EMPYRO · Polygeneration through pyrolysis: Simultaneous production of fuel oil, process steam, electricity and organic acids

A 25MWth poly-generation demo plant will be build at the site of AkzoNobel in Hengelo (NL). It will produce fuel oil, process steam, electricity and organic acids through pyrolysis of wood. These products will be used on-site. An overall energy efficiency of 78% will be achieved. AkzoNobel will replace natural gas used for both energy generation and chemicals production. Pyrolysis involves rapid heating of biomass in absence of air. Resulting vapours are condensed, leading to three products; char, pyrolysis oil and gas. The char and gas are combusted to yield process steam, used for drying and power production. From the aqueous pyrolysis oil fraction organic acids will be extracted. The technology to be deployed is developed by BTG, a leader in the European pyrolysis market. BTG built its first bench-scale pyrolysis plant in the mid 1990’s. Since then the technology has been scaled-up to 10MWth. In this project the capacity will be scaled-up further by a factor 2.5. The technology has not been demonstrated on this scale in Europe. Five of the seven partners are based in Twente (Netherlands). The others are based in Germany and Denmark. Four partners are SME’s. Work covered includes: WP1 Biomass collection and pre-treatment, WP2 Pyrolysis plant engineering and construction, WP3 Pyrolysis plant operation and optimisation, WP4 Pyrolysis oil application, WP5 Organic acid recovery, WP6 Economic evaluation, WP7: Dissemination and training, WP8 Project management. For large-scale dissemination an educational centre and a Pyrolysis Platform will be established. European experts will be involved in awareness raising and competence building. Pyrolysis oil can be utilised in existing boilers, requiring little extra investment. Prospects for uptake in the chemical and other industries are excellent. Preparations for the demo plant started late 2007. A basic design has been completed. Financing for the investment is being arranged. Steps to acquire permits have been taken.