By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor LEIPZIG, Germany — Focusing on sustainability and energy efficiency, a group of German engineers are developing and testing innovative solutions to generate heat and electricity from biomass crops such as wood chips, corn residue and switchgrass.
More specifically, the German Biomass Research Center (DBFZ) in Leipzig is looking for methods that facilitate an effective and sustained use of solid, liquid and gaseous bioenergy sources to produce heat and electricity on a commercial and residential scale. To achieve this, DBFZ scientists are carrying out research studies and tests at their east Germany facility on how much energy can be generated from different kinds of biomass, what kinds of biomass are available in which regions of the world and how can they be used in a sustainable way, for instance.
“Our vision is to be the leading center for bioenergy and biomass in Germany and Europe,” said DBFZ Scientist Dr. Martin Kaltschmitt, who mentioned that the Center, newly funded in February 2008, acts as a consulting agency between public and private entities, internationally.
“We are definitely a more technical research institution, with other aspects taken into consideration.”
Formerly, (pre-2008) DBFZ served as Germany’s leading research institution for energy solutions, he explained.
“Then after the reunification (following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989), the center formed this (Center) as a spinoff for biomass research,” added Kaltschmitt.
Made up of six departments, DBFZ has roughly 110 employees working on nearly 125 projects with an annual budget of 4 million Euros. DBFZ is largely funded by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) with private investors also contributing 20 percent and industrial funding, 10 percent.
DBFZ’s primary research areas include: bioenergy systems – policy development, thermal-chemical process technology, biogas technology and production – gasification, biomass combustion, biofuels and international affairs.
Bioenergy systems According to Kaltschmitt, the DBFZ bioenergy systems team focuses on the utilization of bioenergy, including different potential crops from different areas of the world.
The bioenergy department also researches the German energy market and how it will develop over time.
Thermal-chemical process Research within DBFZ has enabled scientists to boost input and output efficiency from 20 percent to 30 percent using older technology to 90 percent efficiency by developing thermal-chemical processing technology to maintain digester temperatures, as well as utilizing waste heat from electricity generators to dry feedstocks.
“Biomass is limiting, so we need the technology to produce it more efficiently, that is where thermal-chemical processing comes into play,” he explained.
Basically, the scientists in this area are working to optimize and develop thermal-chemical processes, methods and systems for the conversion of solid biomass into heat, power, liquid, and in particular gaseous fuels.
Thermal-chemical processing is any process that utilizes heat without the aid of a catalyst to accomplish a chemical change, Kaltschmitt described.
For instance, DBFZ is monitoring small-scale gasification units on a residential and commercial scale to generate electricity. In this situation, a gasification unit would turn biomass into a gas through a steam-induced turbine.
So instead of just using methane to power steam generators for electricity, DBFZ is focused on using methane directly as vehicle fuel, just like natural gas.
Researchers are working on ways of mixing methane into existing natural gas distribution systems in Germany.
Biogas technology The goal in the biogas technology department is to efficiently produce biogas from crop residue and waste. Based on the results, DBFZ hopes to improve the energy technology used to process the feedstocks including sugar, starches and lignocellulosic (wood chips, switchgrass, crop residues, etc.).
“We would like to increase the biogas (biomethane) yield from commonly-used ag substrates (crop residue and waste) by 50 percent in 25 percent of the time,” he said.
Biomass combustion The key objective for the biomass combustion team is to create a more energy-efficient, environmentally-safe and economical provision of heat from solid biomass such as wood chips.
Focused research in this area includes small-scale combustion units for residential use such as a pellet stove.
“This area is really gaining market importance – having exploded in the last couple years,” said Kaltschmitt. “We’re not only looking at pellets, but also wood and straw, both its advantages and disadvantages.”
DBFZ is also investigating potential dangers of the fire particulate matter (ash) in the home and its effect on human lungs. “We’re in the process of developing filters to remove ash particulate matter in the (fireplace) flu,” he added.
Biofuels A team of engineers in the biofuels department are researching solutions in biofuel production and the application of biofuels. According to Kaltschmitt, DBFZ is a test bed for many different kinds of biofuels including bioethanol, biogas, biohydrogen and biodiesel.
Kalschmitt said, so far, research has shown that biogas for fuel production has the most potential for reducing greenhouse gas emission, as well as remaining low-cost.
“We want to learn how to blend, mix, pelletize biomass with less energy being used in the process and in the end offering a higher energy yield potential,” he explained.
International affairs DBFZ is researching opportunities to market its technology under licensing agreements if publicly-funded, but cannot share technology developed for private firms for competitive reasons.
“We don’t know all the answers – there is still a lot of research to do in anaerobic digestion and many other areas,” said Kaltschmitt.
For more information or to learn about additional biomass research projects being conducted at DBFZ, visit www.dbfz.de |
