Modular Community-Scale Biomass Pre-Processing Systems

Distributed community-scale bioenergy generation is a key component of equitable clean energy transition in rural communities. Production of biochar and co-products increases income and economic activity. To meet the societal need for rapid build-out of emerging carbon sequestration and bioproducts facilities at distributed community scale, project design and planning processes must be streamlined. If developers and system engineers planning bioenergy and bioproducts facilities apply structured and inclusive community engagement processes, many challenges can be mitigated and the time from conception to operation greatly reduced. The project team will adapt and refine the community engagement portion of the proposing company’s longstanding Appreciative Design Method. The technical portion of the proposal endeavors to deploy innovative milling, screening, and beneficiation systems into a modular solution and site plan for deployment at community-based biomass preprocessing centers across the nation. The Phase I effort successfully incorporated known social network and community engagement tools and methods into a formalized process to address challenge-factors directly within the design space. Phase I work included conceptual engineering modeling, based on input from community engagement, of a replicable design package for a modular integrated woody biomass pre-processing system that can be mass manufactured. Modular design, mass manufacturing, and predetermined environmental impacts data will greatly reduce the cost and complexity to provide equitable energy transition in disadvantaged communities. Tools developed in Phase I in will be further refined and validated. Generalized template sets of these tools will be extrapolated from the results of the Phase I case study project partner. The modular Basic Engineering Design Package (BDEP) for community-scale biomass preprocessing centers will be expanded beyond the feedstocks front end to include the full facility. Additionally, the comminution module conceptually defined in Phase I will be detail engineered, constructed, and validation tested with our community case study partner. Deliverables of this project include generalized biomass center community engagement tools, model site plans, and equipment models to be rapidly transitioned into Phase III consulting and equipment sales per the Commercialization Plan. Communities across the nation will benefit from localized biomass processing and utilization facilities by increased economic activity and creation of local, family waged jobs. Community engagement and stakeholder-driven design methods that will be refined in this project will enable future project teams to successfully move distributed biomass energy and bioproducts projects forward and promote sales of community-scale processing equipment. Several communities and tribal biomass teams have already expressed interest in the anticipated resulting technologies.