Newsletter Archive

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded a combined total of $25 million in research funding to 21 biomass projects in their joint solicitation for Fiscal Year 2004. This is an increase from the previous fiscal year’s (FY2003) joint solicitation, in which DOE and USDA successfully collaborated to award $23 million in research. Adjustments to improve the previous year’s solicitation process were identified by the Biomass R&D Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and were implemented in the FY04 joint solicitation with marked improvement.

This year’s effort was coordinated by DOE, which served as the point-of-contact for administering the process (USDA and DOE rotate administrative responsibilities every year). The DOE staff collected the pre-proposals and formal application proposals, chaired the pre-application and full application technical merit review committees, as well as answered questions regarding the solicitation. This year’s proposals were divided into the following eight technical topic areas:

• Thermochemical Conversion – SynGas Cleanup & Conditioning and Pyrolytic Bio-Oils – Handling and Blending Characteristics (2 projects selected)
• Thermochemical Conversion – Fundamental Breakthrough Research (3 projects selected)
• Biomass – Petroleum Refinery Evaluations (0 projects selected)
• Thermochemical Conversion – Kraft Black Liquor Gasification (3 projects selected)
• Feedstock Development and Production (3 projects selected)
• Biobased Products – Environmental and Economic Performance (5 projects selected)
• Biomass Focused Forest Management Training (3 projects selected)
• Incentives (2 projects selected)

Over 400 pre-applications were received in response to this year’s solicitation. Thirty-one reviewers from each agency participated in the pre-application review process. Following the pre-application review, 93 applicants were invited to submit full applications, representing a collective request of more than 108 million federal dollars. On July 16th the award selections were formally announced. The proposal selections comprise a diverse portfolio of research that attempt to cover each of the targeted technical topic areas.

The joint solicitations continue to be a successful collaboration between USDA and DOE. The departments will continue to make additional improvements in the solicitation and approval process in 2005, which will contribute to the joint solicitation’s success. Below is a list of the of the awardees and their project titles.

U.S. Department of Energy Projects

1. Southern Research Institute - Trace Metal Scavenging from Biomass Syngas with Novel High Temperature Sorbents

   The objective of this project is to develop technology, based on inexpensive high temperature sorbents and novel applications, to condition hot syngas, while preventing the escape of trace metals through the barrier filter. Rather, the trace metals will be reactively captured and ultimately sequestered in a benign form. Application of this technology to full scale gasifiers will allow Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) systems to operate with relatively high particulate control device (PCD) temperatures, in order to obtain high cycle efficiency, without fear of damaging the gas turbine blades with metals that have escaped the PCD. In addition, the high temperature sorbents developed in this work will eliminate toxic metals (e.g., Pb, Cd, As, Se, and Ni) that are poised for regulation.

2. Research Triangle Institute - Biomass Gas Cleanup Using a Therminator

   This project will develop and demonstrate a novel fluidized-bed reactor system (therminator) to remove tar, ammonia and sulfur from raw biomass syngas from a pressurized fluidized-bed biomass gasifier. Since this system can accept particle-laden syngas, the particle filter can be installed downstream of the therminator block. The key to the development of the therminator is the development of an attrition resistant and active tri -functional catalyst to remove tar, ammonia and sulfur. The project will consist of development and scale-up of the triple function catalyst; design, construction and commissioning of a skid-mounted bench-scale therminator; transport and installation of the therminator at Cratech's pressurized fluidized-bed biomass gasification pilot plant; and slip-stream demonstration of the therminator over three 100-h tests using actual biomass gasification syngas. An engineering evaluation and commercial assessment of the therminator technology will also be carried out. The work will be carried out over 36 months.

3. Antares Group Inc. - Catalytic Hydrothermal Gasification for Eastman Kingsport Chemical Production Plant

   The project targets the incorporation of wet waste streams into chemical production processes. It includes an engineering evaluation of the process and process modeling, an economic evaluation and comparison to potential alternatives, and Process Development Unit testing.

   Low-Temperature Catalytic Hydrothermal Gasification (LTCHG) offers an attractive solution for the gasification of biomass slurries and sludges. The process is a unique thermocatalytic gasification concept, which converts wet organic residues to medium-Btu gas (methane and carbon dioxide). Specifically, the gasification system is expected to operate with streams containing as little as 5-20% by weight dry solids (95 to 80% moisture). Conventional gasification systems are generally inoperable with feedstocks containing more than about 50-60% weight moisture, and generally uneconomical at moisture contents exceeding 30% by weight.

4. Gas Technology Institute - Engineering New Catalysts for In-Process Elimination of Tars

   The proposed target aims at developing a new methodology for the economical production of commercial quantities of tar-cracking catalysts. These catalysts should meet existing performance criteria and may make use of otherwise unused waste materials.

   The approach permits the incorporation of catalytically active materials (e.g. NiO) within an inert, refractory material (e.g. olivine) which is then formed and processed (if necessary) to enhance the availability of catalytic material on all exposed surfaces. The exact methods by which commercial quantities of such mixtures are economically produced and formed into granular or monolithic catalysts are proprietary intellectual property of the Gas Technology Institute and due to patent considerations cannot be publicly disclosed at present. However, when these mixtures are prepared and made into finely divided granules or into self-supporting monoliths, the resulting materials should be indistinguishable (in catalytic function) from catalysts prepared by conventional techniques. Indeed, another potentially fruitful area of investigation in the proposed work involves engineering waste materials of little (or negative) value into catalytically active materials by processing industrial wastes that contain potential catalysts into attrition resistant refractory catalyst substrates and tar-cracking catalysts.

5. Bioengineering Resources, Inc. – Theremochemical Conversion of Corn Stover

   The purpose of this project is to develop and demonstrate at pilot scale an optimal gasification / fermentation process to utilize corn stover. A major emphasis will be placed on the integration of a stover ethanol facility with a conventional grain alcohol plant in the corn belt. The corn plant can utilize waste heat from the stover plant. Other synergies include the use of common ethanol storage and loadout facilities, utilities, waste treatment, maintenance shops, laboratories, roads, fire protection, offices, etc. The economy of these commonalities will be quantified to define an optimal corn / stover plant that can serve as a model for the industry. The specific tasks in this project include the definition of the best feedstock conditions and gasifier temperatures, as well as enriched oxygen concentration, to maximize gasifier efficiency and throughput; fermentation of the stover syngas to gather data for design scale up, emissions measurement for permitting and by product utilization; and the preparation of a detailed design and energy balance for projection of the economics of the combined stover / corn plants.

6. Weyerhaeuser Company - Advancement of High Temperature Black Liquor Gasification Technology

   Weyerhaeuser will work collaboratively with other researcher’s to utilize the New Bern facility to:

   • validate the tools (models) and fundamental knowledge generated in other funded and proposed projects.
   • utilize the "commercial" operation of the facility to evaluate solutions to long term process issues (e.g. scaling and other process integration issues work by implementing and demonstrating solutions at New Bern)

   The atmospheric unit operated by Weyerhaeuser in New Bern, North Carolina represents an unusual opportunity to rapidly advance this technology. By partnering with the technologies developer, Chemrec, the issues that need resolution to achieve the efficiency, through put, reliability and pulp mill integration necessary for the technology to be considered commercially viable can be dealt with relatively quickly and at reasonable cost. The Weyerhaeuser Company, realizing that the technology is not likely to gain commercial success without rapidly addressing these important issues proposes to make their New Bern unit available as a “test bed” to advance the technology to commercial reality. This proposal identifies the scale up and commercialization issues that the New Bern unit is capable of addressing and lays out a plan, working with others, to achieve the needed results.

7. Princeton University - Cost-Benefit Analysis of Gasification for Fuels/Chemicals Production at Kraft Pulp Mills

   The project will analyze the cost and benefits of producing fuels and chemicals through gasification at pulp mills. It will complement an earlier study that looked at heat and power production.

   The assembled project team has recently completed a major independently-reviewed study and national impacts of market penetration of black-liquor gasification combined cycle (BLGCC) for heat and power generation. They are not aware of any such detailed studies that have been undertaken to assess black liquor or biomass-derived fuels and chemicals at pulp-mill based biorefineries in the U.S. The study is intended to help fill this gap. It will inform technology decision makers in the pulp and paper industry and the fuels and electricity industries on the potential value of gasification investments at pulp mills. It will also help inform DOE regarding prospective national costs and benefits of such biorefineries, and highlight R&D needs. The output of the project will include detailed heat/mass balances for case-study mill biorefineries, capital and operating cost estimates, project financials and a national impacts assessment quantifying the energy, environmental and economic development benefits.

8. University of Utah - Investigation of Pressurized Entrained Flow Kraft Black Liquor Gasification in an Industrially Relevant Environment

   The University of Utah, Brigham Young University and Simulent, Inc. propose to address several of the research needs that have been identified as critical for successful commercialization of entrained-flow kraft black liquor gasification, and to provide new and relevant data on liquor conversion by gasification. The approach involves combining operation of a special semi-pilot scale pressurized, entrained-flow research gasifier with fundamental lab-scale experiments conducted under controlled conditions. The project comprises five technical tasks. Droplet formation and burner performance will be evaluated through a combination of experimental droplet imaging studies and computational modeling of droplet formation. Physical characteristics of black liquor will be studied throughout the entire range of conversion, from droplet to smelt bead. Chemical transformations of the liquor and development of the syngas will be studied in detail. Transport and radiative properties of the smelt product will be measured, and properties of the syngas resulting from partial oxidation of liquor in a pressurized gasifier will be characterized.

9. Rohm and Haas Company - New Sustainable Chemistry for Adhesives, Elastomers and Foams

   Rohm and Haas Company will partner with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Eastman Chemicals, the USDA Eastern Regional Research Center and DOE/USDA to develop novel biobased chemistry. The team will pursue a biorefinery approach to produce novel soy-sugar polymers. The program will develop products which can replace petrochemical-based polyurethane adhesives, elastomers and foams. The team will use acetoacetates of mono- or disaccharides and other biobased materials such as castor oil, glycerol, isosorbide and crop oil derivatives at levels of 20-50% and acrylate modified crop oils at levels from 20-60% to produce biobased adhesives. Research on adhesives will then be extended to foams and elastomers. Polyurethane foams and elastomers are closely related technologically to polyurethane adhesives in that all three applications require an excellent balance of elastomeric character and high tensile strength and, not surprisingly, share common raw materials.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Projects

1. University of Tennessee - Integrated Size Reduction and Separation to Pre-Fractionate Biomass

   A systematic approach with the university/government research infrastructure and an equipment manufacturer is expected to rapidly lead to a commercialized system and useful understanding for other biomass processing efforts. Innovative size reduction of biomass reduces energy use, increases ease of bulk handling, increases density, reduces transportation costs, and facilitates efficient separation. This project’s aim is to develop a new size reduction system. Improved physical separation of biomass concentrates higher value components, returns unused plant components to the soil, decreases bulk for wet separation processes, decreases drying energy and improves transportation and the use of a voluminous, chemically diverse feedstock. Integration of size reduction and separation is accomplished through concurrent tasks timed to identify connective functions and biomass properties. High opportunity feedstocks like switchgrass, corn stover, forest residues, and straw from rice or flax will be prioritized.

2. Imperial Young Farmers & Ranch - Biomass Opportunity for Imperial, Nebraska Region: What is the Value?

   This project’s objective is to define the value of sustainable removal of the “excess” feedstock to the farmers and potential processors across the supply chain using innovative methods for corn grain and stover collection, wet storage of stover, and rail transport from collection sites to supply a large biorefinery. In the next 10 years biorefineries are expected to be processing biomass—initially crop residues like straw and stover—for the production of fuels and chemicals. Potential processors have made great strides in improving the conversion process, but there remains a large amount of uncertainty in the feedstock supply, its cost, reliability and environmental impact of removal. Benefits for changing existing farming practices must be demonstrated to the farmer and the potential farmer with stable pricing and a suitable life cycle analysis. The findings can be quickly implemented in the short term, and are readily adapted to straw and energy crops as markets for feedstocks develop.

3. Iowa State University - Integrated Feedstock Supply Systems for Corn Stover Biomass

   This project will address critical needs for corn stover feedstock development through an integrated multidisciplinary approach. Overall objectives are to: 1) develop innovative harvesting and storage technologies to move corn stover from the farm to the factory gate; 2) identify genetic varieties of corn with specific properties attractive for biomass industries; and 3) evaluate and optimize these systems for efficiency, and economic and environmental sustainability. System integration goals of the project include maximizing the economic viability of processing corn biomass to fuel and chemicals, while increasing overall biomass productivity, efficiency of nutrient and energy use, soil and environmental quality, and rural economic development.

4. Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. - BioSep: A New Ethanol Recovery Technology for Small-Scale Rural Production of Ethanol from Biomass

   This project focuses on the development and demonstration of BioSep, a novel membrane-based ethanol recovery technology that allows economical distributed production of ethanol from biomass available throughout rural America. In contrast, current ethanol production technology requires a large centralized processing facility because the ethanol recovery step is economically viable only at large capacities. The technical approach to be followed in the project integrates a pervaporation process that uses ethano-selective membranes with a novel condensation technique to produce a concentrated solution of ethanol. Dehydration of this solution yields fuel-grade ethanol. The proposed technology will reduce the cost of small-scale, localized ethanol production in rural communities. This will benefit the rural agricultural economy, generating jobs in farming, ethanol production, and distribution. Ethanol that is produced locally, can be used locally, potentially eliminating the need for an expensive distribution infrastructure. The process has been proven in bench-scale research, but a field demonstration is essential to prove its viability.

5. Mississippi State University, Forest Products Department - Development of a Wood Preservative System from Wood BioOil Fractions

   There is a need to develop a cost-effective environmentally benign organic wood preservative system for residential applications to minimize environmental concerns. Research indicates that BioOils may have a potential role in the development of new environmentally benign wood preservative formulations. This concept is particularly attractive because BioOil can be derived from low-value wood feedstocks such as pine plantation thinings, chips, bark or sawdust. This project will develop a novel, technologically advanced approach to developing a wood preservative system with fuel as a by-product. Both the BioOil preservative and fuel will diversify the range of products that can be produced from plentiful timber resources

6. Technology Management Inc. - Fuel Cell Systems Operating on 100% Bio-Liquid Fuels

   A significant fraction of fuels consumed in the U.S. is from foreign sources, creating a major strategic and economic vulnerability. Shifting our energy dependence away from imported petroleum sources toward alternative, renewable, domestic agricultural sources could reduce this dependency. Coupling biofuels with fuel cells for stationary distributed electric power generation will further enhance economic and environmental benefits. Under this proposal, Technology Management, Inc. will build and operate a modular proof-of-concept solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power generation system capable of generating up to 1kW of biopower from biomass or biofuels. Compared to conventional, engine-based power generation technologies, the proposed fuel cell systems are extremely clean, quiet, and practical at smaller module sizes with the potential to provide a new revenue stream/co-product for bio-fuels, such as vegetable oil and ethanol. This program leverages the current national priority and investment in fuel cell commercialization, and provides economic and social benefits for rural enterprises and communities by demonstrating a demand component for renewable biofuels, and modular, distributed SOFC power generation systems.

7. Watershed Research and Training Center - Hayfork Biomass Utilization and Value Added Model for Rural Development

   This project supports the design and early implementation phases of an innovative biomass utilization facility to be located in Hayfork, California. It will include development of stewardship contracts for public lands fuels reduction; a log sort yard; a small log processor, a post and pole operation, a value-added incubator and industrial park, and wood-fired electrical generation plant. The basic approach is to add value in three distinct areas: 1) process currently sub-merchantable material into lumber and poles to increase their value from fuel to forest product; 2) add value to the electricity generated by the biomass plant by offering seasonally adjusted capacity; and 3) add value to the downstream heat and steam from the power plant by selling heat and steam to greenhouses and manufacturers co-located at the facility site. Currently no single part of this value-added system can stand alone on its own economic merit. Only by combining uses and value-added can the economics work. This model, once it is developed, financed, and built, will provide the infrastructure for forest health and fuels reduction work on public lands. This model is relatively small scale and can be used in many public land communities.

8. USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station - Technology Transfer and Education Programs for the Southern U.S.

   The goal of this biomass training program is to encourage the use of woody biomass for bioenergy production in communities at the wildland-urban interface in the thirteen southern states and Puerto Rico. The overall objectives of this project are to: 1) increase awareness and knowledge about using woody biomass for energy production; 2) enable community leaders, potential woody fuel users, biomass suppliers, and forest managers to discuss the possibilities in their region; 3) provide tools and resources as communities begin to plan for new opportunities. The expected result is increased likelihood that more woody biomass will be used to generate power in southern communities.

9. Southern Forest Research Partnership Inc. - Sustainable Forestry for Bioenergy and Biobased Products

   The southern United States provides sixty percent of the nation’s timber supply and by association a very high percentage of the nation’s wood waste. The potential availability of bioenergy and bio-based products in the South is very substantial. This project will rapidly develop knowledge enhancing products to inform and train rural community leaders and practitioners involved in growing, harvesting, transporting, and processing biomass and bio-based products. Once the curricula, training events, and programs are designed, a targeted marketing, outreach, and program delivery will be made available to southern forest managers, including historically underserved communities.

10. University of Minnesota - Development of Existing Biomass Resources through Education of Key Supply Bottlenecks

    Supplying biomass to wood burning plants in Minnesota is a potential market for loggers; however, the supply of wood fiber that is suited to pulp mills, reconstituted products or saw timber is limited and nearly fully utilized by existing mills. Development of a market for pre-commercial thinnings and brush-land harvest would reduce the costs of these valuable management techniques and allow land managers additional opportunities. In order to establish this technology, a supply chain and base of buyers is essential. This project addresses education that targets key bottlenecks in the supply chain and provides resource-based information to key existing, or potential, buyers.

11. Electric Power Research Institute - Small-scale, Biomass Fired Gas Turbine Plants Suitable for Distributed and Mobile Power Generation

    This project will evaluate the economic benefits of using forestry residues, including those arising from the Healthy Forests Initiative, for generating power in small-scale, indirectly fired, gas-turbine power plants. Two nominal plants would be evaluated, 2 MW and 15 MW. The goal of this project is to complete a financial analysis of the proposed indirect-fired cycle and determine the circumstances under which the two plants can operate economically. The economic benefits of implementing this project will encourage increased usage of biomass resources within the U.S. resulting in substantial improvements in the security of energy supply, environmental quality by reducing fossil fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions, and economic growth in rural regions.

12. North Carolina State University - Development of Workable Incentive Systems for Biobased Products, Biofuels and Biopower

    This project will develop a series of proposals for incentive systems designed to promote developing markets for biorefineries – entities which take organic feedstocks to produce biomass energy, biofuels, and/or biobased products. Local governments and rural communities can participate directly by creating “biomass enterprise zones” with local economic development goals in mind. The approach will be to examine models of local, state and national incentives for energy, agriculture, and economic development; determine factors that influence their interaction and effectiveness; identify barriers and gaps and make recommendations to overcome them; then to use this information to create incentive system models to promote biorefinery development; and, finally to demonstrate the application of the models through a series of geographically and technologically diverse case studies.

13. New Energy Solutions, Inc. - Design and Demonstration of a Commercial Prototype for Onsite Production of High Purity Hydrogen from Farm Animal Wastes

    New Energy Solutions, Inc. (NESI) has integrated REB Research and Consulting’s (REB’s) patented hydrogen selective tubes into the design of a compact plant for converting animal wastes into high purity hydrogen. The overall plant design includes an anaerobic digester to provide anaerobic digester gas (ADG) to generate pure hydrogen. The project objective is to demonstrate the operational, environmental, and economic features and benefits of an innovative plant designed for utilizing animal wastes to produce ultra high purity hydrogen for a variety of uses that include fuel for fuel cells, transportation, and industrial processes. NESI will conduct a three-phase program, the results of which will include verification of the design parameters and performance database for the plant; design and construction of a Beta demonstration plant; and demonstration of the operational, environmental, and economic features of this plant at an existing anaerobic digester site on a dairy farm in New York State.

The state of Alaska consumed approximately 627 trillion Btu of energy in 2000. The majority of that energy was provided by natural gas and petroleum, representing 53 percent and 41 percent of the total energy consumed, respectively. Coal supplied 3 percent of the total energy and hydroelectric provided 1 percent. Biomass supplied 2 trillion Btu of energy, or less than 1 percent of the total energy consumed in the state. ¹

A variety of biomass projects are currently being conducted across the state of Alaska. Small communities, such as the Village of Dot Lake, have installed modern wood-fired boiling systems to provide heat to residents. This project, sponsored by the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) and the U.S. Department of Energy regional biomass program displayed the economic benefits of using forest products and other local renewable resources. ² The AEA is also working with the University of Alaska Fairbanks’s Arctic Energy Technology Development Laboratory to test the use of fish oil blend diesel fuel in power generators across the state. This promising technology can utilize a portion of the 8 million gallons of fish oil produced yearly in Alaskan fishing communities to provide heat and energy to local residents. An initial test of fish oil diesel blend fuel was successfully completed at UniSea Inc.’s plant in Unalaska. ³

Alaska also has policy incentives to encourage the use of biomass energy. The Mainstay Energy Rewards Program – Green Tag Purchase Program offers customers who install renewable energy systems the option to sell energy credits. Biomass and biofuel electricity systems are compensated at a rate of 0.1 cent to 1 dollar per kilowatt hour based upon the type of technology and the length of purchase contract. The Alaska State Legislature and AEA provide loans to local utilities, companies, and communities to upgrade or develop small-scale power facilities. Eligible energy production, transmission, or waste energy conservation facilities are required to depend on non-nuclear sources of power, including biomass technology. ⁴

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