BTG and KTH are developing an innovative sensor in biomass gasification

BTG biomass technology group BV, The Netherlands and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology from the Royal Institute of Technology, Denmark are awarded an assignment from the Era-Net Bioenergy Network to develop an on-line method for determination of tar concentration in producergas of biomass gasification plants. The proposal was ranked number one by an international panel of experts.

Biomass gasification offers the potential to contribute significantly to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and to increase the share of renewable energy in the total primary energy supply. In gasification, biomass is converted in an energy-efficient manner into electricity and heat, using gas engines or combined-cycle plants as prime movers.

The problem
Tar removal has been a major research topic over the last decades and many methods have been proposed ranging from in-situ prevention of tar formation to secondary cracking of tars over a bed of catalyst. It is obvious that proper measurement of the tar content in crude and cleaned gases is crucial for optimal operation of gasifiers and tar removal equipment. Conventional sampling methods based on cold trapping, solvent extraction/evaporation and a final determination by weight or gas chromatography are time consuming, cumbersome and always discontinuous, i.e. off-line.

Era-Net Bioenergy Call
On June 1st 2007 the first international Joint Call on Gasification, within the framework of the European Era-Net Bioenergy Network, was launched. The Call focuses primarily on "Cleaning and treatment of product gas from biomass gasifiers". BTG submitted a project proposal, together with the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) of Sweden. The proposal Development of a photoionization-detection technique for on-line measurement of biomass tar concentrations was ranked number one. Era-Net projects are co-financed by national agencies like SenterNovem in the Netherlands and STEM in Sweden.

Persbericht (Nederlands)