Project description
Solar-driven fully renewable pyrolysis of biomass to make carbon-rich energy products
Biomass, with its high carbon content, is an eco-friendly and sustainable alternative to conventional hydrocarbons. Heating it in the absence or limited supply of oxygen (pyrolysis) converts biomass into valuable energy products: liquid bio-oil, solid biochar, and pyrogas. The EU-funded PYSOLO project plans to make this process fully renewable by supplying the required high-temperature process heat from concentrated solar power (CSP), supported by a thermal energy storage (TES) system for times when solar energy is insufficient. Two additional pathways will provide the heat when both CSP and TES are depleted: conversion of a fraction of the available pyrolysis product, and conversion of low-cost excess electricity from renewable energy sources including photovoltaic and wind via an electrical (induction) heating system.
Objective
PYSOLO (PYrolysis of biomass by concentrated SOLar pOwer) project aims at preparing the ground for a novel groundbreaking and fully renewable process combining concentrated solar power and biomass pyrolysis. Thanks to the use of solar heat in the pyrolysis process, the production of valuable products bio-oil, biochar and pyrogas can be maximized and the associated CO2 emission minimized, with economic and environmental benefits compared to conventional pyrolysis. The proposed system uses particles heat carrier, ensuring operational flexibility and avoiding the need of heat transfer surface in the pyrolysis reactor that facilitates the system scale-up.
Specifically, PYSOLO process aims at developing at TRL4 the two key unit operations of this novel solar pyrolysis system, namely: (i) the solar particle receiver and (ii) the pyrolysis reactor with the associated particle-char separator. The very innovative feature of PYSOLO lies in its innovative and unique coupling of pyrolysis technology with high temperature CSP system. This ground-breaking feature can potentially offer the following main advantages:
- delivering solar bio-oil, electricity or pyrogas and biochar for many energy and non-energy uses, when solar energy supplies the heat necessary for the pyrolysis process, either in sunny hours or by exploiting high temperature stored solids;
- run in self-mode the pyrolysis process (i.e. with electric heating or burning pyrogas and biochar), when solar energy is not sufficient and the TES unit is discharged;
- providing balancing services to the electric grid:
1. from the conversion of the available pyrogas when solar energy or TES are sufficient to maintain the pyrolysis process running and the grid requires the generation of additional electric power;
2. by using low-cost excess electricity from non-programmable RES (i.e. PV and wind) and converting it in high temperature thermal energy via the induction electric heating system.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringthermodynamic engineering
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterialsbiofuels
- agricultural sciencesagricultural biotechnologybiomass
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsenergy conversion
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energysolar energyconcentrated solar power
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
20133 Milano
Italy