Project Number: 5358-21410-002-05
Project Type: Specific C/A

Start Date: Feb 01, 2004
End Date: Jan 31, 2005

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research project is to design, develop, and test a farm-scale gasification reactor suitable for burning grass seed straw and other agricultural biomass wastes to produce high quality syngas that can be used to generate electricity and other value-added bio-based products to increase on-farm income. Using the test gasification reactor platform, we will determine the most economic technical paths to overcome agronomic, microbiological, and physical chemical limitations to on-farm production of energy and other bio-based products.

Approach:
We will develop, construct, and test a sub-scale test reactor (< 1 MM BTU/hr) at the Western Research Institute and use the results to finalize the design specifications for constructing a farm-scale reactor that can process one-ton of biomass per hour (14 MM BTU/hr). The thermal-gasification reactor design is intended to produce high-quality syngas at an on-farm scale from grass straw or other agricultural biomass residues. Silica and other elemental compounds that affect quality and anti-quality components of biomass feedstock affecting gasification reactor performance will be analyzed and related to syngas quantity and quality. The syngas produced is intended to fuel an engine-powered generator or suited for use with emerging technologies that are scalable to on-farm use including solid oxide fuel cells for ultra-high efficiency power generation and synthesis of fuel alcohol using inorganic catalysts in thermal-chemical reactors. The hot oxidation exhaust from gasification can be used for heat-recovery-steam-generation or crop drying applications. The performance specification is the production of syngas with a quality ratio around 12 (H2 + CO)/(CO2 + H2O) and net thermal-to-chemical energy efficiency in the 65-70% range. Documents SCA with Western Research Institute. Formerly 5358-21410-001-05S (6/04).

Project Team

Steiner, Jeffrey Banowetz, Gary Scott Macadam - Lead Engineer 541-738-4153

Related National Programs

Integrated Farming Systems (207)   Bioenergy & Energy Alternatives (307)