Why Biomass Gasification?
For more information on the process of gasification click here: "What is Biomass Gasification?"
The gasification process has several advantages over conventional combustion:
- Biomass gasification results in a combustible gas, called “producer gas” that can be conditioned to burn cleanly, like natural gas. This means a customer can install a gasifier system in an existing facility and reuse much of the same boiler, dryer, and ducting equipment. Frontline BioEnergy utilizes a flexible-fuel burner that allows instantaneous natural gas backup.
- True gasification separates production of the gas from combustion of the gas so that the gas can be conditioned before it is burned to produce heat. This provides a unique opportunity to remove particulates and other contaminants in the gas stream before entering a boiler or other gas appliance. Processes utilized by competitors often require post combustion gas cleaning, which requires a much larger system to handle the higher volume of gas.
- Gases produced through biomass gasification are capable of being further processed into chemicals, liquid fuels, and gases (eg. hydrogen, methanol, ethanol, and ammonia). This provides a path for “biomass-to-ethanol” which is not limited to the cellulose portion of the biomass. Converting the entire biomass material to gas has the potential to produce over 100 gallons of ethanol per ton of biomass, much higher than enzymatic processes.
