Mark Severy
SERC continues work on the BRDI Waste to Wisdom project, a three-year, multidisciplinary project to study pathways to convert forest residuals – or slash piles – into valuable energy and agricultural products at processing sites near timber harvest locations. Many of the potential processing sites do not have access to electricity, so SERC has been analyzing various methods to power this industrial equipment in remote locations. With help from the Environmental Resources Engineering capstone design course, SERC completed a technical and economic feasibility analysis comparing various remote power generation technologies, including waste heat recovery, biomass gasification, solar photovoltaic, and others. The results from this paper study indicate that a biomass gasifier is likely to outperform the other technologies in terms of mobility, cost, reliability, and environmental impact. After presenting these finding to the U.S. Department of Energy, the funding agency for this project, we procured a mobile, 20 kW biomass gasifier (similar to the one in the photo above) from All Power Labs in Berkeley, CA. Once it arrives, we will begin a series of tests to evaluate whether its performance will meet the requirements to operate in the demanding conditions of a forest-landing site.
With the gasifier being fabricated and a torrefier and a briquetter being prepared for shipment, it’s shaping up to be an exciting and eventful spring and summer of biomass fieldwork. SERC will lead the effort to test the torrefier, briquetter, and gasifier generator set at a forest-landing site in Big Lagoon, CA. We will measure the performance characteristics of each machine with a variety of biomass feedstocks recovered from timber harvest operations here in northern California. In addition to testing these machines individually, their synergy in an integrated system will be evaluated by connecting them together. For example, we will conduct experiments to densify torrefied biomass and to evaluate whether the gasifier generator set can reliably provide electricity to the other machines. Having these three commercial-scale technologies at a single site provides a unique testing and demonstration experience.
To prepare for this fieldwork, we have been busy developing the testing matrices, procuring feedstocks, detailing our instrumentation plans, preparing our data analysis tools, and coordinating associated logistical issues. The entire BRDI team is looking forward to a productive season of data collection and analysis that will help address the key issues posing a barrier to recovery and utilization of forest residual waste.
