The Vermont Biomass Gasifier Project -- Medium heating value gas for electric power applications

The Vermont Biomass Gasifier Project is part of a major DOE initiative to demonstrate indirect gasification of renewable biomass for electricity production. The Vermont Project has been undertaken to demonstrate the integration of the Battelle Columbus Laboratories (Battelle) indirectly-heated gasifier with a high-efficiency gas turbine. The demonstration and validation of this gasification/gas turbine system is being performed at the existing 50 MW wood-fired McNeil Power Generating Station in Burlington, Vermont, thereby significantly reducing the time scale for deployment and the necessary capital investment for DOE and the Vermont project partnership. The development and commercialization of this technology is important for several reasons: (1) it does not require a hot-gas clean-up for gas turbine operation, thus removing this technical hurdle from the commercialization path; (2) it is the only US biomass gasification system that has successfully powered a gas turbine, supporting its near-term viability for commercial deployment; and (3) it produces a medium-heating-value gas without employing an oxygen plant, thus allowing the use of existing unmodified industrial gas turbines. Gasifier construction was completed in late 1997; commissioning and parametric testing was completed during the spring and summer of 1998. This paper discusses the results of this testing and presents plans formore » both the next phase of testing and prospects for near-term commercialization.« less