Future directions for CHP plants using biomass and waste – adding production of vehicle fuels

In Northern Europe, the production of many biobased CHP plants is getting affected due to the enormous expansion of wind and solar power. In addition, heat demand varies throughout the year, and existing CHP plants show less technical performance and suffer economically. By integrating the existing CHP plants with other processes for the production of chemicals, they can be operated more hours, provide operational and production flexibility and thus increase efficiency and profitability. In this paper, we look at a possible solution by converting an existing CHP plant into integrated biorefinery by retrofitting pyrolysis and gasification process. Pyrolysis is retrofitted in an existed CHP plant. Bio-oil obtained from pyrolysis is upgraded to vehicle grade biofuels. Gasification process located upfront of CHP plant provides the hydrogen required for upgradation of biofuel. The results show that a pyrolysis plant with 18 ton/h feed handling capacity (90 MWth), when integrated with gasification for hydrogen requirement and CHP plant for heat can produce 5.2 ton/h of gasoline/diesel grade biofuels. The system integration gives positive economic benefits too but the annual operating hours can impact economic performance