French 1 MW(e) demonstration plant
In 2005 the French company Eneria participated in a government tender and was awarded with support for 6 biomass to electricity plants with a total output of 81 MW(e). The biomass that was selected for these plants is wood and wine distillery residue.
Eneria decided to build a 4 MW(th) demonstration plant in Moissannes (near Limoges) as a demonstration for the commercial 12,5 MW(e) plants. OLGA technology was selected as the preferred tar removal technology after a special fixed bed updraft gasifier. Solids are removed by a cyclone and the OLGA ESP. The cleaned gas is combusted in a Caterpillar engine to produce 1MW(e) electricity.
Performance of OLGA
The Moissannes demonstration plant was tested on wood and wine residue (dried grape pulp from a distillery). Performance was good, the plant demonstrated to succeed in its goals. Below a brief description of the gas cleaning results is given:
Efficiency on solid particles & aerosols:
Dust measurements were carried out at 350°C upstream OLGA. Concentrations up to 1500 mg/Nm3 were measured. Downstream OLGA a series of aerosol (oil & fine dust) measurements were carried out with a filter at 70°C. The total amount of aerosols (dust, tar & oil) was far below the detection limit of 25 mg/Nm3.
Tar concentration and tar dew point
In the raw product gas tar concentrations were measured up to 11.000 mg/Nm3. The tar dew point at the inlet of OLGA exceeded 190°C due to the presence of heavy tars. For both tests we concluded that the OLGA process worked correctly. The collector & ESP (heavy tar separation) were operating according to design. The absorber / stripper (light tar separation) also showed good performance, the key compounds phenol (undetectable after OLGA) and naphthalene (99%) were sufficiently removed. During the wine residue tests the plants power output was measured by an independent organization. The plant proved to produce 1,1 MW electricity in the Caterpillar gas engine.
Clear blue flame!
The performance of OLGA is also shown by the night photo (right bottom). This photo was made just before engine start-up. The beautiful clear blue flame demonstrates clean gas, free of tars & solids.
Contact person: Jan-Willem Könemann, +31-10-5991114
