Demonstration of Industrial System with Real-time Response to Fuel Stock Variability
Real Time Fuel Switching Could Make Biogas Use Use Cost-effective for Small-scale Generators
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Recipient
Berkeley, CA
Recipient Location
9th
Senate District
15th
Assembly District
$1,526,800
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
Most of the technical work for the project was completed, including customization and assembly of the burner system, the fuel delivery infrastructure, the fuel sensors and controller circuitry. These were delivered with the boiler to the Chiquita Water Reclamation Plant (CWRP). However, real world testing at CWRP did not occur because the burner system could not light properly and the system could not be modified within the agreement term. Though the final test could not occur, the project yielded knowledge and insights of real-time fuel switching for commercial waste-to-energy systems. Examples include development of the following: a) speed-of-sound fuel sensor for fuel switching for identifying variations in natural gas constituency; b) prototype and full scale low-swirl burner (LSB) with real time fuel switching capability; and c) fuel switching controls.
The Issue
California has the potential to produce 500 million therms of biogas from organic waste, but very little of this potential is being realized. Renewable biogas can offset the use of natural gas. However, there are considerable barriers to the use of biogas fuel. Biogas has a variable supply, inconsistent energy content, and contaminants that require cleaning. If economic and technical barriers are removed or significantly reduced, fugitive methane emissions could be lowered if on-site biogas could be used rather than flared. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.
Project Innovation
This project hoped to demonstrate an advanced, pre-commercial package burner combustion system that responds, in real-time to biogas fuel-stock variability and availability while meeting system output demand and maintaining system operability with high efficiency and low pollutant emissions. The real-time fuel switching package burner system incorporates state-of-the-art fuel/air sensors developed at the University of California Irvine and controls, flow conditioning components, and the low-swirl burner technology from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Project Benefits
The project can advance technology that can economically lead to greater use of renewable biogas especially from small methane/biogas generators. Dual fuel burners systems offer a potential cost effective way for smaller sized facilities to use their biogas, while improving air quality and lower facility operating costs. The two technologies developed as a result of this research are a fuel sensor to provide feedback on fuel constituency and a fuel flexible burner that can maintain a stable flame with ultra-low emissions. These are ready for commercialization in a wide range of gas heating systems, per the researchers.
Affordability
The ability to use available biogas as an alternative fuel could reduce the need to purchase natural gas.
Environmental Sustainability
Real time fuel switching burner systems capability could encourage some small biogas/methane generators to capture biogas and use it or sell it as a fuel supply, rather than allowing the gas to escape as fugitive GHG emission - or to be flared.
Key Project Members
Robert Cheng
Subrecipients
Fossil Energy Research Corp.
University of California, Irvine
Robert Cheng
Match Partners
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
University of California, Irvine
Chiquita Water Reclamation Plant
