Taylor Biomass Energy, LLC- Brochure

____________________________________________________________________________________ 350 Neelytown Road · Montgomery, NY 12549 tel 845.457.4021 fax 845.457.9380 www.taylorbiomassenergy.com ?May?28,?2013??Mr.?John?Fischer?Commissioner?MassDEP?One?Winter?St?Boston?MA?02108???Dear?Mr.?Fischer:??We?understand?that?the?Partnership?for?Policy?Integrity?has?corresponded?with?you?regarding?the?proposed?modi?caKon?of?the?MassachuseLs?Solid?Waste?Management?Plan?to?allow?the?development?of?gasi?caKon?based?power?plants.????Taylor?Biomass?Energy?is?a?developer?and,?as?such,?is?interested?in?ensuring?that?all?interested?parKes?are?provided?with?correct,?unbiased?informaKon?regarding?gasi?caKon,?in?general,?and?the?Taylor?gasi?caKon?process,?speci?cally.??Gasi?ca'on?as?a?Technology??Gasi?caKon?is?simply?the?conversion?of?a?solid?(or?liquid)?fuel?into?a?gaseous?fuel.??As?such,?the?product?of?a?gasi?caKon?process?is?a?combusKble?gas?sometimes?referred?to?as?a?syngas.??Gasi?caKon?processes?have?been?pracKced?commercially?for?well?over?100?years.??Many?large?ciKes?during?the?late?19th?and?early?20th?centuries?had?gasi?caKon?plants?producing?“town?gas”?that?was?used?for?heaKng?and?illuminaKon.??Coal,?wood?(biomass),?and?crude?oil?were?the?primary?fuels?for?these?early?gasi?caKon?systems.????In?these?early?gasi?caKon?systems,?and?in?many?gasi?caKon?systems?today,?the?conversion?to?a?gas?is?accomplished?by?a?parKal?oxidaKon?of?the?incoming?fuel.??As?a?general?rule,?one?half?of?the?air?that?would?be?required?for?complete?combusKon?of?the?fuel?is?used?along?with?water?(or?steam)?to?convert?the?incoming?solid?fuel?into?a?highly?reducing?product?gas.??The?primary?reacKons?involved?are?the?reacKon?of?carbon?with?oxygen?to?produce?carbon?monoxide?and?the?reacKon?of?carbon?with?water?to?produce?hydrogen?and?carbon?monoxide.??? ____________________________________________________________________________________ 350 Neelytown Road · Montgomery, NY 12549 tel 845.457.4021 fax 845.457.9380 www.taylorbiomassenergy.com ? (1) and (2) The?basic?combusKon?reacKon?produces?carbon?dioxide,?which?is?converted,?to?a?large?extent,?into?addiKonal?carbon?monoxide?as?follows:?? (3) (4) In?general?the?primary?gasi?caKon?reacKons?are?heat?consuming?reacKons?(endothermic?reacKons)?and?require?a?source?of?heat?to?maintain?the?gasi?er?operaKon.??In?convenKonal?gasi?ers,?this?heat?energy?is?provided?by?reacKons?(1)?and?(3)?above.??The?endothermic?reacKons?(2)?and?(4)?o?-set?this?heat?generaKon?in?producing?the?reducing?syngas.????The?reducing?environment?that?is?present?in?the?gasi?caKon?reactor?completely?changes?the?chemistry?of?potenKal?reacKons?within?the?gasi?caKon?reactor.??This?means?that?species?such?as?nitrogen?in?the?fuel?form?ammonia?(NH3?)?rather?than?nitrogen?oxides?and?chlorine?forms?hydrogen?chloride?(HCl)?gas?rather?than?other?complex?organic?molecules?such?as?dioxin?that?would?be?present?in?a?combusKon?(oxidizing)?environment.??This?is?due?to?the?high?reacKvity?and?concentraKon?of?hydrogen?present?in?the?reducing?environment?present?in?the?gasi?caKon?reactor.??These?intermediate?products?(ammonia?and?HCl)?are?removed?from?the?syngas?prior?to?its?end?use?thereby?reducing?the?environmental?impact?of?the?gasi?caKon?process.??The?Taylor?Biomass?Gasi?ca'on?Process??The?Taylor?Biomass?Gasi?caKon?process?is?an?improvement?in?gasi?caKon?technologies.??It?uKlizes?an?indirect?heaKng?method?to?provide?the?energy?required?for?the?gasi?caKon?process?rather?than?relying?on?the?reacKon?of?oxygen?within?the?gasi?caKon?reactor.??Such?indirect?heaKng?is?possible?due?to?the?high?reacKvity?of?biomass?materials.??A?schemaKc?of?the?Taylor?process?is?found?in?the??gure?below:?? ____________________________________________________________________________________ 350 Neelytown Road · Montgomery, NY 12549 tel 845.457.4021 fax 845.457.9380 www.taylorbiomassenergy.com ??????? ??In?the?Taylor?process,?energy?required?for?gasi?caKon?is?provided?by?the?circulaKon?of?hot?solids?(sand)?from?an?associated?combusKon?reactor.??The?only?gas?fed?to?the?gasi?caKon?reactor?is?steam?thereby?eliminaKng?oxygen?from?the?gasi?caKon?reactor?and?its?associated?reacKons.??This?provides?a?richer?syngas?product?as?the?nitrogen?content?in?the?air?that?is?used?in?convenKonal?gasi?caKon?systems?is?not?present.??? ____________________________________________________________________________________ 350 Neelytown Road · Montgomery, NY 12549 tel 845.457.4021 fax 845.457.9380 www.taylorbiomassenergy.com ?Such?a?reacKon?environment?thereby?eliminates?the?possibility?for?the?formaKon?of?dioxin?as?(1)?there?is?no?oxygen?available?and?(2)?chlorine?is?converted?to?HCl.????Char?produced?in?the?Taylor?gasi?caKon?reactor?is?used?as?the?fuel?for?heaKng?the?sand?heat?transfer?material.??As?this?char?is?a?highly?devolaKlized?material,?it?consists?primarily?of?carbon?resulKng?in?few?byproducts?typically?associated?with?combusKon?of?biomass?materials.??The?result?is?a?carbon?free,?inert?ash.????Other?indirectly?heated?gasi?caKon?processes?have?been?demonstrated?at?commercial?scale?including?the?SilvaGas?gasi?er?in?Burlington,?VT?and?the?Repotec?gasi?er?in?Gussing,?Austria.??Both?of?these?gasi?ers?demonstrated?the?e?ecKveness?of?indirect?gasi?caKon?as?an?enhancement?over?convenKonal?“air?blown”?gasi?caKon?processes.??The?SilvaGas?gasi?er?won?an?environmental?performance?award?from?the?governor?of?Vermont?and?the?Repotec?gasi?er?has?been?in?operaKon?for??many?years?with?high?operaKonal?success.??The?Taylor?gasi?er?further?improves?indirect?gasi?caKon?by?converKng?condensable?organic?materials?(someKmes?referred?to?as?tars)?in?the?syngas?into?addiKonal?carbon?monoxide?and?hydrogen?by?the?inclusion?of?a?novel?gas?condiKoning?reactor?within?the?solids?circulaKon?loop.??This?approach?improves?overall?process?e?ciency?while?eliminaKng?another?potenKal?environmental?issue,?namely?the?disposal?of?these?condensable?organic?materials.??In?convenKonal?gasi?caKon?processes,?these?materials?must?be?removed?from?the?syngas?by?a?separate?downstream?process?resulKng?in?an?organic?containing?waste?water?or?waste?solvent?stream?that?requires?further?processing?prior?to?disposal.??As?a?further?enhancement,?the?Taylor?gasi?er,?when?used?with?MSW?derived?biomass?will?incorporate?an?enhanced?sorKng?and?separaKng?process?prior?to?the?gasi?caKon?reactor,?thereby?eliminating?the?potenKal?for?heavy?metals,?mercury,?or?other?hazardous?materials?to?enter?the?gasi?caKon?process.??Why?is?Gasi?ca'on?Confused?with?Incinera'on???Incinerators?are?typically?used?to?destroy?unwanted?materials?by?combusKon?(or?“burning”).??The?earliest?incinerators?were?piles?of?rubbish?or?drums?of?material?burned?in?a?back?yard?or?alley.??These?early?incinerators?were?replaced?by?industrial-type?combustors?designed?to?recover?heat?through?the?generaKon?of?steam.??These?incinerators?operate?at?high?temperatures,?but?typically?have?a?variety?of?environmental?issues?that?must?be?addressed?including?nitrogen?oxide?formaKon,?low?process?e?ciency,?and?the?potenKal? ____________________________________________________________________________________ 350 Neelytown Road · Montgomery, NY 12549 tel 845.457.4021 fax 845.457.9380 www.taylorbiomassenergy.com to?form?highly?toxic?materials?such?as?dioxins.???For?this?reason?the?term?“incinerator”?has?a?signi?cant?negaKve?connotaKon?associated?with?it.????The?term?gasi?er?has?no?such?negaKve?connotaKon,?but?is?as?discussed,?a?completely?di?erent?technology?from?incineraKon.??Unfortunately,?there?are?developers?that?use?the?term?“gasi?er”?as?a?synonym?for?“staged?combustor”.??In?these?cases,?no?separate?syngas?stream?is?produced?but?rather?any?reducing?gases?are?consumed?within?the?combusKon?vessel?to?produce?a??ue?gas?only.??Such?staged?combusKon?has?been?uKlized?for?many?years?as?a?means?of?controlling?nitrogen?oxide?formaKon?in?large?power?plants.??While?there?is?a?“reducing?zone”?within?such?a?combusKon?device,?no?intermediate?syngas?(gaseous?fuel)?is?produced.??The?air?introduced?is?merely?split?into?two?or?more?inlets?into?the?reactor?but?the?total?inlet?conKnues?to?over?the?stoichiometric?requirement?for?complete?combusKon?rather?than?the?sub-stoichiometric?air?inlet?in?a?true?gasi?er.??From?an?environmental?perspecKve,?this?means?that?the?advantageous?reducing?environment?does?not?exist,?nor?does?the?ability?to?remove?the?precursors?that?could?form?undesired?pollutants.????Furthermore,?the?classi?caKon?of?a?process?as?an?“incinerator”?merely?because?the?operaKng?temperature?is?similar?to?an?incinerator?does?not?make?that?process?an?incinerator.??Because?of?this?“everything?in?one?box”?approach?these?staged?combusKon?processes?are?very?much?like?a?simple?incineraKon?device?with?a?slightly?improved?nitrogen?oxide?pro?le.???Conclusion??Gasi?caKon?process?in?general?and?the?Taylor?biomass?gasi?caKon?process?speci?cally?provide?the?ability?to?enhance?energy?recovery?from?biomass?materials.??Gasi?caKon?processes?are?not?incineraKon?processes?and?do?not?have?the?same?environmental?pro?le?due?to?the?signi?cantly?different?process?chemistry?and?reactor?con?guraKon.??The?Taylor?biomass?gasi?caKon?further?enhances?the?environmental?pro?le?beyond?that?of?convenKonal?gasi?caKon?processes?by?the?inclusion?of?a?novel?gas?condiKoning?reactor?within?the?process,?further?eliminaKng?the?potenKal?for?environmental?issues.??? ____________________________________________________________________________________ 350 Neelytown Road · Montgomery, NY 12549 tel 845.457.4021 fax 845.457.9380 www.taylorbiomassenergy.com ??Wide?spread?applicaKon?of?biomass?gasi?caKon?provides?the?ability?to?uKlize?many?otherwise?untapped?sustainable?resources?for?energy?producKon.????Please?feel?free?to?call?me?at?(614)?893-7312?with?any?quesKon?you?might?have.???Sincerely?yours,?????Mark?A.?Paisley,?PE?VP?Research?and?Development