[Gasification] Emissions fines

[Tom Miles]

Reasons to use a gasifier instead of a combustor:

1. You sell gasifiers and convince the owner that he should have a gasifier
instead of a combustor (Nexterra also No. 4).
2. Tax credits and subsidies, like feed-in tariffs (the government is the
customer). Most gasifiers in the US were built with a producer gas tax
credits that ran from about 1984 to 1998 with payments expiring in 2008. As
Thomas Koch has pointed out most, if not all, EU projects are subsidized. 
3. Legislation. Your senator got it into a law.
4. Improved boiler performance or emissions from staged gasification and
combustion. Examples are: NOx reduction in California in the 1980s,
fluidized bed; poultry litter gasification and combustion to control alkali,
fluidized bed (Austrian Energy and Environment, Scotland, Netherlands);
gasifying very wet hogged fuel cleanly at the small scale (Nexterra). 
5. Cofiring biomass in a coal or gas boiler without carrying ash into the
coal boiler, FB Lahti, Finland since 1998.
6. Direct firing biomass gas into a lime kiln, Pietassari, Sweden
(Ahlstrom/Foster Wheeler), since 1978; Pols Austria (Lurgi); or a dryer,
Southern Electric International, Florida (Power Recovery Systems),
diatomaceous earth (Energy Products of Idaho); or brick kiln, Evergreen
Gasification (Associated Physics). 
7. Generate heat and power where you want more power (KWe) and less heat
(kW) in the balance. Denmark (Babcock-Volund); Austria (Repotec); UK and
Germany, urban wood waste (Biomass Engineering Limited) 

Tom            

-----Original Message-----
From: gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Jeff
Davis
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2011 10:51 AM
To: Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification
Subject: Re: [Gasification] Emissions fines

Dear List,

Curious anyone would want to add a gasification step if a properly
designed combustor would work. Only use a gasifier as a last recourse
unless it's a hobby event.


Jeff 


On Sat, 2011-02-19 at 09:48 -0800, Tom Miles wrote:
> That does not mean that all gasifiers are cleaner than combustors.