A NOVEL HOT GAS CLEANUP SYSTEM FOR BIOMASS POWER TECHNOLOGY

AMONG THE VIABLE CONTENDERS FOR NEW GENERATION POWER SOURCES IS BIOMASS POWER. ADVANCED BIOMASS POWER SYSTEMS TYPICALLY INCORPORATE AERODERIVATIVE TURBINES WHICH HAVE VERY STRINGENT REQUIREMENTS WITH REGARD TO ALKALI AND PARTICULATES. REMOVAL OF THESE IMPURITIES FROM GASIFIERPRODUCER GAS PRIOR TO FEEDING TO A GAS TURBINE COMBUSTOR HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS ONE OF THE MAJOR TECHNICAL CHALLENGES IN THE DOE BIOMASS POWER PROGRAM. NO EXISTING SEPARATION SYSTEM CANBE USED FOR THIS PROGRAM WITHOUT EXTENSIVE MODIFICATIONS. THE PLANNED SEPARATION CONCEPT UTILIZES THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF A CORE SEPARATOR WHICH HAS BEEN RECENTLY DEVELOPED FOR TREATING LOW TEMPERATURE FLUE GAS. ITS FEATURES AND BENEFITS ARE THAT IT CAN FUNCTION AS A PRIMARY AND SECONDARY FILTRATION SYSTEM IT IS SIMPLE, RELIABLE, AND CAPABLE OF HANDLING HIGH SOLIDS CONCENTRATIONS, IS INSENSITIVE TO BLINDING, AND IS LOWER IN CAPITAL AND OPERATING COST THEN FILTER DEVICES. PHASE I WILL INCLUDE EXTENSIVE TESTING AT THE PILOT SCALE LEVEL USING A SIMULATED BIOMASS GASIFIER PRODUCER GAS.