[Gasification] New syngas plant in British Columbia

[Roger Samson]

A friend of mine not on the listserve sent me this piece and asked "Do the
claims for the huge value gain from gasification in this article appear
reasonable?"

Any thoughts? 

Roger Samson

 

B.C. mill to harness energy of hog fuel in industry first Tolko industries:
Nexterra-built plant will cut gas costs, reduce waste and emissions

 

Gordon Hamilton

CanWest News Service

 

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

 

VANCOUVER - Tolko Industries Ltd. turned the switch yesterday on a new
energy plant that makes gas from wood waste, marking the first application
in the North American forest industry of a new green technology that could
save millions of dollars in gas costs.

 

The plant, designed and built by Vancouver-based Nexterra Energy Corp.,
makes energy from hog fuel, a waste product composed mostly of bark that
many mills burn simply for disposal. The Nexterra plant converts it into a
synthetic gas called syngas, which Tolko is using to replace costly natural
gas at its Heffley Creek plywood mill north of Kamloops, B.C. 

The plant has successfully completed its startup and Nexterra turned over
the operation to Tolko yesterday.

 

Nexterra and Tolko are singing the praises of the new technology, saying it
marks the beginning of a new era in clean, low-cost energy. The gasification
plant saves money, puts wood waste to a higher use and cuts down on
greenhouse gases.

 

The plant will convert 13,000 tonnes of wood waste a year into gas that can
replace natural gas in drying veneer and heating water used to condition
logs for peeling.

 

Tolko regional manager Jim Baskerville said plywood production takes a lot
of heat and the new plant will knock $1.5-million off the Heffley plant's
current gas bill, cutting gas costs by one-third.

 

"That makes a very compelling business case," Mr. Baskerville said.

 

He said converting hog fuel to gas increases its value to Tolko twentyfold.
Tolko was selling its hog fuel for $5 a tonne to Weyerhaeuser Co. for
straight combustion burning at Weyerhaeuser's Kamloops pulp mill. But using
hog fuel to create much more valuable gas has pushed its value to the
company up to $100 a tonne.

 

Nexterra president and CEO Jonathan Rhone said the plant will replace
235,000 gigajoules of natural gas a year. "That is roughly the equivalent of
the amount of natural gas required to heat 1,900 typical B.C. homes," he
said.

 

He also said the clean-burning gas will reduce air emissions; reducing
Tolko's greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 12,000 tonnes a year, the
equivalent of taking 3,000 cars off the road.

 

The gasification plant converts biomass -- plant material used as a fuel

-- into a complex gas consisting mainly of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and
methane. It can be easily transported and, according to Jim Dangerfield,
vice-president of the forest research agency Forintek, the application at
Heffley Creek is just the beginning of an entirely new technology.

 

"We are starting by using the product for heat. But we can transport it by
pipeline so we expect this will evolve into a whole new array of
opportunities."

 

With natural gas now eating about 15% of production costs in the forest
industry, companies are looking for ways to bring those costs under control.
That's opening the door to technologies that only a few years ago were
dismissed as too exotic or too costly.

 

Tolko's plant is the first application of the Nexterra technology. A second
project is underway in South Carolina, Mr. Rhone said. Also, Weyerhaeuser is
conducting research at a pilot plant Nexterra operates at Kamloops to
determine if the technology is suitable for heating lime kilns in
Weyerhaeuser's pulp mills.

 

Gasification plants, costing from $5-million to $10-million, can be paid
back within 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 years.

 

Nexterra, a private company formed three years ago, bought the technology
and began finding ways to apply it in the forest industry. 

ARC Financial, a Calgary-based energy-financing company, is the majority
owner. Company executives and directors own the rest of Nexterra.

 

The gasification project has received federal and provincial funding as
well.

 

ghamilton at png.canwest.com

C National Post 2006