Forest BtL Oy licenses Carbo-V gasification technology from Linde for wood-to-liquids plant
25 January 2013
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| Forest BtL’s process. Click to enlarge. |
Finland-based Forest BtL Oy has licensed Carbo-V biomass gasification technology from Linde Engineering Dresden GmbH. The Carbo-V technology will be implemented in a new Biomass–to-Liquid (BtL) plant in Kemi, Northern Finland. The commercial operation for the production of biodiesel and naphtha via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is expected to start at the end of 2016.
Linde Engineering Dresden acquired the Carbo-V biomass gasification technology (earlier post) of the insolvent (earlier post) Choren Industries GmbH from the insolvency administrator in February 2012. (Earlier post.) The agreement with Forest BtL is the first licensing agreement following the acquisition and the consolidation of the technology into Linde’s portfolio.
The BtL plant will have a gasification capacity of 480 megawatts (MW) and an annual output of about 130,000 tons of biodiesel and naphtha, using about 1.5 million tons of wood, a second-generation feedstock not competing with food production.
The project will be funded by the European Union’s NER300 program for innovative, low-carbon technologies. NER300 offers grants to installations of innovative renewable energy projects, grid integration projects and up to 12 CCS projects. (Earlier post.)
Apart from the license the contract includes the development of the process design package (PDP) for the gasification. Further services like front end engineering design (FEED) for gasification as well as for shift and gas cleaning are pre-defined.
The Carbo-V Technology is a multi-stage biomass gasification technology.
During the first process stage, the biomass reacting in a Low Temperature Gasifier (LTG) is converted to biocoke and carbonization gas.
The second process stage comprises the partial oxidation of the carbonization gas that takes place in a High Temperature Gasifier (HTG).
During the third process stage, the biocoke is blown into the hot gas stream of the HTG.
After suitable preconditioning, the synthesis gas produced may be subsequently processed to second-generation biofuels.
Forest BtL has selected Carbo-V technology because it is suitable to use commercially available dry chipped wood directly.
—Sven Petersen, Vice President Carbon and Energy Solutions of Linde Engineering Dresden
Compared to other technologies, Carbo-V has a very high carbon conversion to synthesis gas as well as an outstanding syngas quality.
—Mikko Kara, Chief Executive Officer of Forest BtL Oy
Producing the tars in a separate pre-processing step and breaking them down with high-temperature partial combustion is a good way to minimize the problem of gas cleanup. A pity that it's only suitable for large-scale use.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 25 January 2013 at 09:51 AM
@E-P
This would be an example of using HTG. They are common in the liquid fuel and chemical industries.
Power is a very cheap commodity. HTG are expensive and do not have that much better efficiency.
Posted by: Kit P | 26 January 2013 at 08:37 AM
This is a biomass-to-liquids plant, not a powerplant per se. It is obviously using a once-through F-T process and burning the tail gas rather than adjusting the H/C ratio and recycling it. The electricity is a byproduct, like at Rentech's plants.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 26 January 2013 at 02:43 PM
They could add renewable H2 to reach 100% carbon efficiency soon.
Posted by: Alain | 27 January 2013 at 08:40 AM
If you can afford fuel made from renewable H2, you must be rich.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 28 January 2013 at 05:32 PM
Plants are not very efficient as solar energy converters.
Solar panels will do much better soon and they will exist in all sizes.
When our roofs and parking lots (and 5% to 10% of desert land?) are covered with 30+% efficient solar panels, we will have more than enough energy and we may have enough productive land to grow enough food for a fast growing population (15+B by the end of the current century?).
Posted by: HarveyD | 29 January 2013 at 10:10 AM