46 INSIGHTS 2018Australia’s agriculture sector is soon set
to benefit from the arrival of a mobile
biomass-to-bioenergy plant down under.
Not only can the plant generate bioenergy
at the biomass site in seconds, it can be
used as a mobile bolt-on electricity plant
that can potentially make agribusinesses
completely independent of the grid.
An alternative to fossil fuels, bioenergy
has the potential to be predominant in
rural areas thanks to technologies than
can convert biomass — woody waste
and feedstocks — into biofuels, biochemicals, heat and electricity.
The expense of transporting biomass to a high-cost off-site
conversion plant, however, has been a deterrent for many Australian
agribusinesses — until now.
The Mobile Pyrolysis Plant (MPP) uses fast pyrolysis technology
— high-temperature, low-oxygen treatment of woody waste — to
generate biofuels and biochemicals (such as bio-crude oil, wood
gas, charcoal and wood vinegar) and electricity. The technology
mimics nature’s process at high speed, producing bio-crude oil and
its offsets in a similar way that the environment formed oil reserves
over millions of years.
The MPP comes in two sizes and can be used by agribusinesses for
bolt-on electricity generation. The 2-tonne version is transportable on
a car trailer, while the 10-tonne size is collapsible, easily transportableon a truck and able to generate 1.2 MW of
energy over a 12-hour process. This enables
agribusinesses to power up machinery
— and potentially their entire operations
— independent of external energy sources.
Developed in the Netherlands by
renewable energy technology manufacturer
Nettenergy BV, the MPP will be distributed
across Australasia by Pyrotech Energy,
which also has the rights to manufacture
and license the plant throughout the region.
With a high thermal energy output yet very
low emissions, it is claimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from
biomass by up to 85%.
“Australia’s agriculture sector produces millions of tonnes of waste
wood and second-generation feedstock residue annually — these
create carbon dioxide emissions when left as waste,” said Pyrotech
Energy Director Christos Karantonis. “The MPP technology turns this
waste into valuable product without harming the environment, allowing
agribusinesses to create legitimate commercial income far easier than
through existing bioenergy plants or technologies.
“Farmers, forestries, waste collectors, municipalities [and] water
treatment facilities can use the bio-crude (pyrolysis) oil in boilers,
furnaces, kilns or turbines to create heat and electricity. When
connected to their grid, they can supply their operations with 50–25 kW
of electricity per hour, depending the project and the application.”case studies
Mobile biomass-to-energy plant
New catalyst converts CO
2
to natural gas
Australian scientists have developed a new efficient catalyst that
converts carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the air into synthetic natural gas, in
what is claimed to be a clean process using solar energy. Invented at
the University of Adelaide in collaboration with CSIRO, the process has
the potential to replace fossil fuels while continuing the use of existing
carbon-based fuel technologies without increasing atmospheric CO 2.
“Capturing carbon from the air and utilising it for industrial processes
is one strategy for controlling CO 2 emissions and reducing the need for
fossil fuels,” said University of Adelaide PhD candidate Renata Lippi, first
author of the research published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.
“But for this to be economically viable, we need an energy-efficient
process that utilises CO 2 as a carbon source.
“Research has shown that the hydrogen can be produced efficiently
with solar energy. But combining the hydrogen with CO 2 to produce
methane is a safer option than using hydrogen directly as an energy
source and allows the use of existing natural gas infrastructure.
“The main sticking point, however, is the catalyst — a compound needed to
drive the reaction because CO 2 is usually a very inert or unreactive chemical.”
The researchers created this catalyst using porous crystals called
metal-organic frameworks which allow precise spatial control of the
chemical elements. As noted by Dr Danielle Kennedy, AIM future science
platform director with CSIRO, “The catalyst discovery process involved
the synthesis and screening of more than 100 materials.”
Other catalysts have suffered from issues around poor CO 2
conversion, unwanted carbon-monoxide production, catalyst stability,
low methane production rates and high reaction temperatures. The
new catalyst efficiently produces almost pure methane from CO 2 ,
with minimal carbon-monoxide production and high stability under
both continuous reaction for several days and after shutdown and
exposure to air.
Importantly, only a small amount of the catalyst is needed for high
production of methane, which increases economic viability. The catalyst
also operates at mild temperatures and low pressures, making solar
thermal energy possible.
“What we’ve produced is a highly active, highly selective
(producing almost pure methane without side products) and stable
catalyst that will run on solar energy,” said project leader Professor
Christian Doonan, director of the University of Adelaide’s Centre
for Advanced Nanomaterials. “This makes carbon-neutral fuel from
CO 2 a viable option.”