Let's use your waste or biomass residues to support your energy needs
Here are the main technologies currently used in Australia to convert waste or biomass residues into fuel, heat or power. Click (i) to see the technology scheme and a case study.
PLEASE NOTE: There is currently no example in Australia for the technology Thermochemical Conversion using a small amount of waste. The Northern Oil Advanced Biofuels Pilot Plant is an example of Thermochemical Conversion technology suitable for an extra large amount of waste and the best alternative case study example.
The Northern Oil Advanced Biofuels Pilot Plant is an $18 million green fuel game changer being developed by Southern Oil Refining at its Northern Oil Refinery at Yarwun, near Gladstone, Queensland. The pilot plant, opened in June 2017, is using biomass material such as sugarcane bagasse and prickly acacia as feedstock for the production of bio crude oil, which will be refined into saleable kerosene and diesel products. Within three years of opening, the pilot plant aims to have produced one million litres of fuel for use in field trials by the US navy as part of its Great Green Fleet initiative, by the Australian Defence Force, by Australian heavy road transport operators and possibly for the aviation sector.
Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL)
Technology used within the Thermochemical Conversion process
Licella’s proprietary ‘catalytic hydrothermal’ technology uses water, pressure and heat to convert biomass to bio-crude oil. The biomass is made into slurry, continuously pressurised, heated, reacted and then cooled to create the bio-crude oil. The process can convert a range of feedstocks. Licella has tested wood products (eucalypt, Pinus radiata), agricultural residue (bagasse, wheat straw), grasses and algae. Unlike techniques such as pyrolysis, hydrothermal upgrading with Licella’s Cat-HTR™ platform produces a stable biocrude which can be easily shipped, is not acidic and is miscible (blendable) with conventional oil. The pilot plant, located at Somersby, north of Sydney, demonstrates the continuous-flow process from slurry preparation, pressurisation, heating and reacting through to cooling and final separation of the bio-crude oil. Heavily automated, partly for safety reasons, the pilot plant has the capacity to process 10,000 tonnes of slurried biomass per year. Supported by government funding of $5.4 million from ARENA, Licella is developing a de-risked feasibility study for a commercial plant that can handle 400,000 green tonnes of wood. The study includes selecting the plant location and the type of biomass, and signing up agreements with biomass suppliers and bio-crude buyers, essentially de-risking the business case for potential investors.
