Bioenergy is a form of renewable energy generated from the conversion of biomass into heat, electricity, biogas and liquid fuels. Biomass is organic matter derived from forestry, agriculture or waste streams available on a renewable basis. It can also include combustible components of municipal solid waste.

The bioenergy sector is a complex industry, comprising many different resources, technologies, products, coproducts, stakeholders and markets. Bioenergy accounts for 47 per cent of Australia’s current renewable energy production and 3 per cent of total energy consumption. Modelling for this Bioenergy Roadmap shows that bioenergy has the potential to provide up to 20 per cent of Australia’s total energy consumption by the 2050s. This demonstrates there is scope for expansion if commercial scale is able to be achieved and if production costs
can be reduced.

Plasma Gasification

Plasma gasification involves the utilization of plasma energy to convert material to syngas; plasma can be thought of as a fourth state of matter, and much like fire or electricity, this energy can be used in a variety of applications. Plasma can be formed by passing an electric charge though gas, then keeping the dissociated ions and electrons separate; the products of this process can achieve temperatures beyond 6000 °C, almost as hot as the surface of the sun. As one can imagine, this type of energy in a gasification reaction will allow for a wider range of fuel types, like biomass or municipal solid waste. These types of gasifiers are thought of as highly efficient, with minimal maintenance in an industrial setting. What is more significant is that the syngas can be produced such that virtually no tar/char products will be present (although contaminants will exist that are removed in downstream processes).

A plasma torch is used to produce heat at the bottom of the gasifier; feed is charged into the reactor through the side and the syngas leaves out of the other side. A melted compound of byproduct will form in the slag from this reaction; this valuable product will be removed from the reactor.

Diagrams

Equipment

• Plasma Torch
• Waste Trituration
• Distillation Unit
• Pyrolysis Chamber
• Quencher/Scrubber
• Turbine