GAMECO

Air-blown fluidised bed biomass gasification is a well adapted technology for CHP applications. However, it is not mature yet. Despite promising pilot plants, CHP gasification needs further improvements to become the reference technology in the medium-size CHP market. This is the purpose of the GAMECO project, which aims at improving an existing technology by optimising its operation, increasing its feedstock flexibility and optimising its upscaling, based on a better understanding of the key points of biomass BFB gasification: -Bed agglomeration risks with agricultural biomasses: interaction of biomass inorganics with different bed materials. -Tar production minimisation: homogeneous and heterogeneous tar conversion kinetics -Biomass particle hydrodynamics: with a focus on segregation and attrition These 3 topics are studied through modelling, lab tests (<1 kg/h), and pilot tests (50 kg/h). Two main feedstocks will be used: miscanthus, which is one of the most promising energy crops and already commercially available in France and woody biomass, which is the largest part of available biomass for energetic purposes. Miscanthus will be used for studying agglomeration problems while woody biomass will be used as the reference fuel to study hydrodynamics as a function of the shape and the particle size. Concerning tar kinetics, they will be studied at the lab scale in controlled conditions and validated through the different gasification tests. Finally, other challenging biomasses – i.e. more difficult but cheaper - will be tested in the last phase of the project based on its learnings. In order to ensure the success of this ambitious project, all the required actors from industry and experts from the public research sector are involved. The three bottlenecks identified will be assessed by three reputed laboratories in the concerning fields: -Inorganic issues will be treated by Professor Poirier’s team at CEMHTI with high experience in this field as showed in previous projects (INORGANIQUES, SLUGAS,...). -Thermochemistry issues, with a focus on tar kinetics, will be covered by FJV, and more precisely by the LRGP teams (LSGC+DCPR), joining the expertise of DCPR in detailed kinetic models and LSGC in biomass thermochemical conversion. -Finally, efforts concerning the better understanding of biomass hydrodynamics in bubbling fluidised beds will be led by the team of Professor A. Delebarre, reputed expert in this field (FJV-Lemta). These R&D efforts will be completed by FJV-Lermab at Epinal, which will provide their large experience in biomass pretreatment and thermochemical conversion technologies and in pilot-scale units operation. Complementing these R&D centers, three actors from industry participate to this project: Novabiom, biomass producer and supplier specialised in energy crops, and more precisely in miscanthus, will provide its experience in order to assess the biomass supply concepts depending on the specifications at the reactor inlet. EQTEC will provide the latest version of its technology as a starting point of this project. EQTEC will also provide its vision and counsel as a technology developer and engineering company, sharing its previous experience acquired through the different gasification units they have delivered. Finally, EDF will coordinate all these efforts and evaluate the technology based on different feedstocks. It will optimise the whole chain and will identify the best configurations for developing CHP projects based on this technology.