https://freightlinerads.azureedge.net/3642-new_cascadia_natural_gas_sell_-2018-08-13.pdf
I was thinking of possibility of running truck on torrefied pellets
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How do you plan to make your “torrefied pellets”? Any plan yet? TomC
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I think there was a commercially wood gasifier for cars in England during WW2 that only used one fuel, wood cubes all from the same wood cut to the same size , I am not sure if they were polished or had tax stamps on each one .
I was only thinking of using Blackwood technology black pellets and they would have to only provide pellets of a specific size . for the Freightliner
Blackwood said their enterprise would fail if they continued to be the only company to produce these pellets . In order for their pellets to succeed they would have to have universal availability .
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What is the energy density of the torreified pellets? The son of a friend of mine says that semi tractors that run on CNG have pretty short ranges already. I thought he said something under 100 miles between fuel stops. So he went on to say that CNG fueled trucks are only good for local deliveries. By the way, I haven’t seen any LNG pumps at gas stations in our area, but I do see a few CNG setups.
My point: If CNG makes for local use only, then pellets or even charcoal would limit range even more.
***I did look at the Freightliner link. I note that they said:
“Cleanest engine available when using renewable
natural gas to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions”
I didn’t know that natural gas was a “renewable” energy source.
Dumb Me.
Pete Stanaitis
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They are selling it , I am not sure it exist .
There are processes that are applicable to making it .Most are experimental .
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I would suggest a rotating kiln for torrefaction. But it would be nice to have a purpose for the excess energy produced- space heating seems a good fit. Graded wood chips, or pellets.
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I think the green reference is related to the hydrogen content. Natural gas comes out ahead of all alternatives when analyzed this way for bang for buck, and emissions.
Anyways, a highly engineered CNG engine of that scale and robustness will definitely be a boon for syngas.
Also, regarding limited range on CNG, no doubt true due to the nature of the fuel. But wood is more energy dense, so will compare favourably.
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blackwood said to contact them regarding specifics about their black pellets tortified pellets . They have not posted any news in two years . So they may no longer be in operation . These pellets were meant to be co fired with coal . Or that was the market they were looking to . The UK bought a huge amount of wood pellets to burn with coal to meet emission standards . I think this practice has stopped . Now they are adding scrubbed sewer gas to natural gas and calling it , Renewable natural gas .
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So you would have a Truck driver and a Fireman , Like on a steam locomotive you would have the Engineer running the train and the Fireman shoveling coal into fire box .
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Even the last generation steam locomotives had mechanical stokers.
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My fuel level switch keeps getting stuck , breaking off the left hand metric screw on auger motor , meaning I have to turn auger by hand with 3/8 ratchet . Kind of hard to do that driving down the road at 65 mph .
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Bio-coal is a torrefied product used to generate heat and electrical power for residential and industrial purposes. Bio-coal is a sustainable alternate to coal in most circumstances. Bio-Coal has a commercial advantage over whitewood pellets as the energy cost is about the same and the CAPEX requirements to convert an existing plant to bio-coal is significantly lower. Whitewood pellets require storage under cover and special handling systems to process.
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Hmmm. This Bio-Coal thingy looks good to me. One of my major concerns in the use of ‘biofuels’ as we call them is the spread of plant diseases, examples: pine beetles and ash borers. I would guesse the heat would kill all disease? But what about when you move harvesting equipment to new locations? I’m going to have to learn more about this.
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Bio-Coal seems to be similar to carbonite. Is it actually different? Making Charcoal without Smoke - #202 by f_pal
Rindert
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I thought carbonite was essentially a charcoal briquette product.
Coppice willow seems to show excellent biofuel potential.
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Definition of carbonite. 1 : a blasting explosive varying greatly in formula but containing among its ingredients a carbonaceous substance (as oak bark), a nitrate, and now usually nitroglycerin. 2 [ 1carbon + -ite ] : a natural coke usually resulting from contact of coal deposits with igneous rock intrusions.
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Makes charcoal from Beatles kill
makes charcoal not tortilied wood
is a small plant that can be moved
could possibly make fuel briquette for vehicle use if there was a market for that .
Biomass Secure Power Inc.
PO Box 21098 Southgate
Chilliwack, BC
V2P 8A9 , CANADA
http://www.BiomassSecurePower.com
604-807-4957
[email protected]
We are developing a Torrefied Biomass Briquette plant at Natchitoches Louisiana. The project will be constructed in 3 phases for a combined production rate of 1 million tones per year.
We are currently developing a Torrefied Biomass Briquette (TBB) plant at Natchitoches Louisiana. The Natchitoches facility will process forest residuals, cull, thinnings, slash, tree tops, woodchips, lumber mill residuals and branches. Construction will proceed in 3 phases:
Phase 1 will produce 240,000 tonnes/yr of TBB.
Phase 2 will add 320,000 tonnes/yr of TBB.
Phase 3 will add 480,000 tonnes/yr of TBB.
Phase 1 of the plant design features 3 identical production lines with a nominal capacity of 80,000 tonnes/year each, with services to be added to enable the company to quickly initiate Phase 2 and 3 as market conditions dictate.
I think there is some other story here about sustainability . protected species act .
There is some story about a sawmill that was designed to be moved . It was never moved it was just abandoned after every tree around it was clear-cut .
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Henry I am travelling in Europe and Asia until May 17th. We have a test plant that is now closed after running many successful tests of our patented technology. We plan to commence construction in July of a plant when complete will produce one million tonnes of Biocoal.
We are finalizing agreements that will see plant full production being presold under long term contracts.
Please advise what volume you would need and we can let you know when we could meet your demand as we are planning additional plants.
Jim Carroll
Biomass Secure Power Inc
My reply
Jim
When you build plant and fill order for pre sold contract I would like to be able to get 50 pound sample .
In the next few years , not now .
It takes some brazenness to claim that pellets made from clearcut oldgrowth or primary forests are sustainable, but that’s exactly what the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPCA) has been doing. When the European Commission mooted plans for biomass sustainability standards that would exclude such pellets from subsidies, the WPCA warned that this would ruin their members. The Commission has since declared that even their very weak proposed standards are no longer on the table until 2020 at the earliest.
WPCA and their members work closely with coal power station operators across Europe – their key customers. Their members include Pinnacle Pellets, Drax’s main Canadian pellet supplier. WPCA claims that all Canadian pellets are “made from materials that would otherwise be wasted”, but they are working with the government of British Columbia to scale up clearcuts (‘standalone timber harvest’) for pellets. And they are helping to create a big new market for wood from boreal forests from regions where those forests are being destroyed particularly fast, with pine beetle infestation used as a excuse for “free for all” logging.
This comes after years of warnings by scientists and environmental organisations alike that burning pellets sourced from logging forests in North America and elsewhere is no better for the climate than burning coal.
Rita Frost from Dogwood Alliance in North Carolina, US [6], adds: “Southern US forests, and the communities that depend on them, have suffered from the UK’s misguided policy to subsidise biomass power stations
The two changes announced by the Government apply to Contracts for Difference (CfDs),
which are the new scheme for renewable electricity subsidies phased in from 2014-17. Previously, all biomass plants attracted a different subsidy, called Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs). ROCs are now closed to new developments. CfDs are awarded via auction in which all developers of eligible schemes compete. The auctions are decided on purely financial criteria, but the Government decides which schemes are eligible.
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New biomass power stations can no longer get subsidies unless they operate as combined heat and power plants with a minimum efficiency of 70%. Previously, they only had to achieve 35% total efficiency. To our knowledge, the only biomass CHP plants that achieve 70% in the UK are quite small plants supplying for example schools with heat and power. The new rule affects any purpose-built biomass plant, with the exception of plants classified as using ‘advanced conversion technology’, i.e. gasification or pyrolysis. It does not apply to coal-to-biomass conversions – but we expect future conversions to be ruled out by the second rule change;
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New subsidies will only be granted for burning biomass that meets a much lower greenhouse gas limit than at present. The Government still uses an outdated and unscientific methodology that doesn’t look at emissions from logging or from burning wood. Nonetheless, no imported wood pellets burned in UK power stations today meet the new limit. That’s because the fossil fuel emissions from processing and shipping the pellets are too high. This standard will apply to biomass CHP plants, biomass used in gasification and pyrolysis plants, and coal-to-biomass conversions. Note that subsidies are awarded separately for each unit of a coal power station converted to biomass. So there seems to be no risk of Drax being able to convert any more units to biomass when the coal units have to close in 2025.
What about biomass and/or waste gasification and pyrolysis plants?
Hardly any electricity has been produced from such plants in the UK ever, due to major technical challenges. New plants of this type won’t have to meet the 70% efficiency requirement in order to be awarded subsidies, but they will have to meet the new greenhouse gas limit for biomass. Furthermore, the Government is now consulting on additional changes which we hope will stop many of the least efficient and most polluting developments of this type. It’s too early to be sure, though.
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