Torrefaction Blackwood Technology
Torrefaction is a thermal process used to produce high-grade solid biofuels from various streams of woody biomass or agro residues. The end product is a stable, homogeneous, high quality solid biofuel with far greater energy density and calorific value than the original feedstock, providing significant benefits in logistics, handling and storage, as well as opening up a wide range of potential uses. Torrefaction involves heating the biomass to temperatures between 250 and 300 degrees Celsius in a low-oxygen atmosphere. When biomass is heated at such temperatures, the moisture evaporates and various low-calorific components contained in the biomass are driven out. During this process the hemi-cellulose in the biomass decomposes, which transforms the biomass from a fibrous low quality fuel into a product with excellent fuel characteristics.
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Product Details
Torrefied pellets have immediate benefits over regular wood pellets or wood chips:
- Higher calorific value
- More homogeneous product
- Higher bulk density
- Excellent grindability
- Higher durability
- Hydrophobic nature/water resistance
- No biological activity
Torrefaction of biomass results in a high grade biofuel which can be used as a replacement of coal in electricity and heat production and as input for gasification processes in the production of high value biobased fuels and chemicals.
The benefits of torrefied pellets make it the ideal coal replacement:
- Grinds & burns like coal – existing infrastructure can be used
- Lower feedstock costs
- Lower shipping costs
- Minimal de-rating of the power plant
- Provides non-intermittent renewable energy
- Lower sulfur and ash content (compared with coal)
BTS
Blackwood Technology has developed a unique process to produce torrefied biomass using the Blackwood Torrefaction System (BTS). The BTS is a proprietary multi-stage process using a series of reactors to convert fibrous biomass feedstock into torrefied biomass. The volatiles released during the torrefaction process (torgas) are burnt in a combustor, providing the required heat for the torrefaction process and the predrying of the biomass. The final stage of the BTS is the product cooling.
Blackwood’s process and technology are flexible with respect to the particle size and to the nature of the incoming biomass. Due to the multi-staged BTS, the torrefaction process can be optimally controlled, which results in safe operation and an ability to produce at the optimal process conditions. The unique and patented BTS process is developed for torrefaction, resulting in optimal efficiency of the process. Efficiency, process controllability and flexibility are all essential cost drivers: keeping feedstock and processing costs as low as possible is crucial in a commodity fuel market.
Compared to other torrefaction technologies, the Blackwood Torrefaction System stands for a much faster process. This decreases material hold-up in the system, reducing the size of the installation and leading to an unequalled control of the torrefaction process. The controllability of the process enables very precise and constant process conditions, which result in the ability to produce at any desired torrefaction degree while ensuring a homogeneous product output.
Due to its small footprint and short residence times, the BTS is a very scalable system. A BTS can be easily integrated with standard drying systems, such rotary drum and belt dryers, used in wood pellet plants.
The Blackwood Torrefaction System is the only torrefaction technology in the world, which has been proven at industrial scale. The technology was first applied in the demo torrefaction plant of Topell Energy in Duiven, the Netherlands. Torrefied pellets produced in this plant were successfully co-fired in several Dutch power plants and smaller CHP systems. In 2013 a large scale co-firing test was conducted at the Amer power in Geertruidenberg, which proved that Topell’s torrefied pellets could replace fossil coal, while using the existing coal infrastructure.
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