Black liquor gasification goes commercial
Black liquor gasification is now to be taken a step further, from research and development to commercialization, partly with the help of foreign capital.
Two venture capital firms, Volvo Technology Transfer and US-based Vantage Point Venture Partners, are taking a stake in Chemrec AB, the company that owns the patents for the technology and a development plant in Piteå in the north of Sweden. This has provided the capital needed to go commercial. ‘Our target group is the chemical pulp sector, which is a global industry. For us, therefore, having an American shareholder is a definite advantage, as the US is a major market for our technology,´ says Jonas Rudberg, Chemrec AB´s managing director.
Black liquor is a by-product from the manufacture of paper pulp. It has a very high energy content, and it therefore makes good sense to recover it - both to extract the energy and to recycle the pulping chemicals it contains.
Chemrec has developed two generations of black liquor gasification processes. The first, in operation at New Bern in North Carolina, increases the recovery of chemicals, but does not improve the energy efficiency of the pulp mill. It is this process that is now to be commercialized. The second generation, a process that operates at high pressure, will extract more energy, which can then be used to produce either green power or green motor fuels.
By the end of 2010 a demonstration plant is to be ready for use, and by 2011 Chemrec expects to have a commercial process to offer the market. Development activities, however, will remain in Piteå.
‘The development plant in Piteå has been funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, Mistra and Swedish industry,´ says Jonas Rudberg. ‘And around it we have built up an internationally unique competence centre.´
