ETIP Bioenergy Working Group 2 "Conversion” Webinar - Pyrolysis Oil

A webinar of the platform’s Working Group 2 – Conversion Processes took place on 25 May 2020 on the topic of Pyrolysis Oil. The webinar, which was attended by more than 100 participants, was moderated by Dina Bacovsky, BEST – Bioenergy and Sustainable Technologies GmbH, and chair of the Working Group.

Tony Bridgwater, Aston University, provided a comprehensive overview on the different pyrolysis modes as well as the products of fast pyrolysis, which aims to maximise liquids by very high heating rates. The highest liquid yield, which is defined as bio-oil, with up to 75 wt.% on dry biomass feed can be achieved by using clean wood as feedstock. Up to 40% of the bio-oil are constituted by oxygen that needs to be removed to produce hydrocarbons. Accordingly, treatment processes to upgrade bio-oil to hydrocarbons were thematised as part of the presentation. 

Gerhard Muggen from BTG Bioliquids B.V. presented about recent initiatives of the company regarding commercial deployment of fast pyrolysis bio-oil (FPBO). With more than 4 years of continuous operation of the first commercial-scale FPBO plant at Twence/Empyro in the Netherlands, BTG is currently constructing new plants in Finland (Green Fuel Nordic, Lieksa) and Sweden (Pyrocell Setra, Gävle). FPBO is considered to be beneficial as the technology works with a variety of biomass feedstocks and the existing fossil fuel infrastructure can be utilised. Since the FPBO technology is proven at commercial scale, the worldwide capacity is expected to expand.

Presentations:

Pyrolysis of biomass (Tony Bridgwater, Aston University)

BTG Bioliquids Company Presentation (Gerhard Muggen, BTG Bioliquids B.V.)

Recording:

A video recording of the webinar is available under the following link: https://youtu.be/5O9EIvVJhIU