200 Tons/Day BioOil Plant Engineering Completed

DynaMotive and Tecna's joint modular plant will generate energy from abundant organic resources traditionally discarded by the agricultural and forest industries. To be deployed in Canada and internationally.

Adapted for Pure Energy Systems by Mary-Sue Haliburton

DynaMotive's 100-ton/day West Lorne plant now in operation as of two weeks ago.
Source: dynamotive.com

DynaMotive's 15-ton/day BioOil demo plant.
Source: dynamotive.com

VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA -- DynaMotive Energy Systems Corporation (OTCBB:DYMTF) announced that the international engineering firm Tecna Proyectos Y Operaciones, S.A. (Tecna) has now completed the conceptual design for a 200 tons per day modular plant that uses DynaMotive's patented pyrolysis technology. DynaMotive and Tecna co-operated extensively in the design, drawing on the experience provided by the three previous DynaMotive plants.

They are presently completing their 100-ton/day plant, and have completed their first production run there.

The 100 tons/day design calls for a plant capable of processing 200 tons per day of dry biomass and producing up to 140 tons of BioOil and 40 tons of char per day. This is equivalent in total energy to approximately 190,000 barrels of hydrocarbon oil equivalent (BOE) per year, which translates to 132,000 BOE from BioOil and 58,000 BOE from char. Application of the term “Barrels of Oil Equivalent” to the char implies that it also is destined for combustion energy applications, such as blast furnaces. (See char editorial below.)

The design draws from Tecna's extensive experience in plant modularization and in the energy industry. The resulting fuel is low in emissions, “carbon dioxide neutral”, and has levels of nitric oxide well below the new standards. BioOil is suitable for use in diesel engines and gas turbines. Clean burning is the result when the BioOil itself is the fuel.

Through the application of fast pyrolysis, DynaMotive unlocks the natural energy found in the world's abundant organic resources traditionally discarded by the agricultural and forest industries. DynaMotive's technology economically converts biomass into a renewable, environmentally friendly fuel. DynaMotive has successfully demonstrated conversion of these residues into fuel known as BioOil, as well as char.

A three dimensional rendering of the plant will be available at DynaMotive's website (www.dynamotive.com) by June 20th. The deliverables for this sophisticated engineering project included:

Conceptual design for the 200 tpd plant including design codes and product specifications.

Equipment and instrument data sheets - process data.

Project diagrams, plan and fabrication schedules.

These deliverables put DynaMotive in a position to commence procurement and construction of its next plant totally within its control.

DynaMotive also confirmed that the modular design will be applied to the plant currently being developed with Megacity Recycling and that it intends to replicate it in Canada and internationally. The Company is currently evaluating projects of this capacity in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Tecna participated in the development of DynaMotive's pilot plants, which were successfully operated at DynaMotive's research facility in Vancouver during 2002 and 2003. Tecna also contributed in the development of process control systems at the 100 tons per day co-generation plant which is currently in the final stages of commissioning at West Lorne, Ontario. This 2.5 megawatt plant will use “combine” Magellan Aerospace Orenda Division’s OGT 2500 gas turbine with the “fast pyrolysis” system to turn wood scrap from a flooring operation into fuel. Electricity generated by the turbine will power the lumber mill and heat kilns to dry the wood. The balance to be exported to the Ontario Hydro grid is expected to meet the needs of 2500 homes.

Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tecna S.A. is a major engineering and construction company that has played a leading role in the oil and gas sector in Latin America and internationally. Tecna has a proven track record as an EPC contractor in the energy sector, delivering high quality installations and providing project completion guarantees for multinational energy companies. After 30 years in the market, Tecna is a sound and experienced Company that has extended well beyond the boundaries of Argentina.

DynaMotive is an energy systems company focused on the development of innovative energy solutions based on its patented fast pyrolysis system.

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SOURCES:

CONTACT:

DynaMotive
Corporate Communications, 604-267-6000
Toll Free (in North America): 1-877-863-2268
Fax: 604-267-6005
info@dynamotive.com
www.dynamotive.com

FOLLOW-UP EDITORIAL:

Char: Fertilizer Rather Than Fuel?

Given that this substantial quantity of char – 40 tons per day – is being derived from wood and other plant matter, another potential application should be considered besides fuel. Considering the discoveries of late researcher and scientist Siegfried Marian, this char may contain an essential factor for improving agricultural production,

Inspired by a cagey old peasant farmer early in the past century who used no manure but who had healthy crops and livestock, Siegfried Marian studied the old man’s sawdust-derived fertilizer. He discovered certain carbon compounds that are essential to vigorous plant life. By extension they also support the health and vigor of animals and humans who eat those plants. However, because these carbon compounds detoxify soil by combining with the chemicals and locking them out of the food chain, the carbon is steadily depleted by the use of pesticides. Though NPK fertilizers can force growth, the resultant plants lack natural defenses and seem to invite insects to eat them, leading to more pesticide use in a vicious circle of soil depletion.

In his books, The Carbon Connection, and The Carbon Cycle, farmer Leonard Ridzon cites Marian’s vital but little-known discoveries about the crucial role of the element carbon in the life cycle. He points out that the Sahara desert lacks carbon, and says that this is why it does not sustain plant life. Ridzon’s continuing practical research established that carbon-oxygen compounds are the crucial factor in soil fertility and plant health.

Until his death the late Mr. Ridzon was selling a concentrated carbon soil conditioner he called NutriCarb for both enriching soil and detoxifying it. I consider myself fortunate to have obtained this and used it with good effect in my garden. My purchase of it was stimulated by concern about Pathogenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 which persists in soil. (ref) Neighbours whom I knew well to be skilled gardeners had suffered this E-coli illness. The infection in their case was traced to having used cow manure contaminated with this nefarious bacterium in their garden. My friends had to discontinue eating their own berries and salad greens, and eventually had to have the soil removed and replaced with clean soil before they could grow edible plants again.

Although Mr. Ridzon developed his NutriCarb by carefully field-testing and combining certain types of low-toxicity bituminous coal (ref), he noted that originally this carbon-oxygen compound was obtained from sawdust – wood waste. I hope that DynaMotive and Tecna will examine the practical research done by Ridzon and others, and study the chemistry of their char product to ascertain its suitability as a soil additive. If it tests clean, it could be even more valuable as fertilizer than as a fuel for blast furnaces or barbecues, or its other industrial uses.

The above article states:

"Through the application of fast pyrolysis, DynaMotive unlocks the natural energy found in the world's abundant organic resources traditionally discarded by the agricultural and forest industries."

The use of the word “discarded” has to be noted here. When discarded – i.e, left to decay -- wood fragments break down into humus and return to the soil. However, if formerly-composted material, such as bark and sawdust, are totally removed from the natural cycle of decay and re-uptake by new plants, in order to put them into the combustion-energy system, their soil replenishment function does not occur. Since soils in general are becoming more severely depleted of minerals and nutrients all the time, it is critical that these factors be restored at the base of the food chain.

This is an added reason to urge investigating the possible use of the pyrolysis-byproduct char as fertilizer. If it is found to contain the necessary carbon-oxygen compound and to be low in toxicity, it could be worth its weight in gold. Depending on the source material, the specific carbon-oxygen factor may or may not be present in the needed proportion. It would be important to test batches of char as they come out of the power plant, and those with higher toxins would go to industrial uses, while the “clean” ones would go to farms.

With a little research on the side, therefore, DynaMotive may find a new environmental motive for their production of BioOil in the byproduct char.

(It must be emphasized that not all types of coal have the right compounds, but those that do can be extremely important for improving quality and quantity of food crops.)

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References

The Carbon Connection, by Leonard Ridzon with Charles Walters, AcresUSA, 1990, ISBN 0-911311-24-6

The Carbon Cycle, by Leonard Ridzon with Charles Walters, AcresUSA, 1994. ISBN 0-911311-46-7. (Search the publisher’s website for the above titles and others related to organic and biodynamic agriculture.)

This issue has been much discussed in Canada following the contaminated-water scandal in Walkerton a few years ago, in which about 2000 people became ill with E-coli 0157. Seven died; many of the survivors continue to have health problems related to the infection. Most types of E-coli die outside of the digestive tract, but not this one. See:
<http://www.safetables.org/.../pc_tmd94002_organic_4_1998.html>
Pathogenic E. coli in soil/vegetables contaminated with manure composts. 2004 SEP 20 -- Pathogenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 persists in soil and vegetables ...

http://www.cleanair.web.ca/media/sep1302.html - This plant closing was announced during a twenty-day spell of smog, humidity, brown air and general frustration. Ontario is establishing numerous wind farms and micro-hydroelectric plants to compensate for the removal of coal from the equation. As some jurisdictions are closing coal-fired power plants, agricultural uses for coal may become important to the mining industry. Coal is of course the remains of ancient trees and plants carbonized with heat and pressure in the earth.

The Ontario Premier announced closing the coal-fired plant last week during a twenty-day spell of smog, humidity, brown air and general frustration. This fulfills a pre-election promise which was made during similar conditions (http://www.cleanair.web.ca/media/sep1302.html). Ontario is establishing numerous wind farms and micro-hydroelectric plants to compensate for the removal of coal from the equation, as well as struggling to maintain aging nuclear plants. As some jurisdictions are closing coal-fired power plants, agricultural uses for coal may become important to the mining industry. Coal is of course the remains of ancient trees and plants carbonized with heat and pressure in the earth.

Page posted by Sterling D. Allan June 10, 2005
Last updated July 16, 2005

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200 Tons/Day BioOil Plant Engineering Completed

Char: Fertilizer Rather Than Fuel?

See also