What is Cquest BioChar?
BioChar is another product created through Dynamotive’s patented Fast Pyrolysis process. During the process, some solid particles are formed which are extracted and collected. Approximately 20% of the pyrolysis of wood becomes BioChar. BioChar, like BioOil, is greenhouse gas neutral and is also EcoLogo certified. It can earn Carbon Credits depending on the fossil fuel it replaces and the country it is being used. BioChar is targeted to enter a variety of key markets such as Terra Preta and Activated Carbon applications.
Terra Preta applications are of great interest to Dynamotive because of its untouched market potential. Terra Preta is an ancient soil found in the Amazonian basin known for dramatically increasing the yield of crops grown on it as well improving overall health of the crop. Studies have shown that BioChar holds many qualities that can create Terra Preta soils and naturally purify water in the soil.
Research into refining BioChar is also conducted by Dynamotive’s Waterloo Research Laboratory where progress on creating a Carbon Black product is ongoing. Carbon black is a purified form of carbon that is often used in tire production and in inkjet printer ink.
Applications
BioChar Production and its Importance as a Low Sulphur Fuel
In the pyrolysis of wood about 20% of the feedstock is converted to BioChar. As the BioChar is essentially sulphur free it becomes a very valuable substitute for other industrial fuels, fired alone or in particular when blended with BioOil as it can then be fired as a liquid. We call this blend BioOil Plus and is available as a commercial product as such. By blending the BioChar significantly augments the heat value of the BioOil and its heat content on volumetric basis. In liquid blend the firing of BioChar becomes particularly relevant to a multitude of fuel applications in industrial and utility boilers as it obviously provides the simplest route to SOx reduction in stack emission.
Briquette Manufacturing/pelletizing
BioChar can be used as feedstock for manufacturing charcoal briquettes/pellets. Royal Oak tested Dynamotive BioChar and found the briquettes performed well.
Cement
Cement plants typically burn solid fuels or natural gas to provide heat for their limekilns. Minimizing transportation costs gives the best financial return for BioChar in this application, while also producing substantial carbon benefits. This is especially the case where current energy use is highly carbon intensive.
Thermal Power Generation
Co-firing of biomass with coal is becoming an increasingly attractive strategy for reducing emissions from coal fired utilities. As the BioChar is CO2 neutral and contains virtually no sulphur, emissions are reduced in proportion to the amount of coal displaced in the power boiler. Minimizing transportation costs will again deliver a high financial return for BioChar in this application while offering dramatic reductions in emissions.
Ammonium Bicarbonate (NH4HCO3) Fertilizer
Simply burying BioChar in the soil is beneficial. Adding up to 10% BioChar increases fertility in most soils, and if nitrogen is added to the BioChar it produces an even more effective fertilizer. The Eprida ECOSS process came with the discovery that if ammonia (NH3), carbon dioxide (CO2) gas and water (H2O), are combined in the presence of BioChar they will form a solid, ammonium bicarbonate (NH4HCO3) in the pores of the BioChar.
As an example, an application of rice husk BioChar can lead to crop yield increases of 10 – 40% due to the following:
- The rice husk BioChar increases the soil pH
- The aeration in the crop root zone is improved
- The water-holding capacity of the soil is improved
- There is an increase in the level of exchangeable K and Mg
Activated Carbon
Nonporous BioChar can be converted to highly porous activated BioChar by steam treatment at elevated temperature (>500°C) to produce high surface area (> 1000m2/g) activated carbon.
Activated carbon is used in a wide variety of purification and filtration systems such as municipal and industrial water treatment systems. Dynamotive has successfully completed research tests on pyrolysis BioChar at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
BioChar Pellets
BioChar can be used as a raw material to manufacture fuel pellets for use in domestic and industrial heating markets. This market is currently supplied by wood pellet products manufactured in Canada, the US and the EU. Fuel pellets made from BioChar would have a higher energy density than wood pellets.
Synthesis Gas Production/Gasification
BioOil, BioOil Plus, and BioChar can be a well fitting feedstock for the production of medium to high BTU synthesis gas via gasification. Successful lab-scale experiments have been performed at the University of Saskatchewan in cooperation with NRCan and CANMET labs. Additional successful gasification tests on BioOil/BioChar slurry (with 30% of BioChar content) have been performed by Dynamotive, Future Energy and FZK (research centers based in Germany) in September 2005.
Steel/Metallurgical
BioChar may be an appropriate substitute for high value anthracite coal, which is typically used in metallurgical applications such as iron production. A definition of the critical physical properties of metallurgical coal must be developed/obtained and the BioChar refined or conditioned to meet the requirements of the industry. Further investigation of this application is required.
Carbon Black
Carbon black is a purified form of carbon with many applications, including ink-jet printer ink and tire manufacturing. To compete in this market will require further processing / conditioning of pyrolysis BioChar.
For more detailed information including tests performed on BioOil, please download the CQuest BioChar Product Information Booklet.