Pyrolysis of Biomass

DST Science-meets-Industry Workshop:

Organic waste

Mike Heydenrych

26-27 November 2014

Non

condensable

gases

Biomass Heat (≈500°C) In absence of

oxygen

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Fast pyrolysis product distribution

Boateng, 2011

What can be pyrolysed?

• Tyres

• Plastics

• Agricultural residues

• Forestry residues

• Bagasse

• Maize stover

• Municipal organic residues

• Sewage sludge

• Algae

• Coal (In short, anything complex and organic)

Biomass Mt/year Reference

Forestry logging residues 6.7 IEA, 2010

Sawmill operations 2.1 DME, 2004

Pulp industry 1.0 DME, 2003

Total (Forestry & pulp) 9.8

Corn stover 10.7 DAFF, 2012

Wheat straw 2.0 DAFF, 2012

Sunflower stalks 0.6 DAFF, 2012

Sugar cane bagasse 5.5 DAFF, 2012

Total (Agricultural) 18.8

For agricultural residues, 5 years of data is used from DAFF, 2012 assuming production: residue ratio equals to 1. For sugar cane bagasse, Cardona et al.

2010 was used for the production of sugar cane bagasse from sugar cane.

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How much fuel can 30 Mt biomass produce?

Transportation fuel yield from biomass is approx. 30%

30 Mt x 0.3 = 9Mt

Compare this to SA’s annual petrol consumption: 8.6 Mt

Residues from the P&P and agricultural industries can

potentially produce 100% of SA’s petrol needs,

sustainably

Another source (not sustainable) is from alien plants:

(Estimated 20Mt of alien plant biomass available)

UP’s research goals

• Develop a SCALABLE pyrolysis unit

• Recover char from the pyrolysed biomass

Why is CHAR important? (why not just burn it?)

Terra Preta (black soil)

• Returns minerals back to the soil

• Provides high surface area for adsorption of minerals and fertiliser

• Porous structure of char retains water well

• Trials show that plants grow well in soil treated with bio-char

Finally…

Carbon values are sequestered; biochar is stable and continues to provide the abovementioned benefits for thousands of years

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Carbon sequestration

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UP technology Dual fluidised beds

Combustion

Fluidized

Bed Pyrolysis

Fluidized Bed

Quencher and

Separator

Air LPG

Flue gas Ash

Hot solids

Pyro.

gas Char

Bio-oil

Biomass

Cold solids

& char

Non-condensable gas

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Dual Fluidized Bed

System @ UP

13

14

Upgrading of bio-oil

Steele & Tanneru, Mississippi State University

Timelines

• Currently – Build Mk 2 pyrolysis apparatus for 35 kg/h

– Continue researching novel in-situ catalysts

• Jan – June 2015 Commission Mk2 (TRL 6) – Test agricultural residues

– Test in-situ catalysts

• 2016 –

Test alternative feeds and catalysts

Acknowledgements