During the first 18 months of the 3.5-years project, the work focused on the development of the single plant components and the design and manufacturing of a testing plant of the Micro-Bio-CHP technology.
As an initial task the basic system design for the new technology has been defined. In general, the biomass micro-scale CHP system consists of two modules, the biomass conversion module (BCM) containing the gasifier, the gas burner, the product gas extraction system with the thermal and the catalytic tar reforming section, a high-temperature particle filter and heat recovery units as well as the SOFC module, containing the HCl/H2S removal reactor, the stack module and all other balance of plant units needed such as heat exchangers and a catalytic off-gas afterburner.
Based on this basic concept, an already existing fixed-bed updraft gasifier technology has been appropriately scaled, adapted and further developed for integration into the BCM. The gas burner and the product gas extraction system with integrated thermal and catalytic tar reforming have been developed and also the development of a suitable tar reforming catalyst was successfully performed. The functionality of these components could already be proven within pre-tests with the first BCM. Moreover, a high-temperature particle filter for soot particle removal from the extracted product gas has been developed, manufactured and successfully tested.
Regarding SOFC module development, test runs with a single stack to investigate its endurance as well as the influence of contaminants such as benzene on stack performance have been performed. Moreover, the stack module for the testing plant has been developed, and in the meantime has successfully passed commissioning tests. Also the SOFC module could be successfully developed.
In addition to R&D on the main plant components also the overall control system has been developed and implemented. At the beginning of the second reporting period, the assembly of the testing plant shall be finalised and test runs with this plant shall be started.
Besides these technical tasks, a focus was put on economic and environmental issues. Preliminary techno-economic analyses have been performed in order to check the economic viability of the new technology and to define cost targets for the single plant components. Moreover, work on preliminary environmental, economic and societal assessments has been started. In addition, a first stage risk assessment has been made.
