| TOKYO - JFE
Engineering Corporation has signed an agreement with
Danish engineering firm Babcock & Wilcox Vølund
ApS to license the company's technology for the efficient
gasification of wood chip biomass for use in electric
power generation. JFE Engineering has obtained implementation
rights in Japan and other Asian countries for the design,
manufacture and sale of plants using the technology.
Vølund developed the technology over a 10-year
period at a 42 ton/day capacity pilot plant that it
built in Denmark using a fixed-bed updraft gasifier.
Similar systems have been plagued with problems in waste
tar water cleaning, but Vølund overcame those
challenges with the development of a new system. Employing
gas engines, it now achieves a high power generation
efficiency of nearly 30%, and it is also able to supply
heat to nearby residences-resulting in an extraordinary
total energy use rate of approximately 85%. The Vølund
plant is currently the only commercial facility in the
world to use wood chip biomass gasification in order
to stably generate power.
JFE Engineering's relationship with Vølund goes
back 30 years to the licensing of grate combustion technology,
and the company kept JFE abreast of its new gasification
technology from the initial development stages.
JFE Engineering decided to license the technology because
it had developed to the stage where commercialization
was possible. In addition, the time was ripe in the
domestic market, where the government's Biomass Nippon
Strategy has prompted the establishment of several new
programs in this area. JFE hopes to aid in the prevention
of global warming and the reactivation of the forestry
industry by bringing this technology to the domestic
market.
Japan's domestic forestry industry has been significantly
undermined due to an influx of cheap foreign materials,
but it is urgent that thinning continue in order to
maintain healthy, rich forests. Meanwhile, dioxin regulations
prevent lumber plants from using simple combustion to
dispose of bark, chips and other remnants.
Combustion boiler power generation provides a relatively
large-scale means of converting clean biomass resources
into energy, but it requires fuel to be dried to 25%
or less moisture, and power efficiency is only about
15%. Such plants are usually not commercially viable
unless they have a way to utilize the heat generated.
The use of gasification technology in power generation
will double efficiency in comparison to boilers, achieving
rates of approximately 30%. This provides for additional
revenue from the sale of electricity, which will enable
projects to maintain their economic viability.
Outline of biomass power generation technology
Licensed technology:
Fixed-bed updraft gasifier for non-polluted
wood chips |
| Profile of technology supplier: |
|
 |
Name: |
Babcock & Wilcox
Vølund ApS |
|
Location: |
Esbjerg, Denmark |
|
Business: |
Design, fabrication and installation
of waste incineration plans and biomass plants |
|
Sales: |
Approx. US$100 million |
|
Employees: |
Approx. 400 |
Vølund is an established Danish engineering
firm with a history of more than 130 years. Its main
market is in Scandinavia, and it joined the U.S. Babcock
& Wilcox group in 2000. JFE Engineering enjoys a
friendly relationship with Vølund. JFE began
licensing grate combustion technology for waste from
Vølund in 1970, and began providing Vølund
with its hyper grate technology, fluidzed bed combustion
technology and a number of flue-gas treatment technologies
in 1998.
Track record:
A commercial plant with a capacity of 42 tons/day is
in operation in Harboøre, Denmark. The plant
generates approx 1.38 MW (efficiency of 29%), and collects
2.75 MW of hot water for use in district heating systems.
| Description of technology and features
: |
|
|
Able to directly treat green wood with moisture
content of 35-50% without using a drying process
|
|
High heat-use efficiency thanks to heat exchange
within the gasifier ( cooling gas efficiency, including
tar, is 86-88%) |
|
Power generation efficiency is approx. 30% |
|
Quick turn-down to 10%, for greater operational
flexibility |
|
Fully automated operation, requiring only a small
maintenance staff |
|
Waste tar water is cleaned with self-generated
heat and can be released to public sewers |
|
Ash has little residual carbon and no dioxin
|
|
