3
Processing and Drying of Biomass Residue for Feedstock to a Dedicated Cogeneration Facility--Reaction Engineering International, 77 West 200 South, Suite 210, Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1609; 801-364-6925
Dr. N. Stanley Harding, Principal Investigator
Dr. Michael P. Heap, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-99ER82871
Amount: $100,000
Biomass residue streams from biomass-to-ethanol processes have very high moisture contents and must be dried to efficiently utilize their energy. In this project, the heat from the catalyst regeneration and steam production is used to partially dry these residues, rendering them useful in a dedicated cogeneration fluidized bed boiler. The reduced-moisture streams would then be suitable as a boiler feedstock for a dedicated biomass residue-fired boiler, producing steam that would supply the process and/or be used to generate electricity. In Phase I, biomass residues, will be prepared, analyzed and dried. Combustion tests in a laboratory-scale fluidized-bed combustion unit will be carried out on the dried samples. A complete engineering analysis of the process will be performed to determine overall process feasibility.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Economic drying of biomass residues is critical to the success of many biomass processes including biomass-to-ethanol. This technology should provide an economic method of utilizing biomass residue streams to generate process steam and electricity.