:
1. Biomass gasification plant, where biomass is gasified, obtaining low calorific value synthesis gas.
Plant gasifies 4000 Kg/h of biomass and has four gasifiers. Each gasifier has an air preheater in
order to increase thermal efficiency.
2. Syngas cleaning system, made up of gas coolers, bag filter and ash removal system. The biggest
advantage of this gas cleaning system is that it does not uses a wet scrubber and therefore does
not generate waste water.
3. Power Plant, with three Jenbacher 620 syngas gensets. Electrical output is 5451 KWe. Jenbacher
engines are turbocharged and aftercooled.
4. Facilities to recover residual heat from gas gensets.
• 5340 Kg/h saturated steam 4 bar (g) HRSG.
• Heat exchanger 2268 KW, 200 m3/h hot water at 90ºC, return at 80ºC.
Table 1. IBGPP heat balance.
Description Units Value
Biomass consumption kg/h 4000

kw 18044
Engines exhaust gas flow kg/h 37.476
Engines exhaust gas temperature ºc 500
Engines exhaust gas heat kw 3588
Saturated steam production 4 bar(g) kg/h 5340
Engines cooling circuit heat kw 2268
Hot water production (90ºc) m /h
3 200
Total heat output kw 5.856
Electricity output kw 5.451
Electrical efficiency % 30,2
Thermal efficiency % 32,5
Total efficiency % 62,7
In Table 1 it can be observed that the high electrical efficiency of the plant is higher than that obtained in
Rankine plants, which is usually 24% of maximum value in power range of 5 – 10 MWe. In addition, recovery
of the residual heat contained in the exhaust gases and engine-cooling circuit allows thermal energy to be
obtained without reducing the electrical power output of the plant, as it happens during the steam cycle.
A total efficiency of 62.7% is obtained.

Luis Sánchez
EQTEC Iberia
Princesa, 2 3rd floor
08400 Granollers (BARCELONA)
Spain
Tel: +34 938702462
Fax: +34 938702650
Email: bcn@eqtec.es
Web: www.eqtec.es
Figure 2: 250 KW containerised synthesis gas generator set, running at the first gasification
plant built by EQTEC and ENAMORA.
19
Gasification:
Latest Developments
By Harrie Knoef, BTG Biomass Technology Group, Netherlands
Database of gasifier manufacturers and installations

The website www.gasifiers.org gives a list of gasifier installations and manufacturers.
The objective of this project was to improve the access to existing data on biomass
gasification technology developments, through the preparation of a concise inventory
of biomass gasifier manufacturers and installations.
It was developed by BTG in 1997 under the AMER gasifier installation closed down
EU-Thermie programme. The scope covers all types The wood gasification plant of Essent in
of gasifier technologies, capacity ranges and Geertruidenberg, Netherlands is, according to the
manufacturers. Laboratory systems are not included. Waste Incineration Directive (WID), not a power plant
but a waste incineration plant. Non-impregnated
After almost ten years, the website became more contaminated wood is used, as the plant has to
and more outdated. Thanks to the financial support meet much stricter emission limits on fuel since
of SenterNovem, Netherlands, the website will be the WID came into force in December 2005 in the
updated. Plants which are out of operation will be Netherlands, not as a directive but legislative.
removed, while newcomers will be listed in the Co-firing is always considered to be a good option
database. Installations and manufacturers can be for waste streams because the ashes of the biomass
selected by name and by country. fuel are not mixed with those of the coal; in fact
there are two different installations on one
Manufacturers and plant managers (end-users) are
production location! The gasifier produces a clean
asked to check the information in the database and
gas, which is subsequently combusted in the power
make corrections if appropriate. Manufacturers or new
plant, so there is no negative impact on emissions.
installations, which are not yet listed, are herewith
However, unfortunately, the WID considers the total
invited to fill out an empty form, which is available
fuel input at the integrated power production
on the website, and send it to info@gasifiers.org.
location (coal and waste wood) and not the fuel
Originally, only installations and manufacturers from
input to the power plant only (coal and clean gas).
Europe, USA and Switzerland were included, but
If the gasifier was installed one km away and the
there is no longer any limitation to the database.
gas was transported to the power plant, this problem
would not occur. Once again, stimulating measures
Staged gasification
on the one hand to promote bioenergy technologies
Staged gasification in which the pyrolysis, are at the same time confronted by new and tougher
gasification and/or oxidation processes are physically emission regulations. After years of trial and error,
separated has gained more interest. A recent the gasifier operated perfect technically, but needed
inventory made by BTG showed some 20 different to be taken out of operation for non-technical reasons
developments. The advantage is that the different and this of course destroyed capital investment.
processes can be individually optimised and the
ultimate aim is to produce a higher quality gas It could be expected that other power stations may
with less tar or a higher heating value. At BTG, also be affected by the WID if no exceptions can
autocatalytic reforming of pyrolysis vapours is be made to promote new innovative technologies.
being investigated to produce a high quality Further information will be provided in the next
fuel gas. The project is supported by SenterNovem. issue of ThermalNet.

H.A.M. Knoef
BTG biomass technology group B.V.
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 53 486 11 90
Email: Knoef@btgworld.com
Figure 1: The Amer gasification plant.
20
Downdraft Gasification
Expansion into Europe
By Jim Campion, Biomass Engineering Ltd, UK
Biomass Engineering Limited, one of the First project

global leaders in the field of downdraft The first gasification project to be installed by the
venture is at the Wildshausen site, in the Düsseldorf
gasification, has established a joint
region. The site has an existing grid connection,
venture company in Germany with partners where three small water turbines are already
Stadtwerke Dusseldorf AG and Dr Weinands, connected. The Biomass Engineering gasifier will
Klein and Partner. export 270kWe of electricity generated from gas
produced from Biomass Engineering’s advanced
Stadtwerke Düsseldorf AG, one of Germanys most gasification process. Biomass Engineering is
respected regional utility companies, has been supplying the core gasification process plant and
recently acquired by ENBW, one of Germanys largest electrical generator, with the fuel delivery system
energy companies. Dr Weinands, Klein and Partner and site infrastructure being the responsibility of
are technical specialists in the field of alternative the local partners. A schematic of the project is
energy, with particular experience in Biomass energy shown in Figure 1.
plants and filtration design.
The plant will be fuelled by locally sourced clean
Stadtwerke Düsseldorf AG (SWD) partnered with
wood, which will be chipped and dried on site.
Biomass Engineering after conducting detailed
The plant will operate as a true CHP system, as waste
operational tests on one of the Biomass Engineering
heat from the engine will be recovered and exported
gasifiers operating commercially on a site in England,
to other users. A portion of the heat can be diverted
including analysis of the gas quality, char content
for drying the wood fuel, integrated into the push
and other plant emissions. SWD plan to install many
flow fuel delivery system, as may be required.
Megawatts of small scale gasification plant over the
For optimum performance the wood should have a
next few years, supported by the attractive incentives
moisture content of approximately 15%, but the
for renewable power generation in Germany.
plant can operate between 10-25%. The biomass
gasifier can work on a very broad range of biomass
fuels, providing the chip size and moisture content,
dried when appropriate, are suitable.
The plant requires approximately 0.9 kg/h of wood

chip to produce 1kWh of electricity. The residual
char/ash is less than 5% of the fuel input by mass
(typically 3%) and the plant also produces
approximately 25 l/hr of water condensate which is
discharged to drains after treatment by an active
carbon filter to remove any trace phenols.
The plant was being installed in May 2006 and will

be operating in June 2006. The plant is expected
to give a high level of reliability and generate for
over 7,500 hours per year. SWD also plan to use
the site to trial other biomass fuel options, and also
to test other aspects of the plants capabilities and
process efficiency.

Jim Campion
Biomass Engineering Limited
Unit 1, Junction Lane
Sankey Valley Industrial Estate
Newton le Willows, Merseyside WA12 8DN
UK
Tel: +44 (0)1925 220338
Email: j.campion@biomass.uk.com
Figure 1: Artist’s impression of the Wildshausen project.
21
The Tar Measurement
Standard, a CEN
Approved Standard
for the Measurement
of Tars and Particles
in Biomass
Producer Gases
By W.L. van de Kamp1, P.J. de Wild 1, H.A.M. Knoef 2 , J Neeft 3
1: Energy research Centre of the Netherlands 2 : BTG Biomass Technology Group 3: SenterNovem, Netherlands
This overview details the CEN accredited and approved Tar Measurement Standard, which
has been developed in a set of European and national projects during the last few years.
The final voting took place in February 2006 and the Tar Measurement Standard (TMS)
was fully approved by the CEN representativies (from 25 countries) and no votes against
the standard were given. The development of the Tar Measurement Standard dates back
to the late 1990’s and focuses on the Standardisation at European level (CEN) of the
measurement of organic contaminants (‘tar’).
The procedures are designed to cover the tar measurements for different air or oxygen blown gasifier types
(updraft or downdraft/fixed bed or fluidised bed gasifiers), operating conditions of 0 - 900°C and 0.6 - 60 bars,
and tar concentration ranges from 1 mg/mn3 to 300 g/mn3. Although several institutes had occasionally used this
guideline, it did not yet have the status of an international standard. The overall objective of the projects
therefore was to remove this obstacle by standardising and optimising the guideline. The development and
standardisation of the TMS was achieved via extensive Round Robin tests and Parallel Measurement Campaigns
of more than seven specialised laboratories in Europe. The measurement principle is based on the discontinuous
sampling of a gas stream containing particles and condensable organic compounds. The sampling train is shown
schematically in Figure 1.
P T
Probe Particle filter

(heated) Flow
indicator
Volume
Liquid flow meter
Pitot quench
tubes
Pump
Pump
Liquid circulation
pump
Backup
adsorber
bath
Water bath
1 2 3 4 5 6
Salt and ice
(T = 20 °C)
Gas washing bottles bath
(T = - 20 °C)
Figure 1: The Guideline sampling setup: atmospheric and isokinetic sampling train for tar and particles with removable
probe and Pitot tubes for flow measurement. Setup Guideline +40, + 40F, 20F, + 40F, 20F, 20F.
22
The TMS method extensively covers the determination
of a broad range of organic compounds, which can
occur in biomass-producer gas. With the TMS, two
types of organic compounds can be determined,
which can generally be named ‘tar’. Low temperature
tar, that is formed in the updraft gasifier and consists
mainly of polar compounds and high temperature tar
formed from downdraft and fluidised bed gasifiers and
which mainly contains non-polar compounds. The tar
compounds are divided into two different groups -
the gravimetric tar and a number of individual
organic compounds (GC-detectable tars). These tars
are described in detail in the CEN TMS descriptions.
The parallel measurement campaigns have collected

information on the accuracy and reproducibility of
the sampling method and the analysis techniques.
The measurement campaigns were carried out on
the commercial scale updraft gasifier of Harbøore
(Denmark) and at Umsicht in Germany on a CFB
gasifier. The results indicated a good reproducibility
of the guideline as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.
In the second measurement campaign at Umsicht
6 institutes participated (Umsicht, ECN, BTG, VTT,
TU Graz, DTI). Figure 2: Tar sampling and analysis results of the first parallel measurement campaign in Denmark
on an updraft gasifier.
With the aid of this TMS the performance of different
types of gasifiers and subsequent gas cleaning trains
and engines or turbine generators can be monitored
in a technically accepted manner, and will allow
manufacturers and legislative organisations to have
a reliable determination of tar emissions.
The Technical Standard is available at your national

standardisation institute. Information is also
available on the websites www.tarweb.net and
www.gasnet.uk.net.

W van der Kamp
ECN Biomass
P.O. Box 1
1755 ZG Petten
The Netherlands
Tel: +31-224-564722,
Email: vandekamp@ecn.nl
Figure 3: Comparison of Guideline measurement results for three different organisations.
23
Identification of
Providers of Small
Wood Gasification Plants
for Implementation in
Styria, Austria
By Maximilian Lauer, Joanneum Research, Graz, Austria
Introduction
Small-scale biomass gasification CHP plants with an electric power output of up to 500
kW have gained considerable interest from farmers, SMEs in the wood industry and by
small biomass district heating suppliers. In Austria the interest in this technology was
boosted by legal regulations guaranteeing high prices (up to 15 €ct/kWh) for electricity
produced from renewable sources. This legislation now out of force since January 2005,
was expected to be reinforced in July 2005, but this has not yet happened.
Apart from the lack of advantages of high prices for “green electricity”, the technical
risk for the investors is one of the major barriers for implementation. A possible way to
reduce the technical risk for the investor is to ask for guarantees. Joanneum Research
tried to help overcome this barrier by identifying providers of wood gasification systems
that give guarantees on reliability and efficiency supported by bank guarantees. In order
to verify this identification and to present the providers to potential investors in Styria,
a public provider’s presentation was organised in Graz on June 21, 2005.
Identification of Providers informed of the planned provider’s presentation

Based on the 2004 IEA Biomass Task 33 “Report on and that they would only be invited, if they could
the Status of Biomass Gasification in the participating confirm they would give guarantees and were able
countries” [1] a list of potential providers for and willing to support these with bank guarantees.
small-scale biomass gasification systems was In total six positive answers were received.
extracted. This list was completed with information 17 companies stated they were not able to meet the
on providers not included in the Task 33 report conditions requested (not commercial, change of
(recent developments, other countries etc). All (32) business etc.), and with 9 companies no contact could
potential providers from the list were sent a be established (presumed not active anymore etc.).
questionnaire asking for product characterisation and These six companies were invited to present their
the company’s policy on reducing the technical risk offers at the Provider’s presentation in Graz.
of the investors. The potential providers were
24
Conclusion
The six companies (from Austria, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland ( x 2) and the United Kingdom) that were
willing to give guarantees to Styrian investors presented their products on June 21st 2005 in Graz/Austria.
It is clear that there is a small number of wood gas CHP system providers in Europe, who are willing and able
to give guarantees for their products in order to reduce the technical risk of the investors.
Apart from this main result, two facts on the actual situation of the implementation of small-scale wood gas
CHP systems were found:
• Small wood gas CHP systems are not really state of the art at the moment. The emissions of CO is
a problem. Technical options for a reduction exist, but no practical solution in terms of cost and
reliability exists up to now.
• None of the providers is able to present a realised plant as a reference that has been in continuous
commercial operation for sufficient time, so potential investors cannot profit from practical experience.
If they decide to invest in a wood gas CHP-plant, they have to take the position of a pioneer.
As long as there is no legal regulation on special prices for “green electricity” in force again in Austria, no
implementation of wood gasification CHP systems can be expected.
The list of providers given is based on the situation in Styria. For other regions in Europe the list may show
some changes, because some of the providers have regional restrictions (at least for the first few plants).
The list is detailed below.
Contact details of the six companies selected for the providers presentation in Graz;
Biomass Engineering Ltd. SW Energietechnik

Sankey-Valley-Ind.Est (representing Kuntschar+Schlüter GmbH.)
Newton Le Willows Beethovenalle 3
WA12 8DN A-9220 Velden am Wörthersee,
United Kingdom Germany
Web: www.biomass.uk.com Web: www.sw-energietechnik.at
Dasag Renewable Energy AG TK Energi A/S

Birchstrasse 6 Stationsvej 4
8472 Seuzach DK-4621 Gadstrup
Switzerland Denmark
Web: www.dasagren.ch Web: www.tke.dk
PYROFORCE Energietechnologie AG XYLOGAS Energieanlagenbau und Handel GmbH

Reusseggstrasse 17 Kohlberg 80
CH-6020 Emmenbrücke A-8342 Gnas,
Switzerland Austria
Web: www.pyroforce.ch Email: schiefer@xylogas.at

Maximilian Lauer
Joanneum Research
Elisabethstrasse 5
A-8010 Graz
Austria
Tel: +43 (0)316 876 1336
Fax: +43 (0)316 876 1320
Email: max.lauer@joanneum.at
Reference
[1] “Status of Biomass Gasification in the Countries Participating in the IEA Bioenergy Gasification and EU Task 33 Biomass Gasification and EU GasNet”,
Compiled and edited by Kees Kwant, SenterNovem, Netherlands and Harrie Knoef, BTG, Netherlands; October 2004; www.gasnet.uk.net
Acknowledgements
The work was financed by the Styrian Energy Agency following a suggestion made by Joanneum Research.
25
Workshop
on Gas Cleaning
By Harrie Knoef, BTG Biomass Technology Group, Netherlands
At the ThermalNet meeting in Lille, France In the third and final presentation Prof. Hermann
a workshop was organised on gas cleaning Hofbauer presented an update of the Güssing gasifier
installation with the focus on improvements of the
with three presentations. Tomas Kåberger gas cleaning system. The operational performance
from TPS headed the session, which was increased steadily over the last few years and the
held on 4 April 2006. availability in 2005 was very good with about 90%.
Some key features of the plant is the production of
The first presentation was made by Sander van a medium calorific gas without using oxygen and no
Paasen, from ECN Biomass regarding a 700 hour waste streams except for the fly-ash. One major
duration test of a complete gasification CHP plant problem with fouling of the product gas cooler was
including the novel tar removal system “Olga”. solved by recycling part of the fly-ash to the fuel
The test was a cooperative effort of ECN with Host intake at the gasifier. The ash cleaned the surfaces
Figure 1: Update on Güssing gasifier presentation. (a gasifier manufacturer), Dahlman (the supplier of the cooler and also served as a catalyst for tar
of the Olga system) and Essent, who supplied the cracking. The performance of the baghouse filter
gas engine for this test. The wood consumption has been increased by using pre-coated material.
was on average about 100 kg/hour and the test This increased the tar removal considerably;
showed good performance of the whole system. the tar content decreased from about 2 g/Nm3 to
More information on this test can be found in a 0.75 g/Nm3. The remaining tar is almost completely
separate article on page 14. removed by the scrubber using RME as a medium.
After phase-separation of the condensate, the RME
Prof. Gerard Brem of University Twente presented the saturated with tar is recycled to the combustor,
integrated filter system of the Pyros system, a flash which means that no liquid waste stream is produced.
pyrolysis technology utilising a rotating particle A catalytic oxidiser removes about 92% of the CO
separator (RPS), which was also developed at the emission; even after 4,000 hours no de-activation
same university. The RPS is a cyclone incorporating a is encountered which is a promising result for
rotating filter element with very fine openings. It is minimising gaseous emissions.
a proven technology for flue gas cleaning and is also
applied in the food processing industry. The research
work started because many liquid and hot gas
filtration technologies suffer from different kinds
of problems. The quench for condensing the pyrolysis
oil is also based on the RPS technology, which makes
the whole plant rather simple.
Figure 2: Gas Cleaning Workshop, Lille, 2006.
26
Review and Interlinking
of Work Packages
for Gasification
By Hermann Hofbauer, Technical University of Vienna, Austria and Harrie Knoef, BTG, Netherlands
The first session of the ThermalNet meeting in Lille was dedicated to a review of the
workplan for all three technologies, and the links between different work packages.
A typical gasification process chain consists of a number of unit operations:
• fuel supply and feeding • gas production
• cleaning • utilisation
At the kick-off meeting the main topics to be solved There are a further four non-technical issues which
were already reviewed. In Lille, these topics were are extremely important for the implementation of
looked at in more detail for each unit operation and biomass gasification:
analysed to find synergies with other work packages.
Figure 1 summarises the outcome of this analysis, in WP3A: Barriers: technical and non-technical
particular the interactions. Regarding gas cleaning
there is a further link with work package 2D on WP3B: Economics
Fouling, Corrosion and Erosion.
WP3C: Education and Training
WP3D: Environment, Health & Safety.
Typical Gasification Process Chain / Work Packages
In summary it can be concluded that all work
packages defined can contribute to gasification in
general (except for the WP2H on Biorefinery which
is focused on pyrolysis). The extent to which
different work packages can contribute to gasification
technology depends on the final application, for
example syngas, BTL, hydrogen production, etc.
are produced under much more severe conditions,
meaning higher gas treatment demands, more
emphasis on HSE aspects, etc.

Hermann Hofbauer
Technical University of Vienna
Institut für Verfahrenstechnik,
Brennstofftechnik und Umweltechnik
Getreidemarkt 9/166
Wien A-1060
Austria
Tel: +43 1 58801 15970
Fax: +43 1 587 6394
Email: hhofba@mail.zserv.tuwien.ac.at
Figure 1: Typical gasification process chain and the work packages involved.
27
Cost Reductions and
Technological Learning
in Biomass Combustion
By Martin Junginger, Joris Koornneef, Erika de Visser & André Faaij, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Riding down the experience curve

While most combustion technologies have been developed for almost a century, their
large-scale application for biomass fuels have only started over the last few decades.
ISSUE 02 During this time, significant advances have been made to lower the production costs
of heat and electricity from biomass, but few studies have been done to describe this
CombNet contents progress quantitatively.
One way of quantifying technological learning and associated cost reductions is the experience curve approach.
Cost Reductions and Technological 28 Empirically, it has often been observed that production costs tend to decline with a fixed percentage with every
Learning in Biomass Combustion
doubling of cumulative produced units. This cost reduction is expressed in the so-called Progress Ratio: a PR
of e.g. 80% indicates a cost reduction of 20% with every cumulative doubling of units produced. In relation
Combined Heat and Power Plant 30 to energy technologies, cumulative output is often measured as capacity installed or electricity produced.
for Integral Green Residues
in Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands This concept has been successfully used for many other renewable energy technologies (e.g. wind turbines &
PV modules), but seldom for biomass technologies. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the
BIO-CHP – Bringing the Best 32 technological advances and associated cost reductions of biomass combustion technologies can be quantified
of Present Experiences
into Future Plants using the experience curve approach. One of the underlying factors of specific investment cost (€/kW) reduction
is the scaling-up of plants. The relationship between decreasing cost with increasing size of the installation can
Addition of Biomass Fuel 33 be expressed using scale factors. A secondary aim was to study the scale up of the fluidised bed combustion
Influences DeNOx technology and to determine the scale factor.
Co-Utilisation of Biomass and 34

Natural Gas in Combined Cycles Swedish CHP plants
Through Primary Steam
Reforming of Natural Gas Given the long experience with biomass in Sweden, 25 Swedish CHP plants built between 1990-2004 were
analysed. Using data on investment costs, operation & maintenance costs, wood chip prices and annual load
Joint CombNet/ IEA Bioenergy 36 hours per plant, we set up experience curves both for the investment costs and the final cost of electricity
Task 32 Workshop on Ash (cost of heat and electricity were allocated on basis of market value). As can be seen in Figure 1 (opposite),
Related Issues in Biomass using investment costs is rather problematic due to the large spread in investment cost data. This spread is
Combustion and Cofiring caused by factors such as differences in plant size, varying power-to-heat ratios (PHRs), different fuel mixes,
individual plant configurations etc. Several approaches of correcting for these factors (e.g. using scale factors,
excluding plants with deviating PHR and basing costs on exergy output) did not yield any improved fits.
However, there is still a visible trend of declining investment costs. When devising an experience curve for the
cost of electricity (see Figure 2 opposite), a much better correlation was found, resulting in a PR of about 91-92%,
CombNet Contact details: i.e. a 8-9% reduction of electricity production costs with each cumulative doubling of electricity production.
Co-ordinator: Sjaak van Loo
Tel: +31 53 489 4355/4636 Fluidised bed combustion boilers
Fax: +31 53 489 5399 The main reason behind the decline of investment costs was found to be technological improvement in the
Email: sjaak.vanloo@procede.nl boiler section. Therefore, another study was performed to analyse cost reductions in fluidised bed combustion
Newsletter /website: boilers. A database of 491 boilers was set up, including bubbling and circulating fluidised bed boilers (CFB &
BFB), covering about 70% of worldwide installed capacity, many of which are using biomass as a main or
Administrator: Jaap Koppejan secondary fuel. Finding the required financial data on most projects proved to be difficult.
Tel: +31 55 549 3167
Fax: +31 55 549 3287
Email: j.koppejan@mep.tno.nl
Web: www.combnet.com
28 Please contact Sjaak van Loo for further details or to send material.
Figure 1: Experience curve for Swedish CHP plants, based on 18 plants built 1990-2002. Figure 2: Experience curve for the average production costs of electricity from Swedish
biofuelled CHP plants between 1990-2002.
Figure 3: Experience curves for new CHP plants differentiated by fuel type. Standard Figure 4: Continuous scale-up of CFB plants. For comparison, the maximum scale of
designs include fuels such as peat, petroleum coke and lignite. Some fuel challenges BFB plants built until 2005 is indicated.
include fuels such as woody biomass and plastics (Hamalainen, 2004) EPC stands
for Engineering Procurement and Construction cost.
In addition, again varying plant costs due to been scaled up) display less favourable PRs. More details about these case studies and other
differences in scale, fuel type, plant layout, region Finally, the technological progress in fluidised bed biomass technologies (e.g. biogas plants in Denmark)
etc. made statistical analysis complex. For example, combustion boilers has also led to the improvement of have been published in the PhD thesis of
in Figure 3, the influence of different fuels on technical availability, fuel diversity and efficiency, all Martin Junginger: Learning in renewable energy
investment costs is clearly visible. For fluidised bed leading to lower cost of process steam or electricity. technology development, which can be found at
boiler plants built on a global level, PRs for the price However, insufficient data was available to devise http://www.chem.uu.nl/nws -> publications -> theses
of entire plants lies approximately between 90-93% experience curves for these energy carriers. Email: M.Junginger@chem.uu.nl or contact the
(which is typical for large plant-like technologies). authors for more information on the master thesis
The costs for the boiler section alone was found to Conclusions of Joris Koornneef: Technological learning in Fluidized
decline much faster, with PRs found as low as 42% The case studies reveal difficulties to devise empirical Bed Combustion-An experience curve approach.
for CFB boilers. One of the main reasons for this is experience curves for investment costs of biomass Email : J.M.Koornneef@chem.uu.nl
the increase in the average boiler capacity. fuelled power plants. Better results were achieved
Scaling up CFB boilers and plants has been a gradual describing the reduction of electricity production For further details contact:
process over the last 30 years (see Figure 4), with costs. Both case studies show clear technological
many technological innovations involved to enable progress. The similarities (and differences) with more Andre Faaij
the increasing size. We determined scale factors advanced technologies such as biomass gasification Copernicus Institute for Sustainable
between 0.7-0.8, i.e. each doubling of the capacity, allow for speculation whether the same PRs can be Development & Innovation
would lead to a reduction of 12-23% in boiler applied to analyse possible future cost reduction Utrecht University
investment cost. BFB boilers (which have scarcely trends for these technologies. Heidelberglaan 2
3584 CS Utrecht
The Netherlands
Tel: +31-30-2537613/00
Fax: +31-30-2537601
Web: http://www.chem.uu.nl/nws
Email: a.p.c.faaij@chem.uu.nl
29
Combined Heat
and Power Plant for
Integral Green Residues
in Sittard-Geleen,
Netherlands
By Servaes Aarts, Aldavia BioEnergy GmbH, Netherlands
Sittard-Geleen is a fast-growing city in the southern part of The Netherlands – situated

next to the borders of Belgium, Luxemburg and Germany. This growth has resulted
in new industry parks and residential zones. ALDAVIA (a supplier of energy recovery
technologies for the exploitation of residual materials in decentralised heat and power
plant) and BAM collaborated closely to build a CHP (combined heat and power) plant
of 1.1 MWe/5.5 MWth using integral green residues as fuel. The heat is delivered to
approx. 1100 homes, a large industrial complex, a school, a nursing home and
sheltered workshop.
Figure 1: Artist’s impression of the Sittard power plant.
Figure 2: CHP Sittard. The left hall contains fuel storage and is equipped with a walking floor at ground level.
The right building contains the boiler house, flue gas cleaning and in the near future also ORC.
ALDAVIA provided the engineering and power plant equipment, BAM – the royal Dutch construction company –
was in charge of civil engineering and the building. Integral green residues covers all material from landscape
maintenance (grass, trimmings, wood residues, leaves, branches etc). The plant was ordered and will be
operated by B.E.S. Holding BV. BES is also responsible for the fuel logistics of some 18.000 tons a year and
holds long-lasting energy supply contracts with several public energy authorities.
30
Figure 3: From left to right: Air cooled condensers, fuel storage and boiler house. Figure 4: The Aldavia boiler.
Table 1: Technical Data for the CHP plant.

The power plant is based on patented ALDAVIA
Fuel Specification technologies for flexible use of varying biomass fuels
Fuel integral green waste and wood residues with a specific control system for CO-emissions.
Fuel transport is done by various delivery systems,
Humidity max: 60% and the plant has a moving grate reactor, based on
the ALDAVIA patented combustion technology that
Amount 18.000 t/year
combines the technical advantages of fluidised bed
Typical Heating Value 12,200 kJ/kg systems and moving grate systems. Those innovative
fuel feeding technologies allow higher fuel
Plant Specification exploitation and furthermore the operator can use
different kinds of fuel simultaneously. It also results
Fuel input 8,000 kWth
in excellent part load behaviour and low emission
Boiler heat output 6,800 kWth values. The consecutively connected ORC-turbine
(Organic Rankine Cycle, by Turboden) allows power
District Heat 5,500 KWth generation at low-pressure levels. For this reason
Power 1,200 KWe the power plant is able to be operated without
continuous supervision. This results in higher
efficiency and better profitability than CHP plants
in the same power range that are based on ordinary
steam turbines.

Servaes Aarts
Aldavia BioEnergy GmbH
Rijksweg Noord 301
NL-6136 AC Sittard
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 46 - 400 06 06
Email: servaes.aarts@aldavia.com
Web: www.aldavia.com
Figure 5: Side view of the furnace with primary and secondary air input.
The furnace is equipped with flue gas recirculation
31
BIO-CHP – Bringing
the Best of Present
Experiences into
Future Plants
By Anders Evald, Force Technology, Denmark
The aim of the BIO-CHP project is to promote biomass CHP in Europe by displaying
experiences from solid biomass (including co-firing), Municipal Solid Waste (MSW),
anaerobic digestion gas and landfill gas fuelled CHP plants and highlighting plants
with the best operation.
A wide range of operational data has been collected from existing European biomass CHP systems in order to
extract the best examples of performance. Key technical data along with other details and pictures for each of
the 65 participating CHP plants has been collected initially, and then for a period of 24 months, the plant
operators registered key performance data. Monthly data results from the first 12 month period from September
2003 to August 2004 have been published, and the 24 month data sets will be published soon. Technologies
covered are biogas plants, landfill gas plants, gasification plants, CFB boiler plants, BFB boiler plants, gratefired
boilers, MSW boiler plants and dust fired plants.
Operational data covered by the project are for example actual electrical and heat production efficiencies achieved
(and compared to optimum values), operational availability of the power producing equipment, utilisation of
installed capacity, internal power consumption and several other key parameters as well as environmental
performance parameters. An example of the analysis made in the project is shown in Figure 2 below.
Operational efficiency is determined as electricity and

heat produced divided by fuel lower heating value.
The nominal efficiency is the same, as anticipated by
designers and plant owners as the expected nominal
performance under optimal operation of the plant.
The practical total efficiency is significantly lower
than the nominal. More important however: the
electric efficiency is in many cases much lower than
nominal, under practical conditions less than 10%!
As income from sales of electricity is the main sales
value for most plants (heat is less significant from
an economic point of view) this has a great negative
Figure 1: The wood chip fired CHP plant in Assens, Denmark. impact on the economic performance of the plants.
Some plants show total efficiencies near 100% -
these are equipped with flue gas condensing systems.
Nominal efficiency vs operational efficiency for individual plants

The full results from the 24 month operational data
(values >1 when flue gas condenser units) sets were presented in an international workshop in
Vienna, Austria 9th – 10th March 2006.
Further information on the project, including a

detailed report on the 12 month results, are available
on the project homepage: http://bio-chp.force.dk
The project is financed in part by the Altener
Programme of the European Commission.

Anders Evald (Project Manager)
FORCE Technology, Kgs. Lyngby
Hjortekærsvej 99
2800 Kgs. Lyngby
Denmark
Tel: +45 72 15 77 50
Fax: +45 72 15 77 01
Figure 2: Average and total values for operational efficiency (12 month average) shown versus the nominal efficiency Email: aev@force.dk
for 14 grate fired CHP plants using solid biomass fuels Web: www.force.dk
32
Addition of Biomass
Fuel Influences DeNO x
By Leo Vredenbregt, KEMA Power Generation & Sustainables, The Netherlands
The effectiveness of a system that removes NOx from the emission gasses of a
coal-fired power plant may drop more rapidly when biomass is added to the coal.
This means that the catalyst in the DeNOx system must be replaced more frequently.
However, these extra investments are usually more than compensated by the extra
revenue generated by the addition of biomass.
It is expected that several years from now all coal-fired plants in the Netherlands
will be equipped with a DeNOx system as a result of stricter legislation. In the
Netherlands there are currently three such systems in operation that remove these
acid-forming chemicals from emission gasses and two new ones will become
operational this year. Concurrently, limitation of CO2 emissions has a high priority
on the environmental agenda. The use of biomass as a supplementary fuel is one of
the means to achieve this. However these two measures conflict with one another.
Waiting
The heart of the most delicate component of the
DeNOx system is the catalyst (See Figure 1).
The catalyst functions optimally at temperatures
found just after the burning and before the cleansing
of the emission gasses. Through the addition of
biomass fuels, particles are added to the emission
gasses that contaminate the catalyst. It would
therefore be more desirable to wait until after the
cleansing to remove the NOx. By then, however,
the temperature has dropped so far that the emission
gasses would have to be reheated, which is
extremely expensive. Figure 1: The catalyst material.
Reduction of effectiveness
Over the course of a year-and-a-half KEMA has studied
the reduction of activity in various types of catalysts
used in the Maasvlaktecentrale coal-fired plant
(see Figure 2). This plant will have a DeNOx system
later this year, but approximately 10 percent of the
fuel burned consists of secondary fuels, including
biomass. The results were compared with those of
DeNOx systems from similar plants and then
extrapolated. With 'clean' burning conditions, the
activity appears to drop slowly but steadily so that
the catalyst must be replaced after 5 to 10 years.
With the addition of 10 percent biomass fuel, the
reduction of activity is about 10% greater, which
means that replacement or reactivation is required
sooner. (See Figure 4) This more rapid depreciation
represents an additional expense for the electricity
producer. On the other hand, reduced emission of CO2
also brings in extra money. In light of the current
developments, this accelerated depreciation appears to
be economically justifiable for businesses. The exact
financial implications will be determined once the last
calculations and evaluations have been completed
over the coming months. Figure 2: Maasvlaktecentrale coal-fired plant.
33
Figure 3a: Renewing the catalyst. Figure 3b: The catalyst.

Leo Vredenbregt
KEMA Power Generation and Sustainables
KEMA Nederland B.V.
P.O. Box 9035
6800 ET Arnhem
The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 26 3 56 2456
Telefax: +31 26 3 51 7362
E-mail: leo.vredenbregt@kema.com
Website: www.kema.com
Figure 3c: Loading catalyst into the reactor. Figure 4: Effects of co-firing on DeNOx activity.
Co-Utilisation of
Biomass and Natural
Gas in Combined Cycles
Through Primary Steam
Reforming of Natural Gas
By Prof. J. De Ruyck, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
The present innovative concept proposes to replace up to 5% of the natural gas used in
combined cycle gas turbine power plants with biomass. The proposed alternative route
has minimal interference with the basic cycle and allows a biomass input of 5% whilst
maintaining high cycle efficiency.
This highly efficient replacement is achieved by burning biomass to provide heat for endothermic reforming of
the natural gas feed, as shown in Figure 1. In this way, biomass energy is converted into chemical energy
contained in the produced syngas. The energy from the biomass is thus transferred into the syngas as chemical
energy and the biomass exhaust gases are kept separated from the syngas and the internal parts of the gas turbine.
Waste heat from the reformer and from the biomass combustor are recovered through a waste heat recovery system.
It is shown that in this way biomass can replace up to 5% of the natural feed in the most common gas turbine
cycles at high marginal efficiencies.
34
Biomass, air Biomass Hot tail gases
combuster
Heat
Natural gas Reformer, partial

conversion of Syngas
Steam methane
Figure 1: Basic concept of the process.
Figure 2: Marginal efficiency of biomass.
The gas input, the obtained syngas and the biomass

combustion tail gases need further integration in a
heat exchanger network (HEN) for optimal energy
recovery. Based on second law analysis, different
HEN’s have been designed for dry gas turbine cycles,
for steam injected gas turbines and for Combined
Cycle power plants. A marginal efficiency mar for
the biomass can be defined as shown in Figure 2.
In these formulas, mNG stands for the remaining

natural gas mass flow in the adapted gas turbine
cycle and mbio stands for the biomass mass flow.
The reference efficiency ref is determined for the
original cycle in which all the energy input is natural
gas. By means of ref, the remaining fossil fuel in
the adapted cycle would provide a power output
equal to ref mNG LHVref and the surplus work can
be fully attributed to the biomass.
When applied to steam injected gas turbines the

marginal efficiency is practically equal to the original
STIG efficiency. In the case of combined cycles
Figure 3: Schematic illustration of how biomass can be used for steam reforming of natural gas in combined cycle plant.
marginal efficiencies are 5 to 10% less than the
reference efficiency, pending on the acceptable
gas temperatures in the gas turbine combustors.
The present work is supported by ELECTRABEL.

Prof. J. De Ruyck
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels
Belgium
Email: jdruyck@vub.ac.be
Figure 4: Process applied to a combined cycle.
35
Joint CombNet /IEA
Bioenergy Task 32
Workshop on Ash
Related Issues in
Biomass Combustion
and Cofiring
One of the main challenges in selecting biomass fuels for a given combustion installation
is how the ash components in the fuel may affect reliability of the combustion system.
Certain ash components may lead to accelerated deposition and corrosion in the boiler
section, accelerated deterioration of an SCR deNOx system or endangered options for
utilisation of the fly-ash in cement production. These risks are particularly present when
cofiring biomass, since the equipment is not usually designed for burning biomass.
In general the problems in ash deposition and corrosion become more serious with
higher steam temperatures and higher chlorine percentages in the fuel.
A workshop will be held Wednesday 20th September 2006 in Glasgow, Scotland to share
recently developed insights on these ash related issues and how the associated risks can
be controlled. More detailed information on the programme and registration options are
available on www.combnet.com and www.ieabcc.nl.
Figure 1: Glasgow, UK.
Figure 2: Co-firing power plant.
Figure 3: Ash deposits.
36
Education and Training
Take Part in the First
Bioenergy Education
and Training Online
Survey! A Joint
Initiative of ThermalNet
and Bioenergy NoE
By David Chiaramonti, Italy and Crystal Luxmore, UK
One of the main tasks of ThermalNet is to investigate non-technical issues, namely Barriers,
Economics, Education and Training (E&T), and Environment, Health and Safety. Similarly,
Bioenergy NoE is also addressing Education issues. The implementation of high level,
well-designed educational activities is essential to provide European bioenergy industry
as well as the research community with trained scientists and researchers. The impact of
Education is therefore considerable, but only measurable in the medium to long-term.
Survey Forum
The design of a strategy in the educational field first In addition to this, a bioenergy education web
requires a sound knowledge of the existing activities Forum has been implemented online at
ThermalNet contents (supply side), as well as a proper understanding of www.crear.unifi.it/forum. It is a joint activity of
the existing needs (demand side). The Education and ThermalNet and IMES, the International Master on
Take Part in the First Bioenergy 37 Training Task in ThermalNet has collaborated closely Bioenergy and Environment developed by the
Education and Training Online with Bioenergy NoE to prepare two separate online University of Florence, Italy the New University of
Survey! A Joint Initiative of surveys to provide better information on education Lisbon, Portugal and Aston University, UK. The main
ThermalNet and Bioenergy NoE and training provisions and needs in the bioenergy targets for this forum are students and teachers;
area. They can be accessed from the Thermalnet teachers can provide information on latest news, new
Energy Prices and Taxes 2004 38 homepage (www.thermalnet.co.uk) or the E&T Task courses, existing grants and fellowships for studying
page: (www.crear.unifi.it/survey). These surveys and travelling and students can therefore get easy
Centre of Competence 41 are a major effort to map the current field, identify access to this information. The forum provides an
in Thermo-chemical gaps and problems and make recommendations for open area for discussion amongst students in
Treatment of Biomass (CTCB) improvements. We need your input to make the bioenergy to facilitate the flow of information in this
surveys work and provide sound information to help field and integrate students from different countries.
Diary of Events 42 determine strategies in this area. The forum also includes a specific area with the
training material for the IMES masters course, but
Country Representatives 43 Survey 1 - investigation of the existing needs aims these documents are only available to IMES
to identify the demand for education in bioenergy registered students.
from different actors, in particular the industrial and
the public sectors. If you have any suggestions on For further details contact:
how to improve the field, please fill in this survey.
ThermalNet
Dr David Chiaramonti
Survey 2 – mapping of existing activities.
If you offer or know of any courses at undergraduate, University of Florence
Masters, PhD or professional levels, with at least Department of Energetics “Sergio Stecco”
some bioenergy content, we would like you to Via di S.Marta 3, Florence 50319
provide information for this survey. Italy
Tel: +39 (0)55 4796 436
The survey results will be analysed and evaluated Fax: +39 (0)55 4796 342
by the E&T group of experts in both ThermalNet Email: david.chiaramonti@unifi.it
and Bioenergy NoE. They will then be presented
for discussion to ThermalNet members, and finally Bioenergy NoE
disseminated outside the ThermalNet and NoE Miss Crystal Luxmore
Networks. Finally, please encourage colleagues Bio-Energy Research Group
and contacts in the bioenergy field to fill out the Aston University
surveys to help us achieve better results.
Birmingham B4 7ET
UK
Acknowledgements
Tel: +44 (0)121 204 3430
These activities have been developed thanks to the support from two different EC Directorates (DG Tren, DG Education) through the following programmes: Fax: +44 (0)121 204 3680
• Intelligent Energy for Europe (http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/index_en.html) Email: c.s.luxmore@aston.ac.uk
• EC/US Cooperation Programme in Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training (http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm).
• EC DG Research, FP6. For more information on Bioenergy NoE, please visit the website: www.bioenergynoe.com
37
Energy
By John Brammer, Aston University, UK
• Average end-use prices over 2004, except *2003, **2002

• All liquid fuel prices in Euros per 1000 litres
• All gas and electricity prices in Euros per 100 kWh (or Euro cents per kWh), gas on GCV basis
• All currency conversions based on exchange rates only 1 Euro = 1.242 US$
• Average crude oil spot price in 2004: 29.9 Euros/bbl, 188 Euros/1000 litre, (159 litres/bbl)
Principal source: IEA Energy Prices and Taxes, 4th Quarter 2005 (ISSN 0256-2332)
Brazil omitted as no data available
Fuel Oils
Euros per 1000 litres
Country Heavy Fuel Oil Light Fuel Oil (Industry) Light Fuel Oil (Domestic)
ex-tax tax total ex-tax tax total ex-tax tax total
Austria 149 58 208 252 106 358 292 186 477

Belgium 153 15 168 294 18 312 299 85 384
Canada – – 175 – – 259 349 40 389
Denmark 171 51 221 401 33 433 364 444 808
Finland 172 58 229 293 71 364 293 151 444
France 164 17 181 286 57 343 321 131 452
Germany 146 24 170 276 61 337 276 115 391
Greece 199 18 217 337 133 470 337 218 555
Ireland 244 14 257 324 47 372 397 107 505
Italy 195 30 225 354 403 757 354 555 908
Japan 269 13 282 258 13 271 – – –
Netherlands 185 32 217 – – – 348 313 660
Norway 284** 138** 422** 451 109 560 451 244 695
Portugal 217 15 232 – – – 357 143 500
Spain 200 14 214 288 85 373 288 144 432
Sweden – – 278 60 337 326 538 864 –
Switzerland 158 6 163 272 6 278 298 29 326
United Kingdom 160 57 217 258 66 323 245 78 324
United States 153 8 162 228 12 239 327 16 343
Heavy fuel oil is low sulphur, except Canada and Ireland (high sulphur) and US (unspecified).
Heavy fuel oil density 0.97 kg/l.
Prices for Heavy Fuel Oil Prices for Light Fuel (Industry)
Prices for Light Fuel (Domestic)
38
Prices and Taxes
2004
Transport Fuels
Euros per 1000 litres
Country Diesel (Commercial) Diesel (Non-commercial) Gasoline
ex-tax tax total ex-tax tax total ex-tax tax total
Austria 328 310 638 364 445 809 365 583 948
Belgium 403 330 733 398 483 881 388 753 1141
Canada 327 140 468 – – – 364 199 562
Denmark 364 370 733 364 553 917 356 773 1129
Finland 376 319 695 376 472 848 347 794 1141
France 323 417 740 323 562 885 298 763 1061
Germany 338 470 808 338 599 937 324 812 1136
Greece 382 245 627 382 358 740 392 420 812
Ireland 360 368 728 361 521 882 345 608 953
Italy 379 403 782 379 559 938 379 747 1126
Japan 270 252 522 397 259 656 396 441 836
Netherlands 388 367 755 380 509 889 385 867 1252
Norway 431 405 836 431 606 1037 398 795 1193
Portugal 354 370 724 354 433 787 346 687 1033
Spain 357 294 651 357 398 755 353 516 869
Sweden 384 365 749 384 552 937 349 743 1092
Switzerland 304 495 799 375 561 936 367 541 908
United Kingdom 333 694 1028 333 874 1208 313 871 1184
United States 288 97 385 288 97 385 357 83 440
Diesel is automotive, commercial is business price, non-commercial is individual consumer price.

Gasoline is unleaded, premium 95 RON except Canada (premium 97 RON) and Japan (regular 91 RON).
Prices for Diesel (Commercial) Prices for Diesel (Non-Commercial)
Prices for Gasoline
39
Gas
Euros per 100 kWh or Euro cents per kWh.
Country Natural Gas (Industry) Natural Gas (Domestic)
ex-tax tax total ex-tax tax total
Austria – – – 3.36 1.38 4.75

Belgium – – – – – –
Canada – – 1.55 – – 2.50
Denmark 3.24 4.05 7.29
Finland 1.01 0.17 1.18 1.36 0.51 1.87
France 1.72 – 1.72 3.22 0.55 3.77
Germany – – – – – –
Greece 1.61 – 1.61 2.72 0.21 2.93
Ireland 2.02 – 2.02 3.47 0.47 3.95
Italy – – – – – –
Japan 2.59 0.13 2.72 8.38 0.42 8.80
Netherlands 1.59* 0.09* 1.69* 3.00 1.73 4.72
Norway – – – – – –
Portugal 1.98 – 1.98 5.99 0.30 6.29
Spain 1.50 – 1.50 3.83 0.61 4.45
Sweden – – – – – –
Switzerland 2.42 0.02 2.44 3.92 0.32 4.24
United Kingdom 1.33 0.08 1.41 2.79 0.14 2.93
United States – – 1.70 – – 2.85
Gas Electricity
Electricity
Euros per 100 kWh or Euro cents per kWh.
Country Electricity (Industry) Electricity (Domestic)
ex-tax tax total ex-tax tax total
Austria 5.71 2.00 7.71 9.81 4.42 14.23

Belgium – – – 11.26** – –
Canada 3.81* 0.44* 4.26* 4.81* 0.53* 5.33*
Denmark 7.04 0.67 7.72 9.28 13.51 22.79
Finland 5.30 0.50 5.80 7.40 2.50 9.90
France 3.56 0.45 4.01 8.55 2.79 11.34
Germany 5.79* – 5.79* 13.40* 2.14* 15.54*
Greece 5.10 – 5.10 8.00 0.60 8.60
Ireland 7.70 – 7.70 12.25 1.65 13.90
Italy 10.00 3.00 13.00 11.00 4.40 15.40
Japan 9.44 0.80 10.24 14.74 1.07 15.80
Netherlands – – – 10.15 7.64 17.79
Norway 2.81 0.67 3.49 3.31 2.23 5.53
Portugal 7.47 7.47 13.44 0.67 14.11
Spain 4.53* 0.23* 4.76* 9.96* 2.18* 12.15*
Sweden – – – – – –
Switzerland 6.87 – 6.87 10.66 0.81 11.47
United Kingdom 5.04 0.37 5.40 10.56 0.53 11.09
United States 4.11 – – 7.18 – –
40
Centre of Competence
in Thermo-chemical
Treatment of Biomass
(CTCB)
By Andreas Hornung, FZK Karlsruhe, Germany
The Helmholtz Association of National Research Centres in Germany has an Initiative

and Networking Fund to support international networking and cooperation between
Helmholtz institutes and universities as well as research centres.
Technische Universität Kaiserslautern (Germany),
Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany),
Universität Karlsruhe (Germany).
The CTCB is looking for bottom up solutions to

ongoing and emerging problems in the application
and processing of biomass by thermo-chemical
processing. This includes biomass pretreatment,
pyrolysis, gasification, gas treatment, upgrading
and reforming. The scope is somewhere between
conventional projects with defined funding
and networks.
Figure 1: CTCB Kick-off meeting. This is achieved by encouraging research centres to The working topics selected for study by individual
concentrate and integrate research and management members and partner institutions have to be
capacities and so create centres of excellence or progressed within their existing budgets unless
competence of international standing in key areas additional funding can be found from national or
of research. The Helmholtz Association is currently international sources. After one year the partners
expanding its partnership to European institutes will evaluate the progress and added value for each
and universities with expertise in the processing topic. This may result in a new or modified list of
of biomass. The objective is to share resources, topics or partners and members.
facilities, and merge expertise to build a focused and
complementary RD&D centre for biomass processing.
The official ‘kick-off’ meeting was held on February

13th 2006 in Karlsruhe and at present 10 institutions
Dr Andreas Hornung are partners of the CTCB - Center of competence in
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH thermo-chemical treatment of biomass. These are:
P.O. Box 3640, Aston University (UK), Bundesforschungsanstalt für
76201 Karlsruhe Forst- und Holzwirtschaft (Germany), Deutsches
Germany Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrttechnik (Germany),
Tel: +49 7247/82-6138, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Germany), Hungarian
Fax: +49 7247/82-2959 Academy of Sciences (Hungary), Politecnico di Milano
Email: andreas.hornung@itc-tab.fzk.de (Italy), Paul Scherrer Institut (Switzerland),
Figure 2: Networking at the CTCB Kick-off meeting.
ThermalNet is pleased Dr. Wojciech Nowak

Czestochowa University of Technology
Professor Josef Viglasky
Technical University of Zloven
to welcome new Energy Engineering Department
Dabrowskiego 69
Fakulta environmentalnej a vyrobnej techniky
Katedra environmentalnej techniky
experts from the New Czestochowa 42 200
POLAND
TG Masaryka 24
Zloven96053
Accession Countries Tel: +48 343 250 933
Fax: +48 343 250 933
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Tel: +421 45 5206875
Email: wnowak@is.pcz.czest.pl Fax: +421 45 5206875
Email: viglasky@vsld.tuzvo.sk
Professor Pavel Kolat Professor Wieslaw Rybak
VSB Technical University of Ostrava Wroclaw Technical University Dr Janina Ilmurzynska
Head of Department of Energy Engineering Institute of Heat Engineering & Fluid Mechanics Institute of Power Engineering
Faculty of Mechnaical Engineering Division of Fuel and Energy Thermal Processes Department
Tr13/03/2006a 17, listopadu 15 Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27 Warszawa
Ostrava CZ 70833 WROCLAW POLAND
CZECH REPUBLIC 50-370 WROCLAW Tel: +48 22 3451 419
Tel: +420 69 699 4403 POLAND Fax: +48 22 42 83 78
Fax: +420 69 699 8303 Tel: +71 320 26020 Email: janina.ilmurzynska@ien.com.pl
Email: Pavel.Kolat@vsb.cz Fax: +71 320 3818
Email: rybak@pwr.wroc.pl
wieslaw.rybak@pwr.wroc.pl
41
Diary of Events
Information compiled by Emily Wakefield, Aston University, UK
Thermo International 2006 Waste 2006 – Sustainable Asia Biofuels IV

Date: 30th July 2006 - 4th August 2006 Waste & Resource Management Date: 10th October 2006 -
Venue: Boulder, Colorado, USA Date: 19th September 2006 – 12th October 2006
Website: http://thermointernational.org 21st September 2006 Venue: The Great Wall Seraton Hotel,
Venue: Stratford Manor Hotel, Bejing, China
Stratford-upon-Avon, UK Email: wendy@biofuelsconferences.com
CAPoC7: Seventh International Congress
on Catalysis and Automotive Control Website: www.waste2006.com Contact: Wendy Vincent
Date: 30th August 2006 – Tel: +01 605 338 6829
1st September 2006 RecAsh 2nd International Seminar
Venue: Brussels, Belgium Date: 26th September 2006 - 28th Workshop on Biomass Gasification
Contact: N.Kruse, Executive Chairman September 2006 Success Stories and Lessons Learnt
Tel: +32 (0)2 650 57 08 Venue: Karlstad, Sweden Date: 16th October 2006 -
Email: nkruse@ulb.ac.be Contact: Pija Eklund (registration), 18th October 2006
Hillevi Eriksson (abstracts) Venue: Gas Technology Institute,
Email: pija.eklund@visitkarlstad.se/ Des Plaines, Illinois, USA
9th International Symposium on the
hillevi.eriksson@skogstyrelsen.se Website: http://www.gastechnology.org/
Preparation of Heterogeneous Catalysts
Date: 10th September 2006 – Tel: +4654157150 (Pija), webroot/app/xn/xd.aspx?
14th September 2006 +4636155600 (Hillevi) it=enweb&xd=iea/taskmeetings.xml
Venue: Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium Fax: +4654157154 (Pija),
+4636166170 (Hillevi) Holzenergie Symposium
Website: http://cata.ucl.ac.be/9prep.html
Date: 20th October 2006
ICIPEC - The 4th International Conference Venue: ETH Zurich, Switzerland
5th European Motor Biofuels Forum
on Combustion, Incineration/Pyrolysis Email: thomas.nussbaumer@verenum.ch
Date: 11th September 2006 –
and Emmission Control
13th September 2006
Date: 27th September 2006 –
Venue: Hilton Newcastle Gateshead, UK Biomass-derived Pentoses: from
29th September 2006
Website: www.europoint-bv.com/ Biotechnology to Fine Chemistry
Venue: Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
biofuels2006 Date: 22nd October 2006 -
Website: http://www.icipec.com 25th October 2006
Contact: Ms. Marieke Bouman
Tel: +31 (0)30 6933489 Venue: Reims, France
IBEF (International Business Exchange Website: www.inra.fr/pentoses2006
Email: mbouman@europoint-bv.com
Forum) 2006 This forum includes the
Email: pentoses2006@reims.inra.fr
following events: RENEX 2006,
2006 Renewable Energy Policy Conference IHE Wood Energy 2006, reCONSTRUCT
Date: 12th September 2006 – Date: 28th September 2006 – Domestic & Commercial CHP Conference 2006
14th September 2006 1st October 2006 Date: 15th November 2006
Venue: European Quarter, Brussels Venue: Fairground Augsburg, Germany Venue: Marriott Hotel, Kensington, London
Email: erec@erec-renewables.org Email: international@energie-server.de Contact: Steve Ducker
Website: http://www.renexpo.de/ Tel: +44(0)1322 611264
Realising the Promise of Bioenergy: profil_ibefs.html
Commercial and Practical Issues ECO Expo
Date: 18th September 2006 – Date: 28th November 2006 -
Green Solvents For Processes
20th September 2006 30th November 2006
Date: 8th October 2006 -
Venue: Oxford, UK 11th October 2006 Venue: Beijing International Convention
Contact: Gill Alker Centre, Beijing
Venue: Lake Constance, Friedrichshafen,
Tel: 01635817420 Germany Website: http://www.ecoexpo.com/
Email: info@tvenergy.org Website: http://events.dechema.de/gsfp Tel: 866-675-2700 (US & Canada) or
Website: http://www.tvenergy.org/ (01)818-906-2700 (International)
energy-conference-2006.htm World Forum on Energy Regulation
Date: 8th October 2006 - 2007 Renewable Energy Policy Conference
3rd International Conference 11th October 2006 Date: 29th January 2007 –
on Biomass for Energy 31st January 2007
Venue: Washington, DC
Date: 18th September 2006 – Venue: European Quarter, Brussels
Website: http://www.worldforum2006.org
20th September 2006 Website: www.erec-renewables.org/events
Venue: Kyiv, Ukraine Email: erec@erec-renewables.org
Web: http://www.biomass.kiev.ua/
conf2006
42
Country Representatives
Below is a list of distributors of the ThermalNet newsletter. If you would like to receive a copy of the newsletter please contact the
representative for your country. If you would like to make a contribution to the newsletter please contact the newsletter administrator
for the relevant technology.
AUSTRIA GERMANY NORWAY

Hermann Hofbauer D Meier Morten Grønli
Technical University of Vienna BFH-Institute for Wood Chemistry Department of Energy and Process Engineering
Institut für Verfahrenstechnik Leuschnerstrasse 91 Norwegian University of Science and
Brennstofftechnik und Umweltechnik Hamburg-Bergedorf Technology
Getreidemarkt 9/166 D-21031 Kolbjorn Hejes vei 1A
Wien GERMANY 7034 Trondheim
A-1060 Tel: +49 40 739 62 517 NORWAY
AUSTRIA Email: d.meier@holz.uni-hamburg.de Tel: +47 73 59 37 25
Tel: +43 1 58801 15970 Email: Morten.G.Gronli@ntnu.no
Email: hhofba@mail.zserv.tuwien.ac.at
GREECE
M Christou PORTUGAL
BELGIUM CRES - Centre for Renewable Energy Sources Benilde Mendes
Yves Schenkel 19th km, Marathonos Ave. New University of Lisbon
Centre for Agricultural Research (CRA-W) CR 190 09 Pikermi Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia
Chausée de Namur, 146 GREECE Grupo de Disciplinas de Ecologia da Hidrosfera
Gembloux Tel: +30 210 6603 394 Quinta da Torre
B-5030 Email: mchrist@cres.gr Lisbon
BELGIUM 2829-516 Caparica
Tel: +32 81 627 148 PORTUGAL
Email: schenkel@cra.wallonie.be IRELAND Tel: +351 21 294 8543
M Doran Email: bm@fct.unl.pt
Rural Generation
DENMARK Brook Hall Estate
Soren Houmuller 65-67 Culmore Road SWEDEN
EGJ Development Londonderry Lars Waldheim
Dalgas Alle 3 BT48 8JE TPS Termiska Processer AB
Herning UK Studsvik
DK-7400 Tel: 02871 358215 Nyköping
DENMARK Email: Michael@ruralgeneration.com 61182
Tel: +45 99 26 82 18 / 40 44 67 14 SWEDEN
Email: sho@egjylland.dk Tel: +46 155 22 13 54
ITALY Email: lars.waldheim@tps.se
D Chiaramonti
FINLAND University of Florence
Anja Oasmaa Department of Energetics “Sergio Stecco” USA
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Doug C Elliott
Liquid Biofuels Via di S.Marta 3, Battelle PNNL
Biologinkuja 3-5 Florence 902 Battelle Boulevard
PO Box 1000 50319 PO Box 999
Espoo ITALY Richland
FIN-02044 VTT Tel: +39 055 4796 436 Washington
FINLAND Email: david.chiaramonti@unifi.it 99352
Tel: +358 20 722 5594 USA
Email: Anja.Oasmaa@vtt.fi Tel: +1 509 375 2248
NETHERLANDS Email: dougc.elliott@pnl.gov
Jaap Koppejan
FRANCE TNO
Philippe Girard PO Box 342 UK & REST OF WORLD
CIRAD- Forêt Apeldoorn Emily L Wakefield
Energy Environmental Unit 7300 AH Aston University
TA 10/16 NETHERLANDS Bio Energy Research Group
73 Rue Jean Francois Breton Tel: +31 55 549 3167 Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry
Montpellier Cedex 5 Email: j.koppejan@mep.tno.nl Birmingham
34398 B4 7ET
FRANCE UK
Tel: +33 4 67 61 44 90 Tel: 0121 204 3420
Email: philippe.girard@cirad.fr Email: e.l.wakefield@aston.ac.uk
NEWSLETTER ADMINISTRATORS:
CombNet GasNet PyNe / ThermalNet
Jaap Koppejan Harrie Knoef Emily L Wakefield
TNO Biomass Technology Group BTG Aston University
PO Box 342 PO Box 217 Bio Energy Research Group
Apeldoorn AE Enschede Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry
7300 AH 7500 Birmingham
NETHERLANDS NETHERLANDS B4 7ET
Tel: +31 55 549 3167 Tel: +31 53 486 11 90 UK
Email: j.koppejan@mep.tno.nl Fax: +31 53 486 11 80 Tel: 0121 204 3420
Email: knoef@btgworld.com Email: e.l.wakefield@aston.ac.uk
43
ThermalNet Work Package Leaders
Co-ordinator (PyNe) France Sweden
Tony Bridgwater Philippe Girard Lars Waldheim
Bio-Energy Research Group Cirad Forêt TPS Temiska Processor AB
Aston University Energy Environmental Unit Studsvik
Birmingham, B4 7ET TA 10/16 611 82 Nykoping
UK 73 Rue Jean Francois Breton SWEDEN
Tel: +44 (0)121 204 3381 Montpellier Cedex 5 Tel: +46 155 221 372
Fax: +44 (0)121 204 3680 34398 Fax: +46 155 263 052
Email: a.v.bridgwater@aston.ac.uk FRANCE Email: lars.waldheim@tps.se
Tel : +33 467 61 44 90
Fax : +33 467 61 65 15
Co-ordinator (GasNet) Email: philippe.girard@cirad.fr UK
Hermann Hofbauer Michael Doran
Technical University of Vienna Italy Rural Generation
Getreidemarkt 9/166 Brook Hall Estate
Wien David Chiaramonti 65-67 Culmore Road
A-1060 University of Florence Londonderry
AUSTRIA Department of Energetics ‘Sergio Stecco’ BT48 8JE
Tel: +43 1 58801 15970 or Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Northern Ireland, UK
+43 1 58801 15901 Via di S. Marta 3 Tel: +44(0)2871 358215
Fax: +43 1 587 6394 Florence 50319 Fax: +44(0)2871 350970
Email: hhofba@mail.zserv.tuwien.ac.at ITALY Email: michael@ruralgeneration.com
Tel: +39 055 4796 239
Fax: +39 055 4796 342 Bill Livingston
Co-ordinator (CombNet) Email: d.chiaramonti@ing.unifi.it Mitsui Babcock Energy Limited
Sjaak van Loo Technology Centre
Procede Group BV Colomba di Blasi High Street
PO Box 328 Universitá degli Studi di Napoli Renfrew
Enschede ‘Federico II’ PA4 8UW
NL-7500 AH Dipartmento di Ingegneria Chimica Scotland, UK
NETHERLANDS P.le V.Tecchio Tel: +44(0)141 885 3873
Tel: +31 53 489 4355 / 4636 80125 Napoli Email: wlivingston@mitsuibabcock.com
Fax: +31 53 489 5399 ITALY
Email: sjaak.vanloo@procede.nl Tel: +39 081 768 2232 Patricia Thornley
Fax: +39 081 239 1800 Tyndall Centre (North)
Email: diblasi@unina.it Room H4, Pariser Building
Austria UMIST
PO Box 88
Max Lauer Netherlands Manchester
Institute of Energy Research
Gerrit Brem M60 1QD
Joanneum Research
TNO UK
Elisabethstrasse 5
PO Box 342 Tel: +44 (0)161 306 3257
A-8010 Graz
Apeldoorn 7300 Email: patricia.thornley@mbs.ac.uk
AUSTRIA
Tel: +43 (0)316 876 1336 NETHERLANDS
Fax: +43 (0)316 876 1320 Tel: +31 55 549 3290 USA
Email: max.lauer@joanneum.at Fax: +31 55 549 3740
Email: g.brem@mep.tno.nl Doug Elliott
Battelle PNNL
Finland Harold Boerrigter 902 Battelle Boulevard
ECN Biomass PO Box 999
Anja Oasmaa
PO Box 1 Richland
VTT Energy
Petten Washington 99352
New Energy Technolgies
1755 ZG USA
PO Box 1601
NETHERLANDS Tel: +1 509 375 2248
Espoo
Tel: +31 224 56 4591 Fax: +1 509 372 4732
FIN- 02044 VTT
Fax: +31 224 56 8487 Email: dougc.elliott@pnl.gov
FINLAND
Email: boerrigter@ecn.nl
Tel: +358 9 456 5594
Fax: +358 9 460 493
Email: anja.oasmaa@vtt.fi
Designed and produced by: WAA +44 (0)121 321 1411
ThermalNet meeting, Heidelberg, Germany, May 2005.
The ThermalNet newsletter is published by the Bio-Energy Research Group, Aston University, UK and is sponsored by the European Commission
under the Intelligent Energy- Europe programme and IEA Bioenergy.
For further details or offers to contribute, please contact Emily Wakefield (see inside cover for contact details).
The sole responsibility for the content of this newsletter lies with the authors. It does not represent the opinion of the Community or any
other organisation. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

Thermal Net

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Descrizione originale:

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Thermal Net

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

JULY 2006 ISSUE 02

The University of Georgia

Successful Long Duration Test with

Combined Heat and Power Plant

This regular feature provides a comprehensive review of European and American

In 2004, the University of Georgia (UGA) began a coordinated effort in biorefining

Biomass Fast Pyrolysis in a 4

Pyrolysis of Perennial Grasses 6

Preconditioning of Biomass Through 8

The All-Russian Scientific Research 9

Graduate student information:

Biomass Fast Pyrolysis

A recently completed project at the Reaction modeling

3. The pyrolysis kinetics. In-bed filtration

Figure 2: Close up of the reactor section.

A number of the oxygenates formed by ozonation

Energy carriers Prof H J Heeres

• Giant reed (Arundo donax) • Elephant Grass (Miscanthus giganteus)

Pyrolysis of grasses Crop samples were provided from the agricultural

In particular, crops that matured late in the year and

Pyrolysis experiments were performed in the laboratory

Results Similarly, the low alkali metal content crops produced

These experiments showed that (when the biomass is

For further details contact:

Scope of project Objectives of the project Work programme

For further details contact:

VIESH is a State scientific institution, founded in 1930, which is a federal research

• Electricity technologies and electrical equipment in agriculture.

Seperator Condenser Hot water

Figure 2: Block diagram of pyrolysis process.

For further details contact:

Table 1 – PyNe member laboratories and relevant facilities. Round Robin

Lignol • BTG – direct gasification of bio-oil in existing gasifier + synthesis.

For further details contact:

Figure 1: Scope of activity on analysis and characterisation.

Feedstocks Methods for characterisation of pyrolysis liquid

Fuel oil quality

Isolation of Pyrolytic Lignin

Figure 3: Product groups in pyrolysis liquid and methods of analysis.

• The size of PL-dimers was between 270 and 400 Da.

The Castor Gasification CHP 16

Eqtec Iberia and Energia 18

Gasification: Latest Developments 20

Identification of Providers of Small 24

Workshop on Gas Cleaning 26

GasNet Contact details: Newsletter /website administrator:

With the conclusion of the duration test, OLGA

One problem that occurred repeatedly during

The electricity (75 kWe) is sold to the local electric

The downdraft air staged gasifier is refractory lined

Wet wood chips are dried in a five-metre long

The complete gasification and cleaning process takes

Other project activities have been initiated to

For further details contact:

• 670 mg/Nm3 of SOx

• < 5 mg/Nm3 of particles

The plant is designed to run on continuous operation,

The plant is under construction, and it has received a

The total investment of the plant is 9.500.000,– €

Figure 1: First gasification plant built by EQTEC and

Table 1. IBGPP heat balance.

Description Units Value