ENERGY-FROM-WASTE Energia 1MWe equivalent gasifier
Low-cost technology Problems with batch gasifiers have now been eradicated using this continuous process fast gasifier. The process makes a clean, tar free syn gas for use in gas engine generators. Long chain carbon molecules normally associated with tars, are destroyed in the high temperatures encountered in the process. The result is a technology that costs approximately half of that as for standard combustion / steam EfW technology solutions. It is a modular system in sizes from 1 to 10MWe and now has proven operational running hours exporting to a grid of >50,000 Hrs. The R&D plant was initially based on a 500kWe size plant. Plants from and in module sizes of 1MWe up to 10MWe are financially viable. Any ammonia produced is cleaned in the process using a flash exaporator and condenser. The first two commercial plants have been commissioned in the UK, one in the West Midlands and the other in Brighouse, Yorkshire. Both plants operate on waste wood with one mixing in sewage sludge pellets.
RHI subsidy Waste heat from the gasifier is used to dry the fuels, and can earn an RHI subsidy. Using CfD’s and RHI a simple payback of <4 years is achieve able. For instance, a 3MWe system using Caterpillar engine generators costs approx. £13m and uses 26,000 tpa of fuel. A typical SCADA process controller is
Energy sustainability comes to the fore
Continuous process fast gasifier technology that produces minimal effluent, ash and slag has been a Holy Grail to the Energy from Waste industry. The search is now over, says Richard Newman, Technical Director at Energia Ltd
E
nergy from Waste (EfW) companies have been seeking a “continuous process” fast gasifier technology, that produces minimal effluent, ash and slag. To the industry it has become like finding the “Holy Grail”. The wait is now over, because a technology
that was developed initially to use peat as a fuel, has developed to be able to use firstly virgin wood and now waste wood. The fuel has to be dried, de-mettaled and made into a sawdust before being pelletised for use in this technology. Even sewage sludge pellets can be mixed in. Careful fuel preparation is key to reliability and an uptime of >8,000 hrs/annum. Further R&D will see SRF, RDF and WDF’s being used as fuel sources.
48 REview Renewable Energy View 2015
employed to undertake the monitoring and control of the system, with a button to start and a button to stop the process. Roughly every two weeks the gasifier has to be shut down for 2 to 3 hours to remove a build up of slag between the primary and secondary chambers. Some solid carbon carryover is created and captured as biochar, to be sold as a soil conditioner, or mixed back into the pellet fuel production. It really is the Holy Grail for the Energy
from Waste industry. The plants can be small enough for community schemes, 1MWe, up to small EfW plant size of 10MWe. Build times of six months are anticipated, with commissioning taking weeks not months. The next phase of R&D is to trial SRF, RDF and WDF pellets. Site visits are limited to concerns that have already got sites with planning permission, grid connections and access to fuel sources.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Contact Richard Newman, Technical Director, Energia Ltd Tel: 07977 444131 E:
info@energia-uk.net www.energia-uk.net
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