The EERC is the most comprehensive center for biomass conversion research. Both biomass residues and energy crops are used for power generation. The EERC has many exciting research, development, demonstration, and commercialization projects using a variety of types of biomass for residential, industrial, and utility power generation.
Biomass Cofiring
Biomass residues are used by utilities to generate electricity in small amounts that are either blended with coal in large boiler units or fired as 100% of the fuel in smaller units. This blending of small quantities of biomass with traditional coal fuels is called cofiring.
The EERC has unique experience with cofiring biomass with coal. Sometimes biomass provides significant technical hurdles as a viable fuel for electricity in baseload electricity generation.
The EERC also has a long, rich history of testing coals and alternative fuels, including biomass fuel sources in numerous projects.
Areas of EERC Expertise
- Conducting pilot- and full-scale cofiring tests of biomass with coal
- Providing economic and technical assessment of efficiency of power and electricity, emissions, biomass handling, and ash behavior
- Determining energy potential for lignin, a by-product from the production of ethanol from plant materials (cellulosics) such as wood, straw, and grasses
- Developing fixed or mobile industrial biomass gasifier systems producing 10 kWe-1 MWe of power
- Designing and developing advanced biomass gasification-fuel cell electricity generation system for 5-300 kWe needs.
Mobile Biomass Gasifier
The EERC achieved a national milestone as the first to operate a 150-kW mobile biomass gasifier for 200 continuous hours on wood chips and sawdust in conjunction with industry partners. The gasifier producer gas was piped into a 5.9-L John Deere diesel engine generator/dynamometer, replacing 50% of the diesel fuel and running at 100 hp. Research on other biomass feedstocks such as switchgrass, corn stover, straws, and animal manures is under way.
A distributed biomass gasification power generation system has been installed at the Grand Forks Truss Plant in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It converts wood material into valuable heat and electricity. The system is designed to match typical power requirements of various manufacturing industries generating between 10 kW to 1 MW of power. Several other demonstrations and installations are in the works.
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