[Gasification] 2 MWe Gasifier at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

[Tom Miles]

Thomas, Mark,

 

I think it is best to let them run for a year and work out the kinks before
we second guess efficiencies. Let’s hope they can get the kinds of run time
and capacity factors that Babcock Volund and Repotec report.

I am sure they will report once they are running smoothly. I’m interested to
see where they are a year from now in operation and maintenance costs,
efficiencies and overall reliability. Judging from their other plants and
from what I see I would say their prospects are good. 

 

This is an installation that is only a few miles from the Nexterra head
office and not far from similar gasifiers that Nexterra has  have at a local
paper mill. As Thomas would say, the baby is not too far from the parents so
when it cries they can respond quickly. And they know where to find good
quality, local, fuel. 

 

The heat output is larger than stated on their website. I haven’t discussed
this with them but they did say that the heat load is the primary benefit of
the system. Power generation is secondary. The university pays much more for
natural gas than we would pay in Oregon at industrial rates. Plus the
province has a carbon tax. So heating with wood is desirable. Perhaps for
this they increased the size of the boiler.  If I remember correctly the
jacket water dries the fuel (in a Stella down flow belt dryer). The boiler
is fed with engine exhaust and directly with gas from the gasifier. The
gasifier can drive either heat, power or both. 

 

Tom  

 

 

From: gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Thomas
Koch
Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2012 3:23 PM
To: mark at ludlow.com; Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification
Subject: Re: [Gasification] 2 MWe Gasifier at University of British
Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

 

Hi Tom

 

Vonderfull to hear that good quality small scale gasification systems are
being build. 

 

One of the challenges of small scale gasification systems are the low total
efficiency.  

 

As I can read from their homepage it is a 2 MWel system that is also
producing 9000 pound steam/hour and a total efficiency og 65 % 

 

That gives a total fuel input of 7,5-8 MJ/s and 25-26 % electric efficiency
and a total loss of 2,5-3 MJ/s. 

Is it possible to say where these losses occur?

 

Best regards

 

Thomas

 

Fra: gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] På vegne af Mark
Ludlow
Sendt: 24. juni 2012 23:46
Til: 'Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification'
Emne: Re: [Gasification] 2 MWe Gasifier at University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, Canada

 

Dear Tom,

Could you please clarify the steam output? (The link states 9,000pph.) Is
this from a direct-fired boiler or heat recovery? If heat recovery, is it
from both gas conditioning and exhaust heat recovery?

Best, Mark

 

From: gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Tom
Miles
Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2012 2:27 PM
To: 'Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification'
Subject: [Gasification] 2 MWe Gasifier at University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, Canada

 

This week I had the privilege of visiting the new 2 MWe wood fired gasifier
at University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are
just finishing construction and will start up the Jenbacher engine in
mid-July. It looks like a very well-engineered and well-built installation
from fuel receiving right through the gasifier, gas cleaning, engine, boiler
and heat exchange. The system will supply just under 2 MWe net to the campus
and 20,0000 pph steam to the campus heating system. It is nice to have an
installation of this quality and capacity in North America. 

 

See www.nexterra.ca

 

Tom Miles

  

 

 

 

 

 

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