Sveaskog gasifies felling residue into green fuel

Sveaskog is partaking in a project that will convert Swedish forest residue into environmentally friendly fuel. The ETC Gasification Centre in Piteå was opened in February and trials will begin shortly.

The new plant will produce only renewable energy.

"That which we previously threw on the May bonfire, we can now turn into fuel, "says Patrick Bäckström, production manager at Sveaskog in the county of Norrbotten.

Together with the Energy Agency, Energy Technology Centre in Piteå (ETC), Luleå University of Technology and the company IVAB, Sveaskog will develop and produce a pilot plant for the gasification of forest residue, called GROT in Swedish (branches and tops).

GROT-powder is gasified

In simple terms, the process involves grinding down the branches and tops of felled trees to a powder which is then pressurised and gasified. Among other things, the gas, Di-Methyl Ether (DME), can be extracted from this process and used as vehicle fuel. But the same technology can also be used to produce heat, electricity, methanol and so-called green chemicals that can be used, for example, in food and medicine.

Estimates show that DME produced from Swedish forests could replace 45 per cent of all the petrol and diesel used in Sweden.
"People learnt to light fires as long as 200 000 years ago but still there is much to discover and develop when it comes to raw material from the forest," says Rikard Gebart, CEO of ETC in Piteå.

International activities

The ETC Gasification Centre, at which two combustion cyclones will convert wood powder into green energy, was opened as recently as 17 February this year. The English name for the plant indicates that this is a matter that extends far beyond the borders of Sweden.

"This field is so international that we are not even allowed to think in Swedish," quips Robert Bergman, project leader for Solander Symposium, a yearly conference that attracts world-leading experts in the field of bio-refinery to Piteå every autumn.

The ETC Gasification Centre clearly marks the strong commitment to research in the field of gasification technology using biomass as the raw material.

"Competition within this area of research is extremely fierce, internationally. This venture provides us with the opportunity to be up there with the elite," says Rikard Gebart.

Alice Kempe from the Energy Agency agrees:
 "Sweden has incredible forest resources; we have to learn how to use them properly.

Piteå prominent in research

The forest industry town of Piteå is a world leader in the research and development of so-called bio-refineries. It is simply a case of improving exploitation of the forest as a resource for the production of new, green energy, without competing with the traditional base industries.

Right next door to the ETC plant, the company Chemrec is building a gasification plant for black liquor (a by-product of paper production at the paper mill Smurfit Kappa Kraftliner). This plant will also produce DME fuel.

The clever thing here is that firstly the mill makes paper from wood, then Chemrec takes up the waste black liquor from that process and turns it into vehicle fuel.

Two products from one tree.

At the municipality's deep harbour at Haraholmen, Sunpine, in which Sveaskog is a partner, is building the world's first factory for the production of green pine-diesel from pine oil, which is also a by-product of the pulp and paper industry. The plant will be opened on 17 May.