Skip to main content
EnglishEN
European Commission logo print header

Chemical Looping gAsification foR sustainAble production of biofuels

Project description

DEENESFRITPL

Making biomass gasification more efficient and viable

Biomass gasification refers to an industrial process involving heat, steam and oxygen to convert biomass to hydrogen and other products, without combustion. This promising route of biofuel production can help the transport sector significantly reduce its carbon footprint. The EU-funded CLARA project aims to improve the economic and technological competitiveness of the technology. To this end, it will investigate an innovative approach for solid fuel gasification called chemical looping gasification. The process uses an oxygen carrier cycled between a fuel and an air reactor to provide oxygen for partial conversion of the biomass feedstock. It also eliminates the need for an air separation unit, which helps improve the overall conversion efficiency and the viability of biomass gasification.

Objective

Biomass gasification is one of the most promising routes of biofuels production, which is a key element in reducing GHG emissions of the transport sector. Various process options have been investigated, implemented in different scales and proven to be functional. However, these processes lack economic and technological competitiveness in the current market environment. This issue is addressed by Chemical Looping Gasification (CLG) in this project. The innovative CLG process uses an oxygen carrier that is cycled between a fuel and an air reactor to provide oxygen for partial conversion of the biomass feedstock. One of the benefits of CLG is that high quality syngas with low nitrogen content can be produced without an air separation unit. Avoiding air separation has high potential to improve the overall conversion efficiency and the economic feasibility of biomass gasification. The aim of this project is to further develop CLG, which has by now only been investigated in lab-scale up to 25 kWth feedstock input, using a broad range of pilot plants up to a size of 1 MWth. Furthermore, concepts for pre-treatment of biogenic residues are developed to enable their use for CLG, and an innovative syngas cleaning concept is established for reduction of capital costs. The full process chain including biomass pre-treatment, gasification, syngas treatment, Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, and FT-wax hydrocracking is demonstrated for production of next generation sustainable liquid biofuels. The process is scaled up to industrial size using adequate models that have been validated at pilot scale. The risks of the technology are assessed considering economic, health, safety and social issues and possibilities for risk mitigation are suggested. A techno-economic assessment of the biomass-to-end–use chain is performed. Environmental impact is examined by life cycle analysis. The results are disseminated by a broad range of measures and exploitation plans are established.

Fields of science

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

H2020-LC-SC3-2018-2019-2020

See other projects for this call

Sub call

H2020-LC-SC3-2018-RES-SingleStage

Funding Scheme

RIA - Research and Innovation action

Coordinator

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DARMSTADT
Net EU contribution
€ 1 103 750,00
Address
KAROLINENPLATZ 5
64289 Darmstadt
Germany

See on map
Region
Hessen Darmstadt Darmstadt, Kreisfreie Stadt
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 1 103 750,00

Participants (12)

Share this page

Download

Last update: 28 December 2023

My Booklet

Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/817841

European Union, 2024