HM3 Energy says it has demonstrated densification of torrefied forest
waste on commercial equipment, clearing another hurdle in their quest to
replace coal with torrefied biomass fuel in electric generation power
plants.
A Gresham, Oregon-based cleantech startup and Northwest winner of the 2011 Cleantech Open has taken a big step toward someday replacing coal with biomass to make large-scale thermal power generation carbon neutral.
Torrefied biomass is forest debris that has been converted to charcoal. Torrefied biomass technology provides a path for coal-fired electric generation plants to continue operating cost effectively while using biomass in place of coal. With all the pressure on utilities to shut down coal power plants or convert them to natural gas, torrification would seem to hold great promise once it is commercialized at scale.
Densification into sturdy, water-resistant briquettes or pellets
makes it less expensive to transport the replacement fuel to power
plants in open hopper rail cars. HM3 Energy claims
to have successfully demonstrated densification of torrefied forest
waste on commercial-scale equipment using proprietary technology.
The company said in an e-mail yesterday, “We were able to consistently produce sturdy, water resistant briquettes on the densification equipment after making some further simple modifications. 24-hour soak tests of the briquettes revealed them to be hard and water resistant just like coal.”
More on the Energy Business.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/energy/2012/11/30/hm3-energy-achieves-breakthrough-in-replacing-coal-with-biomass/
A Gresham, Oregon-based cleantech startup and Northwest winner of the 2011 Cleantech Open has taken a big step toward someday replacing coal with biomass to make large-scale thermal power generation carbon neutral.
Torrefied biomass is forest debris that has been converted to charcoal. Torrefied biomass technology provides a path for coal-fired electric generation plants to continue operating cost effectively while using biomass in place of coal. With all the pressure on utilities to shut down coal power plants or convert them to natural gas, torrification would seem to hold great promise once it is commercialized at scale.
Torrefied briquettes are densified to make them
easier to transport and store outdoors. HM3 photo
The company said in an e-mail yesterday, “We were able to consistently produce sturdy, water resistant briquettes on the densification equipment after making some further simple modifications. 24-hour soak tests of the briquettes revealed them to be hard and water resistant just like coal.”
More on the Energy Business.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/energy/2012/11/30/hm3-energy-achieves-breakthrough-in-replacing-coal-with-biomass/
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