Advanced Biorefinery Inc.

Advanced Biorefinery Inc. has developed a new way of turning North America’s forest waste, called “slash” into carbon-neutral liquid for power generation and chemical production. This leading edge technology called “dry distillation” turns biomass into renewable and ecologically friendly energy. This system is a modular and quick-to-assemble pyrolysis plant that can follow logging companies into forests and convert their trimmings into clean-burning renewable fuel on the spot. With this technology, companies can take the machine to the biomass, making it financially worthwhile to collect and to turn into fuel. This portable “dry distillation” plant that is capable of processing 55 dry tons of forest “slash” per day into a mixture of 60 per cent bio oil and 40 per cent charcoal, ash, and synthetic gas. Each unit can produce 6000 gallons of bio liquid per day, which is enough energy to provide electricity to 1500 to 2000 homes as well as fuel the machine’s own operations.

This technology is a self-sufficient, modular, and portable plant that is composed of six modules. Each module is eight feet high, eight feet wide, and twenty feet long. When put together, these modules house a fast pyrolysis system that is unique to this new modular technology.

Each pyrolysis plant rapidly heats the biomass to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit in an oxygen-starved environment and shatters the molecular structure of the “slash” to produce the oil, the charcoal, and the gas. This system differs from most pyrolysis plants, as it must be flexible and simple due to its modular nature. With this particular system, the biomass is almost instantly vaporized by a hot steel shot which is circulated by energy-efficient augers. Afterwards, the charcoal and gasses that are produced are captured form the hot vapors and recycled as fuel for powering the system and pre-drying the “slash”.

This technology offers many advantages to its users. Before Advanced Biorefinery Inc., “slash” was not harvested despite its ability to be turned into fuel because it was not cost effective to transport it to refineries. However, now that the transportation factor has become obsolete, it is more cost effective to process it. The main benefit however is that “slash” will now be transformed into bio oil that can be burned in boilers, turbines, and diesel generators to produce heat and power. Also, bio oil contains acetic acid, acetol, glyoxal, and formic acid, which can be used in chemical markets such as foods and fertilizers. The use of this product now gives companies to make use of an alternative energy in a more cost effective way than before it became available. Furthermore, there may be opportunities to use this technology in remote locations where the main source of electricity may only have been fossil fuels such as diesel oil, a costly and environmentally unfriendly source of electricity in many remote locations.

Despite is apparent advantages, this technology may not be as revolutionary as it seems. This modular plant is time consuming to put up, and also needs a proper location to be set up in. If it is not possible to use this machine in the area that the logging company is working in, then the promised amounts of energy may not be produced, or even more importantly, they may not be able to produce the energy that is needed to power their own operations. Also, although this system is a more cost effective way to refine the “slash”, it does not mean that it is truly cost effective. The cost of transporting the equipment along with the cost of employing workers to run it may still be greater than the cash return net of the savings on electricity that needs not be purchased. Also, there may not be enough “slash” in the immediate vicinity of the machine needed to operate it for long periods of time, enabling companies to get the desired cash return out of the investment.

Sources:

Hamilton, T. (2006). Turning Slash into Cash.
Retrieved
October 1, 2007, from Technology Review
Web site:
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/17298/page2/

Fransham, P. Biomass to Bioproducts.
Retrieved
October 1, 2007, from Advanced Biorefinery Inc
Web site:
http://www.advbiorefineryinc.ca/index.html

Larmour, A. (2005). Biorefinery Targets Energy in Forest Waste.
Retrieved
October 1, 2007, from Northern Ontario Business
Web site:
http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/industry/energy/10-05-biorefinery.asp