On the 1st of November Cortus, Q Power and BEIC had a technical meeting regarding the installation of the Q Power pilot plant.
By changing the location for the pilot plant, will be possible to extend the pilot testing period without interferring with the BIOMETHAVERSE project that will run simultaneously.
Both projects are related to biological methanation of syngas from the WoodRoll® gasifier.
The ground work and piping will be done during November and December. The arrival of the Q Power pilot plant is now scheduled for the beginning of Janaury.
Project Consortium Meeting 5 October
The SynFerm consortium meeting took place as an online meeting on the 5th of October.
Biokraft, Cortus, Q Power and BEIC were represented.
The Q Power´s mobile pilot scale biological methanation unit has been modified (re-routing of cables and pipes, connecting sensors to the PLC system etc.) to have the two containers in series instead of parallel. The pilot plant is now undergoing testing to check that the modifications are OK. The pilot plant is scheduled to arrive to Höganäs on the 16th of October.
The next project consortium meeting is scheduled to the 7th of November at 10:00 CET as a hybrid meeting (both physical and online participation) at Cortus’ site in Höganäs.
Visit at DTU
On the 21st September Jörgen Held, BEIC visited Associate Professor Ioannis V. Skiadas and Associated Professor Hariklia N. Gavala at Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark. The visit resulted in interesting discussions and a highly appreciated guided tour in the DTU laboratories.
Already in 2006 Ioannis and Hariklia started applying for public funding related to syngas fermentation. During the years they have developed a co-current trickle bed reactor able to convert syngas derived from gasification of woody biomass.
Ioannis V. Skiadas and Hariklia N. Gavala in front of the mobile pilot trickle bed reactor. The reactor has been used to demonstrate conversion of real syngas produced at the Danish Gas Technology Centre. Photo: Jörgen Held
Hariklia will give a presentation on the syngas fermentation activities at DTU at the SynFerm conference organised in collaboration with REGATEC 2024, 15-16 May in Lund, Sweden.
First TTDM meeting
On the 13th of September the first SynFerm Technology Transfer and Dissemination Multiplier (TTDM) meeting took place as an online event.
Representatives from the European Biogas Association, CIEMAT, Institute for Biogas, Waste Management & Energy and Lithuanian Energy Institute listened to presentation from Biokraft International AB, Cortus Energy AB, Q Power Oy and Baltic Energy Innovation Centre (BEIC).
Ragnar Stare, Biokraft International AB gave a presentation on Biokraft’s activities and facilities.
Staffan Hellsén, Cortus Energy AB, gave a presentation on Cortus´ WoodRoll gasification technology.
Anni Alitalo, Q Power Oy, gave a presentation about Q Power’s biological methanation technology.
Jörgen Held gave a short introduction to the the SynFerm project
The TTDM group pointed out that syngas fermentation is not very well known or understood by the public and nor by the biogas sector.
As a response to this need, the SynFerm project will organise two full sessions related to methanation and syngas fermentation in collaboration with REGATEC 2024, 15-16 May in Lund, Sweden.
SynFerm technical meeting 15 September
On the 15th of September Q Power, Biokraft (former Scandinavian Biogas) and BEIC discussed which parameters and measuring points are needed in order to calculate the energy balance for the biological methanation system.
Project Consortium Meeting 6 September
The SynFerm consortium meeting took place as an online meeting on the 6th of September.
Biokraft, Cortus, Q Power, Linköping University, NSR AB and BEIC were represented.
The high pressure storage has been delivered to Cortus´site in Höganäs. The preparation of Q Power´s mobile pilot scale biological methanation unit is ongoing. It is expected to leave Finland at the end of September.
Q Power, Biokraft and BEIC will have a technical meeting on the 15th of September at 09:00 CEST to discuss necessary parameters in order to close the energy balance.
The next project consortium meeting is scheduled to the 5th of October at 10:00 CET.
SynFerm deltog i Bio+-konferensen
Den 7 september gick Bio+-konferensen av stapeln på World Trade Center i Stockholm.
Ca 90 personer var registrerade och ett stort antal projekt inom Bio+-programmet presenterades.
Konferensen öppnades av Åsa Forsum, Energimyndigheten och Per Edström, programchef Bioinnovation, agerade moderator.
Bio+-programmet är en hopslagning av ett stort antal tidigare program, vilket gör att programmet spänner över ett brett område avseende biomassabaserade värdekedjor.
Det konstaterades att biobränslen och biodrivmedel står inför stora utmaningar:
- Inom EU finns det många som inte förstår att uthålligt skogsbruk bidrar med uthållig biomassa.
- Det ensidiga fokuset på elektrifiering som en slags slutgiltig lösning.
- Regeringens inspel om sänkt reduktionsplikt.
- Att biomassan ska räcka till för alla som vill inteckna den för energiändamål, som insatsråvara i kemisk industri, för pappersproduktion, som byggnadsmaterial och för biokolframställning med mera.
Det poängterades också att Sverige är mindre framgångsrikt i att hämta hem FoU-medel från EU när det gäller biomassabaserade värdekedjor.
På nästa års Bio+-konferens kommer SynFerm-projektet att presenteras.
Project Consortium Meeting 9 August
The SynFerm consortium meeting took place as an online meeting on the 9th of August.
Cortus, Q Power, Linköping University and BEIC were represented.
The work with obtaining the permit for the pilot installation is in good progress. The application will be filed next week and the permit is expected well in advance of the arrival of the mobile pilot plant which is scheduled to the middle of September.
The lab scale testing with model gas has finished and the results indicate full CO conversion.
SynFerm will participate in the Bio+ programme conference on the 7th of September in Stockholm.
The next project consortium meeting will take place on the 6th of September at 10:30 CEST.
Visit at CEDER in Soria, Spain
On the 13th of July, Jörgen Held, BEIC, visited the Center for the Development of Renewable Energies (CEDER), a Spanish research centre in Soria belonging to CIEMAT.
CEDER specializes in the applied research, development and promotion of renewable energies. The RD&D activities focus on the energy use of biomass throughout its value chain, studies related to wind energy in low power wind turbines and the search for practical solutions for the integration of renewable generation sources and storage systems in smart microgrids. CEDER has a team of professionals with high technical qualifications and demonstrative technological infrastructures, which also provide technical support to national and international energy companies and institutions.
CEDER hosts several pilot scale and demonstration plants, including two pilot scale gasifiers. One bubbling fluidised bed and one circulating fluidised bed gasifier.
From the left: Jose Maria Sanchez-Hervas, Head of Combustion and Gasification Division, CIEMAT, Jörgen Held, CEO BEIC, Raquel Ramos, Director of CEDER, in front of the pilot scale bubbling fluidised bed gasifier.
Photo: Luis Esteban, Head of Biomass Unit, CEDER.
CIEMAT is working on anaerobic digestion and has a strong interest in syngas fermentation considering the well-developed Spanish forest sector (feedstock supply), the extensive gas grid (distribution) and many gas customers (end users). CIEMAT is part of the SynFerm Technology Transfer and Dissemination Multiplier group and Dr. Raquel Iglesias will be invited to talk at the SynFerm conference organised in collaboration with REGATEC 2024, 15-16 May in Lund, Sweden.
Visit at Cortus’ site in Höganäs
On the 3rd of July, Jürgen Karl (FAU), Hesameddin Fatehi (Lund University) and Jörgen Held (BEIC), visited Cortus’ industrial scale WoodRoll® installation.
From the left: Hesameddin Fatehi, Jürgen Karl and Rolf Ljunggren, CEO Cortus, in front of one of the feedstock pockets. Photo: Jörgen Held
The 6 MWsyngas WoodRoll® installation in Höganäs, Sweden.
Photo: Jörgen Held
The WoodRoll® process is based on three steps, drying, pyrolysis and gasification. The gasification takes place at 1 100 ᵒC but due to highly integrated internal heat recovery the conversion efficiency is high. The nitrogen free syngas is suitable for methanation. The dry gas composition typically consists of 58% H2, 30% CO, 10% CO2 and 2% CH4.
The process involves drying, pyrolysis and gasification.