[Gasification] Turkey offal conversion on the move

[MMBTUPR at aol.com]

          to     Bioconversion and Gasification Lists          from    Lewis 
L Smith

The following was downloaded today from an internet pub called "Plastic" ---
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Shovel just about anything organic into one end of Brian Appel's processing 
plant, and two or three hours later, the other end gives down a surprising 
quantity of what amounts to No. 2 fuel oil — usable as-is or easily refined into 
diesel fuel, gasoline, or most any other light petroleum product, with modest 
amounts of sterile fertilizer and raw carbon as by-products.

This isn't the first time someone has turned trash into oil. This is, 
however, the first commercially viable process. Or so says Appel, chairman and CEO of 
Changing World Technologies, whose first commercial-scale plant in Carthage, 
Missouri is producing 500 barrels of oil per day from 200 tons of 
turkey-processing waste, supplied by the Butterball Turkey plant next door. Appel claims 
that CWT's process could turn just the agricultural waste produced by the 
United States into 4 billion barrels of oil annually, at a cost of just US$8 to $12 
per barrel. Coincidentally, the US is currently importing just over 4 billion 
barrels per year. And paying about $70 a barrel for it.

The basic process, called thermal depolymerization, mimics one method by 
which we think oil is formed beneath the Earth's surface, but takes place over 
only a few hours instead of millions of years. The feedstock is ground up, and 
then heated to about 500 degrees Fahrenheit under several hundred pounds of 
pressure - the exact parameters vary with the makeup of the feedstock - to break 
down its complex "long-chain" hydrocarbon molecules into the simpler 
short-chain hydrocarbons that make up oil and gas. Poisons and organisms - even prions, 
the semi-living proteins made famous by "mad cow" disease - are destroyed by 
the intense heat and pressure, making it possible to safely recycle even toxic 
and biologically hazardous wastes. The end products are natural gas, oil, 
water, raw carbon, and a mineral-rich sludge usable as fertilizer. The gas and 
water are used on-site to power the process; the rest are sold on the open 
market.

Although the principles of thermal depolymerization have been known for 
decades, until recently the processes that were developed suffered from a fatal 
flaw: they required far more energy than they produced, especially when working 
with feedstock with high water content such as manure or slaughterhouse waste. 
In the late 1980s, microbiologist Paul Baskis discovered that, by splitting 
the process into two steps, moisture could be efficiently "flashed off" at the 
midpoint by rapidly releasing the pressure from the first-stage reactor vessel. 
This drying step allows the second-stage reactor to operate at higher 
temperatures and pressures, further improving both efficiency and the quality of the 
end products. The Baskis process requires only 15 BTU energy input to produce 
oil yielding 100 BTU, making the process commercially viable, and comparing 
favorably with the 30-50 BTU required to produce 100 BTU of ethanol. Baskis 
developed his process and courted investors for the next several years, and in 
1996 sold the patents to Appel, who then formed Changing World Technologies to 
commercialize the process, now called simply "thermal conversion". CWT built a 
demonstration plant outside of Philadelphia in 1999, and the industrial-scale 
Carthage plant in 2004.

In theory, at least, this is a dream come true for oil-thirsty Americans - 
indeed, for the entire world. As usual, though, the road between theory and 
practice is a bumpy one. CWT's production costs are far higher than predicted. 
Appel expected his company to be paid about $24 per ton of feedstock as a 
disposal fee; CWT is instead paying upwards of $30 a ton. Expected government subsid
ies were late in coming. The Carthage plant has been beset with complaints of 
foul odors which have led to repeated plant shutdowns, and forced installation 
of $2 million worth of scrubbers, biofilters, and other odor-control measures. 
All this has pushed actual production costs to as much as $80 per barrel, 
although Appel claims that optimizations in the process plus the recent granting 
of subsidies has enabled the Carthage plant to show a small profit.

While CWT still plans to expand USA operations with a plant expected to be 
based in Michigan (processing plastic scrap and other automobile-recycling 
leftovers), its main focus is shifting to Europe, where disposal costs and oil 
prices - and government subsidies - are higher. CWT subsidiary Renewable 
Environmental Solutions expects to have a biofuel facility operating in Ireland by next 
year, and is planning projects in Wales, England, and Germany.

In 2004, $80 for a barrel of oil was ludicrous. In 2006, $80 is still high, 
but not outrageously so - it translates to about $3.80 per gallon of gasoline. 
When you factor in the fact that CWT's biofuel is a renewable resource having 
near-zero net impact on global warming, the price starts looking quite 
reasonable. Add to that the lack of shortcomings of the current biofuel darling, 
ethanol - E85 fuel requires modified engines and reduces mileage by 20-40% - 
and...maybe we should be encouraging CWT to stay right here and turn our cesspools 
and landfills into badly-needed fuels.
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Cordially. End of message.