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Development of High-Efficiency Gas Engine Power Generation System Fueled by Woody Biomass

November 8, 2006
Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.

Chubu Electric, Nippon Steel Engineering Co., Ltd. (Makoto Haya, Representative Director and President) and Niigata Power Systems Co., Ltd. (Ichiro Hashimoto, President & COO) have developed and successfully tested a high-efficiency gas engine power generation system using woody biomass as fuel.

The three companies tuned up a gas engine (see *1) from Niigata Power Systems to run on low-calorie gas and put the engine through a two-month proving test beginning in May 2006 at Chubu Electric's Shin-Nagoya Thermal Power Plant.

The gas engine's fuel is a low calorie gas (a combined gas with H2 and CO as its principal components) derived from wood chips and received from a jet-fluidized bed gasification facility, built by Nippon Steel Corporation, also on the grounds of the same power plant. Researchers collected operating data setting the gas caloric value range at 800 - 1,300 kcal/Nm3 (about one-tenth the level for city gas, or 11,000 kcal/Nm3).

The proving tests demonstrated that the gas engine can be operated safely and that at a gas caloric value of 1,300 kcal/Nm3, it can achieve power generation efficiency of up to 38% (efficiency of gas engine alone). This is a new high for gas engines of this class using low-calorie gas as fuel.

In addition, this engine experienced no plugging of fuel supply equipment, filters and so on from tar or soot, which are common problems in gasification-based systems. An inspection performed after shutdown also showed no impact from tar and soot.

Biomass is a renewable energy, and thus noteworthy as a substitute for fossil fuels and a means of preventing global warming. Chubu Electric aims to expand its practical high-efficiency gas engine power generation systems to include other biomass fuels in addition to woody biomass, such as food scraps and construction waste.

*1 Gas engine jointly developed by Niigata Power Systems Co., Ltd. and the Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. (output 450 kW when using city gas)

< Attachment 1 >

Development of gas engine power generation system using biomass as fuel

Reducing emissions of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases is a longstanding goal at Chubu Electric, and as part of this effort we are performing research and development into technology using renewable biomass energy. We have previously worked with methanol synthesis and fuel cells (MCFCs) using biomass partial oxidation/gasification technology.

Because biomass resources are widely dispersed and not concentrated, there are limits on the volume of such resources that can be collected at one site. The biomass gasification power generation system recently tested successfully is suitable for biomass energy usage because of its high generating efficiency even on a medium scale (consuming biomass at a rate of dozens of tons to 200 t/day with an output of 1,000 to several thousand kW). Chubu Electric will therefore pursue R&D of this technology as a means for controlling greenhouse gases.

R&D schedule

R&D arrangements

< Attachment 2 >

Overview of biomass gasification gas engine power generation test facility