Integrated SNG production in a typical Nordic sawmill

• Advanced biomass based motor fuels and chemicals are becoming increasingly important to replace fossil energy sources within the coming decades. It is likely that the new biorefineries will evolve mainly from existing forest industry sites as they already have the required biomass handling infrastructure in place. The main objective of this work is to assess the potential for increasing the profit margin from sawmill byproducts by integrating innovative downstream processes. The focus is on the techno-economic evaluation of an integrated site for bio-SNG production. The option of using the syngas in a b-IGCC for the production of electricity (instead of SNG) is also considered for comparison. The process flowsheets that are used to analyse the energy and material balances are modelled in MATLAB and Simulink. A mathematical process integration model of a typical Nordic sawmill is used to analyse the effects on the energy flows in the overall site as well as to evaluate the site economics. Different plant sizes have been considered in order to assess the economy-of-scale effect. The technical data required as input are collected from the literature and, in some cases, from experiments. The investment cost is evaluated on the basis of conducted studies, third party supplier budget quotations and in-house database information. This paper presents complete material and energy balances of the considered processes and the resulting process economics.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Energiteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Energy Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Energiteknik

Energy Engineering

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)