Results: Browse all publications

To understand more about how farmers have integrated 2G energy crops into their wider farm business, the ETI commissioned ADAS to carry out three case studies of successful transitions to 2G energy crops, examining the financial impact of the crop and understanding how farmers have optimised the way they use their land to minimise any impact on food production. This document provides the evidence behind each case study and details how the financial costs and benefits and food production changes were calculated. .

• All three case studies demonstrate that planting energy crops can increase the profitability of the land over a 23-year lifetime. Initial investment costs are expected to be paid back within the first six to seven years.
• When optimising the use of land across the farm, impacts on food production can be minimised or avoided. in two case studies, food impacts were minimised by using land which delivered poor arable yields, and by minimising the reduction in sheep numbers through higher stocking densities (the number of sheep per hectare). in the third case study, the crop was planted on unused land so no food production was displaced.
• Land which is less suitable for food production or grazing can be suited to energy crops as they can be successfully planted on poorer quality soils, and land which is more prone to waterlogging or weed problems. They are also suited to less accessible fields as they require less intensive management than arable crops.
• The farmers in these case studies chose to grow energy crops for a variety of reasons - making better use of difficult or underutilised land, diversifying income and reducing workload. In addition, all farmers cited the importance of obtaining secure fixed-term contracts with buyers in their decision making. This reinforces findings from previous ETI work on enabling UK biomass.
• Discussions with land agents suggest that land used to grow biomass crops should not be valued differently to other agricultural land, as land should be valued on its productive capacity. however, the specific price offered by a buyer will be affected by their objectives in buying the land and their understanding of bioenergy crops. The presence of a profitable contract for the crop and a willingness from the buyer to continue with bioenergy cropping may have a beneficial impact on the land value. If the buyer wishes to change the land use, is uncertain how to manage a bioenergy crop, or if there are limited market outlets for the crop, the land value may be lower than if it weren’t planted with a bioenergy crop.
• Qualitative evidence from the Miscanthus farmers indicate an increase in wildlife, particularly birds, since growing the crop. In the Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) Willow case study, the farm carried out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) before planting.

This document is a report for the project titled 'Biomass Fuelled Indirect Fired Micro Turbine'.

The aim of this project was to further develop micro turbine indirect firing and to develop this into a biomass generator, building on the success of the previous project. The system was redesigned and rebuilt using the experience gained and the recommendations reported in our last project. The efficiency, maintenance and safety of the system was improved through this development project.

The Specific aims were:

To achieve 4000hrs run time

To establish a start procedure

To develop safe and predictable operation without the need for supervision

To prove heat exchanger concept

To achieve full recuperated operation

To achieve high temperature combustion with low emissions

To establish costs and technical basis for future development

To provide a demonstration of working biomass renewable power generation

The main achievements of these projects are:

Start procedure established and well proven with over 100 successful starts

4680 hours turbine operation so far

Safe and predictable operation without supervision

Heat exchanger concept proven

Fully recuperated operation achieved

High temperature combustion achieved with ultra low emissions

The Biomass Generator has demonstrated that it is possible to produce 20-30kW of renewable electricity in a stable, reliable manner

Cost and technical basis for future development established

Demonstration of working biomass renewable power generation

The concept is now well proven the next logical step is to improve the system and build on our success.

This report is divided into the following sections:

1. Introduction
2. Re-evaluation and Design
3. Initial Testing
4. Long Term Testing
5. Results and Discussion
6. Conclusions
7. Recommendations
8. Acknowledgements

TESBiC: Techno-Economic Study of Biomass to power with CCS. This report, the final deliverable from the project, contains both the Development and Deployment Opportunity Assessment and the Technology and Demonstration Benefits Assessment. The report covers all eight technologies selected for detailed investigation. Dedicated biomass chemical looping combustion and to a lesser extent cofired carbonate looping came out as two of the more attractive biomass CCS technology combinations for possible development and demonstration in the UK. This was due to their attractive prospects in terms of offering relatively high efficiency and low capex at a range of scales, the significant level of existing UK expertise (at least at the academic level), and most importantly, the potential for first mover advantage to make a significant impact in the IP space, given the size of the budget available toETI.

However, there are several technical hurdles to be overcome in the development and scale-up of the two looping technologies, and large uncertainties attached to the cost estimates considered in this study.

The TESBiC consortium recommends the following UK technology demonstration for consideration: A flexible pilot plant with dual inter-connected circulating fluidized bed (CFB) reactors, suitable for investigating, testing and demonstrating primarily chemical looping combustion, but that can also be used to test and demonstrate post-combustion carbonate looping capture, as well as oxy-fuel combustion of biomass

TESBiC: Techno-Economic Study of Biomass to power with CCS. Bioenergy production coupled with CCS could provide up to 10% of UK energy in the 2050s and deliver substantial net negative emissions. At the time of writing (2012) Bioenergy with CCS was thought to have the potential to remove 50 - 100 Mt of CO₂ from the atmosphere each year by 2050. More recent analysis, published in the Bioenergy Insights papers, suggests that this figure is closer to 55 Mt CO₂/yr.The Biomass to Power with CCS project found that uncertainties in the data resulted in large potential uncertainties in the conclusions, particularly with regard to the looping technologies. This made the comparison of the eight technologies, and drawing definitive conclusions, difficult. The project team recommended further investigation of the data, in particular data relating to chemical looping technologies

TESBiC: Techno-Economic Study of Biomass to power with CCS. The Biomass to Power with CCS project (2011-2012) consisted of an assessment of the technology and cost barriers for biomass fuelled power and the optimum scale-up potential of single-source and co-fired biomass to power with carbon capture technology. This executive summary is based on the summary provided by the consortium in their Technology Landscape and Recommendations Report; this is the output of Work Package 1.

TESBiC: Techno-Economic Study of Biomass to power with CCS. This document outlines the Model Data Requirements Specification and the Model Template Release for the eight technologies modelled as part of the project. They were used in the development of the Bioenergy Value Chain Model (BVCM).

TESBiC: Techno-Economic Study of Biomass to power with CCS. This document (from Work Package 3) provide the specification and user guidance for the the first two, of eight, parameterised technology models that will be used by the Bioenergy Value Chain Modelling (BVCM) project. The two technologies covered in this report are Biodedicated IGCC and Co-fired IGCC both with physical absorption-based carbon capture.

TESBiC: Techno-Economic Study of Biomass to power with CCS. Bioenergy production coupled with CCS could provide up to 10% of UK energy in the 2050s and deliver substantial net negative emissions. At the time of writing (2012) Bioenergy with CCS was thought to have the potential to remove 50 - 100 Mt of CO₂ from the atmosphere each year by 2050. More recent analysis, published in the Bioenergy Insights papers, suggests that this figure is closer to 55 Mt CO₂/yr. The Biomass to Power with CCS project found that uncertainties in the data resulted in large potential uncertainties in the conclusions, particularly with regard to the looping technologies. This made the comparison of the eight technologies, and drawing definitive conclusions, difficult. The project team recommended further investigation of the data, in particular data relating to chemical looping technologies.

TESBiC: Techno-Economic Study of Biomass to power with CCS. This report, the first deliverable from the project, is a landscape overview of current biomass based power generation and CCS technologies. It also reviews current global demonstration activities. The consortium has assessed the various combinations of biomass power with CCS technologies, before recommending a shortlist of eight technologies for further detailed study in the rest of the project. The report includes an explanation of the consortium’s high-level thoughts, structuring and prioritisation behind their recommendation to take 8 technologies forward.

TESBiC: Techno-Economic Study of Biomass to power with CCS. This report, the 2nd deliverable from the project, is a high level study of the engineering associated with implementing each of the 8 technologies identified in the Technology Landscape report (1st deliverable: WP1). It includes, for each technology, an overview evaluation of system performance. It provides a critical assessment of knowledge gaps, technical risks and subject areas that will require further development work. It also includes an overview of the total process for the combined technologies, preliminary process flow diagrams, high level process control philosophy, environmental performance summary, estimate of the project development and capital costs and an estimate of operating and maintenance costs

TESBiC: Techno-Economic Study of Biomass to power with CCS. This presentation was used to brief ETI members and advisors on the outcomes of the high level engineering study carried out by the Biomass to Power with CCS project team. It should be read in parallel with the full report: D2.1 Report on Selected Technology Combinations.

The Techno-economic Study of Biomass to Power with CCS (TESBIC) project, which has been commissioned by ETI, is concerned with the performance of an overview techno-economic assessment of the current and potential future approaches to the combination of technologies which involve the generation of electricity from biomass materials, and those which involve carbon dioxide capture.

The present document forms the deliverable within work package WP3, it covers the work on :

• D3.3: Parameterised sub-system models
• D3.4: Model requirements and specifications and modelling strategy
• D3.5: Model and sub-model user documentation

Following the first variation of Contract/Agreement with ETI, the aforementioned deliverables have been applied to the final three (T6,T7,T8) out of eight technology combinations.

• T6 denotes dedicated biomass oxy-firing combustion
• T7 Biomass combustion, with CO₂ capture by post-combustion carbonate looping
• T8 Dedicated biomass chemical-looping-combustion using a solid oxygen carrier

The overall model structure finalised for WP3 employs the “base+delta” modelling framework (see D3.1 and D3.2). This fits the requirements for the capture of information and transfer to ETI and compatibility with the Biomass Value Chain Modelling (BVCM) and ETI’s Energy System Modelling (ESME) projects. The models were developed based on the techno-economic sensitivity data obtained from WP2 and additional available data. The “base+delta” model is readily implementable in MS-ExcelTM.

This document also provides user documentation of the models and its sub-models developed as part of WP3. This document is intended to enable any potential user to use and understand the models and their application. Data standard validation, parameter estimation and improvement of model robustness were carried out using the Model Development Suite (MoDS). Overall, the models offer evaluation of key techno-economic variables such as CAPEX, OPEX, efficiencies, and emissions as a function of inputs such as co-firing, capacity factor, nameplate capacity and extent of carbon capture

TESBiC: Techno-Economic Study of Biomass to power with CCS. This document (from Work Package 3) provides the specification and user guidance for three, of eight, parameterised technology models that will be used by the Bioenergy Value Chain Modelling (BVCM) project. The three technologies covered in this report are biomass co-firing in a pulverised coal-fired power plant with post combustion amine scrubbing-based carbon capture, biomass combustion in a dedicated power plant with carbon capture by solvent scrubbing, and biomass co-firing in a large pulverised coal power plant with carbon capture by oxyfuel firing.

Published in 2010, the request for proposals set out the project scope for the Biomass to Power with CCS project. The project consisted of an assessment of the technology and cost barriers for biomass fuelled power and the optimum scale-up potential of single-source and co-fired biomass to power with carbon capture technology

In order to examine the corrosive effects of co-firing biomass with coal in existing subcritical and possible future (ultra) supercritical boilers, typical and potential boiler tube alloys have been exposed to simulated furnace wall and superheater/reheater environments in the 1MWTH pulverised coal fired Combustion Test Facility (CTF) at Power Technology. A total of four CTF runs have been completed, each of which were nominally of 50 hours duration. Up to 15 furnace wall and 16 superheater/reheater steel alloy specimens were exposed to a range of metal temperatures, with differing heat fluxes and gaseous environments, representative of pulverised coal combustion under low NO_x conditions with biomass additions. The biomass fuels were co-fired with Daw Mill coal, furnace wall corrosion specimens having previously been tested without biomass additions in this environment, providing base line corrosion data for comparison. Numerous previous tests with coals provided baseline data for superheater/reheater corrosion rates. Biomass was fired at both 20% and 10% on a thermal basis, representing proportions significantly above and close to the maximum proportions expected to be utilised in actual plant, enabling examination of concentration effects. The specimens were exposed to the combustion environment on air-cooled, precision metrology, corrosion probes.

When co-firing with wood at both 20% and 10% on a thermal basis, there was no discernable worsening of either furnace wall or superheater/reheater corrosion when compared with firing coal alone. Whilst there was no comparable data for TP316 austenitic stainless steel superheater/reheater specimens, the measured corrosion rates were substantially reduced when compared to the ferritic T22 specimens exposed at the same location.

This report is divided into the following sections:

1. Introduction
2. Experimental Program
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
6. Recommendations
7. References

It is important to understand fully the end-to-end elements across the bioenergy value chain: from crops and land use, to conversion of biomass to useful energy vectors, and the manner in which it is integrated into the rest of the UK energy system (e.g. into transport, heat or electricity). This insights report presents the evolution of that work, incorporating data arising from the ELUM project on soil carbon changes to calculate dLUC emissions, and examining

1. how material they are in UK bioenergy value chains, and
2. identifying which UK value chains offer a significant opportunity to deliver GHG savings relative to fossil baselines.

CCS is a game-changer. Bioenergy value chains with CCS render dLUC emissions of second-order importance, since virtually all CCS value chains using 2G bioenergy crops grown in the UK would deliver substantial negative emissions tothe UK. This work strengthens the link between biomass and CCS, which remains the only credible route to deliver genuine negative carbon emissions at the scale necessary to meet the UK’s 2050 GHG emission reduction targets<

The objectives of this project were:

To determine the effect of co-firing biomass with coal on boiler tube fireside corrosion rates in existing subcritical coal fired power plants.

To determine the likely fireside corrosion rates that could be expected on boiler tubing in future advanced (ultra) supercritical power plant.

Typical and potential boiler tube alloys have been exposed to simulated furnace wall and superheater/reheater environments in the 1MW_Th Combustion Test Facility (CTF) at Power Technology.

A total of four nominally 50 hour duration exposures have been completed. Specimens were exposed to a range of metal temperatures, heat fluxes and gaseous environments, representative of pulverised coal combustion under low NO_x conditions with biomass additions. Biomass was co-fired with Daw Mill coal on 20% and 10% thermal or heat input basis (approx 35% and 17% by mass). Specimens were exposed to the combustion environment on air-cooled, precision metrology, corrosion probes.

This summary provides information on:

Objectives

Summary

Background

Corrosion Testing

Wood Co-Firing

Cereal Co-Product Co-Firing

Conclusions

Potential for Future Development

Cost

Duration

Contractor

Collaborators

The project aims to provide boiler operators with greater confidence in using higher levels of biofuel replacement (50% thermal or more). The specific objectives of the project are:

Identification of the main areas of the boiler at risk if biomass is co-fired with coal at 50% or more of thermal replacement

Determination of the nature of deposits likely to form in the radiant and convective passes of the boiler. Measurement of the physical and mechanical properties of the deposits to determine thermal shock and sootblowing properties

Development of a model to predict the thermal impact of fouling deposits and to optimise sootblowing operations

Assessment of the use of low cost additives to mitigate the effects of alkali metal fouling from biomass residues

A technical and economic assessment of the viability of high levels of biomass co-firing, including recognition of current CO2 abatement levels and other environmental constraints

The increased use of biomass, a fuel that is seen as largely CO2 neutral, in power generation is one of the few ways in which the power industry could make a significant step to reducing CO2 emissions. Co-fired boiler trials have been encouraging and have shown that small amounts of coal can be replaced by biofuels without undue impact on boiler performance. However, in order to make a real impact towards reaching Government targets, the amount of biomass for co-combustion would have to be greatly increased.

This profile provides information on:

Objectives

Summary

Cost

Duration

Lead Contractor

Collaborators

ETI’s Strategy Manager Hannah Evans presents “Making efficient use of bioenergy feedstocks for cleaner, greener energy” at an Energy Institute lecture on 27 November 2017 (slide set)

This document is a summary for the project titled 'Optimising the location of bioenergy sources: where should we grow bioenergy crops?'.

In order for the UK to meet its ambitious targets for energy production from renewable sources (10% of electricity by 2010, 15% by 2020) it needs to expand its capacity to generate all forms of renewable energy and marine energy is a big part of this. These internationally agreed targets are born out of the need to reduce CO₂ emissions, to minimize the impacts of climate change, and to come up with a renewable alternative to dwindling fossil fuel supplies. Generating energy from biomass, which is biological material derived from living or recently living organisms, is a solution which meets both these objectives. The term biomass can apply to both animal and vegetable derived materials but this project is focused on the growth of high yield crops. These crops can then be converted into energy using one of the numerous forms of either thermal or chemical conversion technologies. Biomass is low carbon, the crops take carbon out of the air as they grow, and can be re-grown relatively quickly.

This project has two main objectives: to gauge the willingness of land-owners to plant bioenergy / biomass crops and to develop a GIS (Geographical Information System) enabled 'land use potential and stakeholder analysis' for bioenergy in Cumbria. GIS is a computer system for capturing, storing, checking, integrating, manipulating, analysing and displaying data related to geographic position. The GIS enabled 'land use potential and stakeholder analysis' will take the form of a pilot study for this project and extended later on. The willingness of land owners to grow bioenergy / biomass crops will be gauged by conducting semi-structured interviews or group meetings with stakeholders and experts, looking at existing research and developing a best practice for biomass crop management in partnership with land owners.

Biomass Engineering Ltd. have demonstrated that their downdraft gasification technology is capable of producing very low tar levels in the producer gas, as independently measured, and have four gasifiers in operation. Developments in the gasifier configuration have led to a very low tar gas, allowing a simplified hot has filtration system to be used. Recent independent analysis of the "tars" from the Mossborough Hall farm gasifier at Rainford, NW England has shown that over 80wt% of the condensable organics in the gas are benzene, toluene, xylene and naphthalene and that problematic tar components in the gas were less than 20 mg/Nm³ under prolonged operation. The gasification technology of Biomass Engineering Ltd. is therefore close to a warrantable commercial reality.

Biomass Engineering Limited has succeeded in developing a downdraft gasifier capable of producing a very low tar, low particulate gas of consistent high calorific value (> 5 MJ/Nm³ for wood feedstocks). However, with the development of a technology capable of handling a well-defined wood, there is a requirement to assess the possibility of using other non-standard fuels, especially as these are more readily available in some locations and where other disposal and transportation options are not economical. To this end this work was concerned with testing a variety of fuels in an existing 80 kg/h (80 kWe) gasification system and measuring a range of process emissions and assess whether they could possibly be used in a downdraft gasifier for gas production for use in a boiler or engine. The fuels used were: dried papermill sludge (briquetted), Dried leather wastes (briquetted), palletwood wastes (and some demolition wood), medium density fibreboard (MDF), panel board (and other chipped pallets), pine/bark mixed waste strippings and renewable biomass fuel (RBF) produced form the organic fraction of MSW.

The Biomass Engineering Ltd. technology is a throated downdraft gasifier and it can be operated using different gas cleaning systems, including cyclones for dust removal, hot gas filter for very high dust capture efficiencies (>99wt%) on low tar gases and a wet scrubbing system for contaminated (volatile metals) and high tar gases. Wastes with high ash contents are more prone to high levels of tar formation. Tests of over 60 hours on each fuel were carried out, except for the RBF, of which there was only a limited quantity and of highly variable quality, which caused various processing difficulties.

Tests on the fuels showed that the high ash feedstocks (>15wt%, RBF and papermill sludge) were problematical in gasifier operation and not unexpectedly gave a producer gas with low heating values in the range of 1-3 MJ/Nm³. The buffings dust, pine/bark mix and the palletwood could be satisfactorily gasified to give a has with a good lower heating value of 4-5 MJ/Nm³. This is the expected value for low ash feedstocks and low tar levels in the gas. Extensive analyses of the feedstocks, the by-products chars and ashes, the producer gas and some of the condensates were made. The RBF fuel was prone to clinker formation on the grate possibly by the formation of low melting eutectic of SiO₂ and CaO (or a derivative). The chars exhibited high carbon conversions of typically over 85wt%.

This report contains an executive summary, and is divided into the following sections:

1. Introduction
2. System Configuration and Operation
3. Operation on Various Feedstocks
4. Product Analysis
5. Conclusions
6. Recommendations
7. Acknowledgements
8. References

In the context of UK energy system decarbonisation, the value of bioenergy within the energy system is greatest when combined with CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) to deliver negative emissions. Strategies to develop a CCS sector in the UK must include Bioenergy with CCS (BECCS). In the absence of CCS, the value of bioenergy is greatest when producing gaseous or liquid fuels for use in sectors which are otherwise difficult to decarbonise, and where no lower-carbon options are readily available. The flexibility of gasification with syngas clean-up makes it resilient to wider energy system decisions. Investment is needed to deploy this technology at a commercial scale. The UK has the potential to increase biomass feedstock production in ways which deliver additional environmental benefits. Greater focus is needed on developing markets and business models which encourage new planting in suitable locations. To develop and expand the UK bioenergy sector sustainably and in a way which is strategically valuable to the UK�s decarbonisation efforts, action must be taken to develop sustainable feedstocks supplies and demonstrate the technical and commercial viability of key technologies. This report sets out four key recommendations to help the UK capitalise on key opportunities to develop the bioenergy sector: Create the right environment for BECCS in the UK, which through deployment can significantly reduce the cost of meeting the UK�s 2050 emissions targets and increase the likelihood that the UK can deliver net-zero emissions. Develop gasification for the production of clean syngas from biomass and wastes to enable the bioenergy sector to remain robust to changes elsewhere in the energy system. Increase biomass production and the supply of sustainable biomass for bioenergy in the UK, and maximise the use of appropriate residual waste resources for energy, to enable the delivery of greater emissions savings at a system level. Deliver more physically and chemically consistent feedstocks to end users, through improvements in plant breeding and pre-processing, and/or develop conversion technologies more resilient to variations in feedstock composition.

ETI’s Strategy Manager Hannah Evans presents “The role of bioenergy in meeting 2050 emissions targets” at a Society of Chemical Industry event