Chemical Engineering November 2012 - 12

CHEMENTATOR
Preheater
Demonstration for a process that
makes H2 from sewage sludge
J
apan Blue Energy Co. (JBEC; Tokyo,
Japan; www.jpo-net.co.jp), Daiwa Lease
Co., Toyota Tsusho Corp., and Mitsui Chemicals,
Inc. have established the Business Research
Group of Hydrogen Innovation Town
(BRG-HIT) to start verification tests for a
new technology for making hydrogen from
biomass and sewage sludge. Construction on
the world's first biomass-to-H2 plant began
October 2011 at Idex Eco Energy Co. (Izumo,
Japan), and the facility will use JBEC's proprietary
Blue Tower technology.
Preliminary small-scale experiments
have shown that the Blue Tower technology
can successfully convert the sewage sludge
into an H2-rich gas. Now, through continuous
verification runs at the plant, JBEC and
collaborators are expecting to establish the
methodology and technology for the commercial
production of bio-H2, and to develop
a business model.
Blue Tower (flowsheet) is an entirely new
technology that combines pyrolysis and steam
reforming. The process features a unique
heat-transfer system, whereby heated ceramic
balls (heat carriers) are used to supply
the energy needed for the pyrolysis and reforming
processes, as well as to prevent fouling
caused by tar formation. The heat carriers
are continuously circulated within three
vertically aligned vessels that are the core of
the Blue Tower: the pyrolyzer (bottom), the
reformer (middle) and the preheater (top).
The Blue Tower process runs continuously
Heat
exchanger
Air
Hot flue gas
Steam
Biomass
(sewage
sludge)
Heat alumina balls and
burn off adsorbed tar
Reformer
Reform pyrolyzed
gas with steam
Reformed gas
(hydrogen-based gas)
Pyrolyzer
Gasify biomass
Adsorb tar into
alumina balls
Char
Separator
Combustor
and completely autonomously without any
additional external energy supply.
In the pyrolyzer, biomass (woodchips,
sewage sludge and so on) is contacted with
high-temperature alumina balls at 550°C to
form biogases, such as methane. This biogas
is further heated to 950°C by the alumina
balls and steam, which reforms the gas into
hydrogen. The plant has a capacity of 10
ton/d of biomass (dry) and produces 15,000
Nm3/d of raw gas and 5,300 Nm3/d of purified
(99.99%) H2.
The companies plan to introduce BlueTower
technology to sewage-treatment facilities
around the country, which will facilitate
the supply of H2 for both stationary and
vehicular fuel cells, and thus contribute to a
low-carbon economy.
Quick-charging lithium ion batteries on the horizon
C
onventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs)
are unsuitable for high power applications
as in electric vehicles, because they
take a long time to charge, according to a
team from the Interdisciplinary School of
Green Energy, of the Ulsan National Institute
of Science and Technology (Ulsan,
South Korea; www.unist.ac.kr). Now the
team, led by professor Jae-phil Cho, found
that it can charge an LIB in a few minutes,
instead of several hours, by using carboncoated
single-crystal LiMn2O4 nanoparticle
clusters as cathode material.
The primary particles in spinel LiMn2O4
nanoclusters are coated with a thin carbon
layer using sucrose as the carbon source.
Sucrose carbonization on the single-crystal
Alumina balls
(heat carrier)
(Continued from p. 10)
MW of thermal power. During
the combustion process, water
vapor is condensed from the
exhaust gas and used in the
greenhouse operations. CO2
from the gas-engine exhaust
is puriied and piped into the
greenhouse. The lexible CHP
system is capable of providing
power to the local electrical utility.
The natural-gas-fueled CHP
system is ultra-efficient, with a
total thermal efficiency of 90%.
And because it uses CO2 and
water from the gas exhaust,
the efficiency is effectively over
100%, GE says.
particle surface results in the formation of
an electrical network within the secondary
particle. Using this material in a cell affords
an extremely high rate capability as well as
a high energy density.
According to the team, the material exhibits
a gravimetric energy of 300 Wh per
kg of active material (kgm) while delivering
a power of 45 kW/kgm and a volumetric
energy of 440 Wh per liter of electrode
(Le) while delivering 68 kW/Le of power.
Using this material would enable an LIB
to be charged up to 97% in 100 s and deliver
more than 63% of the initial capacity
after 2,000 cycles without changing power,
at the same charge and discharge rates of
about 3 min.
12 CHEMiCAl ENGiNEEriNG WWW.CHE.COM NOVEMbEr 2012
Bio-based adipic acid
A Duke University (Durham,
N.C.; www.duke.edu) research
team that was working on cancer
genetics has found a way
to alter yeast and bacteria so
that they produce an enzyme
that could be an important key
to a proposed biological-based
route to adipic acid from cheap
sugars. The team discovered
a genetic mutation in cancer
cells that could be used to elicit
a functional change in a closely
related enzyme. The change
would convert the enzyme to
2-hydroxyadipate dehydrogenase,
which is a critical component
in the proposed bio-based
route to adipic acid production.
The 2-hydroxy adipate dehy(Continues
on p. 14)
http://www.jpo-net.co.jp http://www.duke.edu http://www.unist.ac.kr http://WWW.CHE.COM
Chemical Engineering November 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering November 2012
