2.8m Competition to Design Waste Gasification Pilot Plant in UK

A shortlist of three companies has been finalised by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) in a competition to design the most economically viable, efficient waste to energy gasification demonstrator plant. The ETI is a public-private partnership between global industries – BP, Caterpillar, EDF, E.ON, Rolls-Royce and Shell – and the UK Government which makes targeted investments to help bridge the gap between laboratory scale research and development and commercial deployment of large-scale engineering projects. The Institute said that the aim of the £2.8 million project is to demonstrate how waste gasification plant could create energy from waste at efficiencies higher than previously produced in the industry at this scale. According to the ETI the challenge is that each complete system will need to operate at a net electrical efficiency of at least 25%. The candidates Advanced Plasma Power (APP), Broadcrown and Royal Dahlman have each been commissioned to design and develop a plant to demonstrate an integrated system that would be commercial at between 5 and 20 MW. The ETI said that the chosen plant could be designed, built, tested and in operation by 2016. The expectation is that once completed, the chosen plant will operate as a demonstration site for up to four years. The organisation added that this is thought to be the first time a total system approach for a waste gasification facility of this size has been considered in an R&D project. The consortium led by APP will design a demonstration facility with an electrical output of 6 MW using the company's Gasplasma® technology to produce a clean syngas as a fuel for the development and demonstration of high-efficiency power generation solutions. The Gasplasma process uses a separate plasma furnace to crack and clean the crude syngas from a gasifier prior to its direct utilisation in gas engines or a gas turbine. Stafford, UK based Broadcrown will design a high-efficiency demonstration facility with an electrical output of 2 MW using a concept described as robust yet highly scaleable which promotes distributed waste management and power generation. The EIT said that Broadcrown will be partnering with major European and American technology companies including a gas engine manufacturer to demonstrate a combined cycle with unprecedented efficiency using syngas. For its entry, Royal Dahlman will develop a plant with an electrical output of 7 MW using patented MILENA-OLGA technology, developed in cooperation with ECN - the Dutch institute for energy innovation. This will convert the waste into a clean gas suitable for an efficient combined cycle power plant. EIT added that Royal Dahlman will lead a team of British, Swiss, American and Dutch partners to develop an integrated gasification combined cycle demonstration plant which could be the stepping stone to larger and more efficient plants. Stage one According to the Institute stage one of the project (the design phase) will last 10 months and phase two of the project will see the winning design selected in early 2014, with selection based on cost and projected performance. Paul Winstanley, the ETI Bioenergy project manager overseeing the competition, explained: “Our national modelling work shows that bioenergy could be a key component of any future energy systems mix to meet the demands of providing affordable, secure and sustainable energy. We have already completed an extensive analysis of the existing energy from waste technologies currently available, as well as the breakdown and quantities of typical UK municipal, commercial and industrial waste. According to Winstanley this analysis indicates that new plant designs at this scale could potentially operate at a net efficiency rate of at least 25%, which significantly exceeds the performance of current plants in operation. "Any successful design of such a plant will provide the opportunity to move towards more efficient, distributed energy conversion technologies and reduce dependency on landfill for waste management in the UK,” he concluded. Steve Lee, CEO at the Chartered institution of Wastes Management said: “Gasification is a technology with a future using waste as its feedstock. A competitive approach to design for a cost- and energy efficient demonstration plant will be watched closely by the whole industry.” Read More 19 MW Waste to Energy Plant Fuelled by Fats from London's Sewers A 19 MW waste to energy CHP facility will process waste fats removed from London's sewer system. Bacteria that Turn Waste to Energy in Microbial Fuel Cells Studied Microorganisms which consume waste while generating electricity in a microbial fuel cell are being studied by researchers at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute. Investor Targets Farm Scale Anaerobic Digestion Biogas Projects Iona Capital has completed an investment into JFS Howla Hay Biogas - a JV with biogas developer JFS & Associates and a family run Farm in North Yorkshire.