Sodium pipes feeds new potential to plants
Heating pipes are used in a process that extracts hydrogen from biomass gas. In order to successfully work, the hydrogen rich gas must first possess a suitably high heating value. Feeding the gasses through the so-called heating pipes in a process known as thermal steam reforming or thermal gasification allows for the required temperatures to be gained. The application of heat to the reformer via these heating pipes is the innovative concept behind this development. As such it allows for the production of calorific, hydrogen rich fuel gases from any biomass or waste. However, the pipes themselves require specialised preparation. In this regard, an innovative method for coating the internal area of the pipes with sodium was introduced. Small sodium filled ampullae like capsules are inserted into the pipes by an automatic vice. The pipes are then heated to around eight hundred and fifty degrees Celsius by an electric oven. Once attainted, a vacuum is generated and the ampullae are themselves heated until their sodium content is melted. At this stage a manual breakage of the ampullae occurs and the sodium flows into the pipes. The pipe is then closed and welded at the filling edge. This pre-process has resulted in an efficient and competitive electric generating technology suitable for a 200kW plant and the realisation of extremely high heat fluxes into a small sized gasification reactor. A prototype currently in testing can utilise a potential of 500 BioHPR. As such the future for this technology is bright as it possesses the potential to cater as a small reactor plant to areas that have low density populations and that are remotely situated from the countries' main power grids.
