A Techno-economic Study of a Biomass Gasification Plant for the Production of Transport Biofuel for Small Communities

Abstract

A techno-economic feasibility study of liquid bio-fuel production from biomass to meet the demand for public transport in small communities is presented. The methodology adopted in this work is based on calculating the demand of fuels required by transport sector and then estimating the amount of available biomass from various sources which can be treated to produce biofuels to meet the demand within the region. Depending on demand and available biomass feedstock, size and type of the gasification plant are specified. Narvik, a town in the northern part of Norway, is considered as a case study. The current demand of diesel for public transport in Narvik was calculated. The main sources of biomass in the region under consideration come basically from forests and municipal solid waste. It was found out that the potential of producing biofuel is more than three times the fuel demand for public transport, which means that excess biofuel produced can be used in other sectors such as heating. A downdraft gasifier of 6.0 MW was considered adequate to produce the required amount of biofuel. Cost analysis was performed where capital cost, operational and maintenance (O&M) costs for the biomass pre-treatment processes, the gasification plant and the gas to liquid (GTL) plant were considered in the assessment. It was concluded that the payback period of the project could be achieved within four years. The study demonstrated that biomass gasification offers small communities a means to cover their energy demand for public transport using local biomass feedstock and fulfils environmental targets of the community.