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BIOFUEL B.V.

HTU 2000

SUCCESSFULLY USING BIOMASS TOHARNESS RENEWABLE ENERGY IN AN EFFICIENT AND COST-EFFECTIVE WAY

J.E. Naber and F. Goudriaan(BIOFUEL BV)

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BIOFUEL B.V.

PERSPECTIVES FOR ENERGY FROM BIOMASS

1990 2040

ENERGY DEMAND, EJ/a 350 1000

FOSSIL FUELS, „ 255 480

RENEWABLES „ 80 >400

HYDROPOWER „ 20 50 WIND „ - 70

SOLAR „ - 130

BIOMASS „ 60 >200

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BIOFUEL B.V.

POTENTIAL FOR ENERGY FROM BIOMASS

FROM POTENTIALLY AVAILABLE 250 EJ/YRLAND AREA @ 15 TON(DB)/HA.YR (ENERGY FARMING ON 10 HA)

BIOMASS RESIDUES 70 EJ/YR (FORESTRY, WHEAT, RICE, SUGAR CANE, CORN, ETC.

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BIOFUEL B.V.

HISTORY OF HTU

1982 - 1988 Process R&D, Shell Laboratory, Amsterdam

1994 - 1997 Technical-Economic evaluation of HTU technology

Nov 1997 - July 2000:PROCESS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT EET-1

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BIOFUEL B.V.

WHAT IS HTU ?

Conditions: 300 - 350 C; 120 - 180 barreaction time 5 - 20 minutesliquid water present

Feedstocks: All types of biomass, domestic, agricultural and industrial residues, wood

Also wet feedstocks, no drying required

Chemistry: Oxygen removed as Carbon Dioxide

Products 45 Biocrude (%w on feedstock, dry basis)25 Gas (> 90% CO2)20 H2O10 dissolved organics (e.g., acetic acid, methanol)

Thermal efficiency: 70 - 90 %

o

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BIOFUEL B.V.

HTU Product

Biocrude Heavy organic liquidNot miscible with waterOxygen content 10 - 18 %wLHV 30 -35 MJ/kg

Applications

Biocrude as such: (co)combustion in coal- and oil- fired power stations

After upgrading (hydrogenation): premium diesel fuel; kerosene luboil base stock chemicals feedstock (cracker)

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BIOFUEL B.V.

• Direct combustion as a liquid (replacement of fossil fuels)

• Combustion as a solid fuel (cofiring with coal)

• Emulsified fuel (type “Orimulsion”)

• Replacement of charcoal

• Upgraded product

HTU PRODUCT FLEXIBILITY

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BIOFUEL B.V.

HTU PROCESS BLOCK SCHEME

Pumpsystem

HEATINGSECTION

HTUREACTOR

PRODUCTSEPARATION

Gas

Furnace

Cat. DeNOx

Wastewater

Anaerobicdigestion

demineral.

Biogas

Cleanwater

concentratedminerals sol’n

Light biocrude

Hvy biocrude

Flue gas

To Upgrading(HDO)

CHP

power station

electr., heat

electr.

Feedstock

Pretreat-ment

Gas turbine, CC

electricity

air

electr.

ExternalFuel

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BIOFUEL B.V.

Block scheme of HTU pilot plantBlock scheme of HTU pilot pant

Biomass

10-20 kg/hr (db)

High pressure pump

Preheater/Reactor 1

Reactor 2 Cooler

Gas /liquid

separator

CO2

Condensor

Pressure reducer

1 barbiocrude/water collection

storage

gases

330 °C

180 bar

storage

Cooler

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BIOFUEL B.V.

THERMAL EFFICIENCY

Definition:

th = (LHV of biocrude output) * 100 %(LHV of feed) + (LHV from external fuel)

For present process design:

th = 55.62 * 100% = 74.9 % 72.98 + 1.3

(Theoretical maximum for this case is 78.6 %)

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BIOFUEL B.V.

Upgrading of biocrude by HDO

• Principle of catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation has been demonstrated• Upgrading cost compensated by higher product value• Diesel fraction has excellent ignition properties• Potential applications:

• Transport fuel • Kerosine• Fuel in high-efficient gas turbine• Feedstock for chemicals (via ethylene cracker)• Etc. etc.

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BIOFUEL B.V.

HDO process scheme

Biocrude

Hydrogen

HDOreactorsystem

Fractionator

(fromHTU)

electricity

NH3, H2S

C1-C4 gas

H2O

Kerosine

Gas oil

>370oC residue

To refininery pool

Air transport

Diesel fuel forRoad transport

Lubricating oil;chemical feedstock

Naphtha

Separatorsection

Recycle gascompressor

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BIOFUEL B.V.

COST OF BIOCRUDE AND COST OF AVOIDING ONE TON OF CO2 ; EFFECT OF FEEDSTOCK PRICE

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

-1 0 1 2 3

Feedstock price, $/GJ

Bio

cru

de

cost

, $/

GJ

First Plant

Coal (2 $/GJ) / Crude Oil (12 $/bbl) Replacement

Future plant

0

+ 40 $ pe

r ton

CO

2 avoid

edenergy farmingrest products

- 20

+ 20

+ 60

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BIOFUEL B.V.

0

2

4

6

8

10

-2 -1 0 1 2 3

Biomass HTU Feedstock Price, $/GJ

Total Product Cost, $/GJ

First Plant

Premium Diesel ex crude oil of 25 $/bbl

Future plant

rest products energy farming

PRODUCTION OF TRANSPORTATION FUELCost of HTU plus HydroDeOxygenation

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BIOFUEL B.V.

HTU R&D PROGRAM

GO / NO GO ITEMS• Pressurizing• Continuous integrated operation of pilot plant

CRITICAL ITEMS• Heating - up• Oil/water separation• Product properties / applications• Effluent treatment

DATA FOR DESIGN• Phase equilibria• Physical properties, esp. at reactor/separator conditions

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BIOFUEL B.V.

Process Development

Work in autoclaves, • 10 ml, 1 liter, 2 liter• Testing of feedstocks and process conditions

Continuous pilot plant• capacity 20 kg/hour (dry basis)• commissioning 1 July 1999• first product prepared: 24 November 1999

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BIOFUEL B.V.

Development project EET-1

Mission: Design data for demonstration plant,validated in continuous pilot plant

Time period: 1 November 1997 - 31 July 2000

Cost and funding:Subsidy 3 M $(Dutch Min. of Economic Affairs, EET programme)

Stork E&C (Now Jacobs) 1Shell Nederland 1TNO, BTG, Biofuel 1Total 6 M $

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BIOFUEL B.V.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

1. Autoclave experiments - TNO2. Reactor Engineering - BTG3. Waste water treatment - TNO4. Process Modeling - TNO (Tech Univ Delft)5. Feedstock characterisation - BTG6. Feed introduction equipment - Biofuel7. Pilot plant design & contruction - TNO (Contractor)8. Pilot plant operation - TNO9. Product research - BTG10. Materials selection - Biofuel (Contractor)11. Commercial design & cost - Jacobs Engineering Nederland12. Operational project support - Biofuel13. Business development - Biofuel14. Chemical analyses - TNO15. Project management & coordination - Biofuel

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

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BIOFUEL B.V.

PROCESS DESIGN CASE STUDY

Basic process design by Jacobs Engineering Nederland

Process scheme, Mass & Heat Balances: ASPEN PLUS flowsheeter

All disciplines involved, incl. layout

Case study:Feedstock: Sugar beet pulp, 22 %w dry matterIntake Capacity: 130,000 tonnes/year (dry basis)

Focus on heat integration, thermal efficiency

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BIOFUEL B.V.

RESULTS OF EET-1 PROJECT

• Pilot plant construction completed• Pilot plant operation: - process principles verified

- most initial problems solved- 200 kg biocrude produced

• Pressurizing of feedstock successfully proven with commercial prototype pump• Data on thermodynamics and phase equilibria obtained; model operational• Waste water treatment routes defined• Product: various applications explored• Process design and cost estimation completed• Fundamental research to start: NWO – Japan project.

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BIOFUEL B.V.

EET-2 PROJECT:FINAL PROCESS DEVELOPMENT

Mission: Extended operation of pilot plant with commercial feedsProduct application development

Time period: 2002 – 2005

Cost and funding:Subsidy: 3.6 MFlDutch Government, EET programme

TNO + BTG + Biofuel: 1.2St. Shell Research 0.5To be decided 1.9Total project cost 7.2 MFl

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BIOFUEL B.V.

COMMERCIAL HTU DEMONSTRATION PLANT (1)

Study by Jacobs Engineering Nederland, 2000

Location: Large Waste Processing Company, The Netherlands

Feedstock: Organic Wet Fraction (ONF) of domestic wasteCapacity: 81,300 tonnes of ONF per year

62,500 tonnes of washed ONF+ per year(= 25,000 tonnes per year dry basis)

Production: 14,470 t/yr Biocrude (incl ash) = 10,630 t/yr DAFCombustion in power plant gives 5.5 MWe

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BIOFUEL B.V.

COMMERCIAL HTU DEMONSTRATION PLANT (2)

BASIS for ECONOMICS

Capital: Washing plant 13 M NflHTU plant 37Total capital 50 M Nfl

Availability: year 1: 40 % (of 8000 h/yr) year 2: 60 % year 3: 80 %years 4-15: 100 %

Maintenance and overhead: 4% and 1% of capital/yrOperation: Worst case

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BIOFUEL B.V.

COMMERCIAL HTU DEMONSTRATION PLANT (3)

Total capital required 50 M Nfl

CO2 reduction plan: minus 7.5 M NflEWAB: minus 3.0Net capital: 39.5 M Nfl

Effect of VAMIL minus 13.8 M NflEffect of EIA minus 5.5 M NflNet Investment 20.2 M Nfl

TOK: Loan of 20.2 Mfl @ 7% interest, repayment in 10 years

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BIOFUEL B.V.

COMMERCIAL HTU DEMONSTRATION PLANT (4)

NPV, M NflLicense fee (p.m.)TOK (techn ontwikkelings krediet) (21.6) over first 10 yearsOperating cost washing plant (24.8)Operating cost HTU plant (30.2)Biocrude sales 10.4 75% of equiv. coal price

Fee for ONF 80.7 (= 100 Nfl/ton ONF)Total project NPV 14.5 NPV=0 if ONF fee= 77 Nfl/ton

Effect of REB buy-back 32.2NPV incl REB 46.7 NPV=0 if ONF fee= 39 Nfl/ton

NPV = Net present value of project over 15 years, discounted cash flow with 7% interest rate

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BIOFUEL B.V.

Technology Development Path( S - curve)

Scientific Base/ Explanatory

ProcessScouting

Techn./Econ.Feasibility

ProcessDevelopment

CommercialPrototype

FullyCommercial

Next S- curve

Improvedscientific base

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BIOFUEL B.V.

NEXT S - CURVE

Focussed fundamental studies on principles

• Chemical and physical characteristics of biomass feedstocks in relation to hydrothermal conversion (Wageningen Agricultural University)

• Organic chenmistry: Reaction paths and kinetics with representative components and conditions(Delft University of Technology)

• Reaction engineering models/ complex kinetics(Twente University)

• Thermodynamics(Delft University of Technology)

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BIOFUEL B.V.

HTU-related work in Japan

NIRE: Dr. Shin-ya YokoyamaMs. Dr. Tomoko Ogi

Publications since 1985

Upgrading of biomass residues and sewage sludgeFor sewage sludge: continuous bench scale unit, 15 kg/h, ca. 1988

process development unit, 5 tons/day

Cooperation with:Japan Organo Co., Ltd,

Dr. Akira Suzuki; contacts since 1991Ebara corp.Institute for cellulose Industry, Bandung Indonesia, publication 1998

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BIOFUEL B.V.

NWO – Japan Project

NWO = Dutch Government Agency for Fundamental Scientific Research

Commemoration of 400 years contacts Japan – the Netherlands

Multimillion Treaty on fundamental research on renewable energy.

Netherlands: 4 out of 20 projects are on HTU fundamentals

Japan: Involvement of NIRE

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BIOFUEL B.V.

AVAILABILITY OF ORGANIC RESIDUES IN THE NETHERLANDS

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6

wood waste

food ind. waste

verge grasswood cuttings

beet leaves

houshold waste

potato leavesstraw

energy farming(NL)

Cumulativekton/year (db)

Price ( $/GJ )

Gasification,PyrolysisHTU

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BIOFUEL B.V.

HTU OPPORTUNITIES 1 - The Netherlands

• Industrial organic waste and residues 1.8 Million tons/a (db)• Organic household waste 1.1 ,,• Poultry litter 0.5 ,,• Manure 2.0 ,,

(combination with anaerobic digestion)

TOTAL 5.4 Million tons/a (db)

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BIOFUEL B.V.

HTU OPPORTUNITIES 2 - Europe

• Agricultural / Industrial Residues 200 Million tons/a (db)(Source: Eurec agency, 1996)

• Short-term niches for HTU:- Olive Oil Industry 3 - 5 Million tons/a (db)

- Organic household waste 26 ktons/a (db) per (from centralized waste separation) 250,000 inhabitants

- Residues from sugar and beer production.

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BIOFUEL B.V.

HTU OPPORTUNITIES 3 - World

• Agricultural and industrial residues 4,000 Million tons/a (db)(Source: “Renewable Energy; sources for (approx. 70 EJ/a)

fuels and electricity”, 1993)

• Future organic household waste 800 Million tons/a (db)(own tentative estimate)

• Short-term niches for HTU:- Organic household waste- Bagasse (> 100 Mtons/a)- Forestry residues from existing plantations- Coir dust