Three Japanese companies, Nippon Steel Engineering Co., Chubu Electric Power Co. and Niigata Power Systems Co., announced on November 8, 2006 that they have developed and successfully completed a feasibility test for a high-efficiency gas engine system that uses wood and other biomass for fuel.
The three companies conducted the feasibility test on the premises of Chubu Electric's Shin-Nagoya Thermal Power Plant over a two-month period from May 2006, using a gas engine manufactured by Niigata Power Systems that was set to run on low-calorie gas. The fuel used was low-calorie synthetic gas consisting mainly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, produced from wood chips in an entrained bed gasification furnace. The furnace was built by Nippon Steel Engineering and installed at the Shin-Nagoya plant.
The test demonstrated that the gas engine's performance was sufficiently stable, and that the generating efficiency of the engine alone reached as high as 38 percent at a gas caloric value of 1,300 kilocalories per normal cubic meter. This is the world's highest level for a gas engine in this class using low-calorie gas as fuel.
A common problem for gasification-based systems is the clogging of filters and fuel supply equipment by tar or soot, but this engine did not experience any of these problems. A complete inspection after it was shut down also found no effects from these substances.
* Information on this Web site has been screened from a vast pool of articles in the Japanese-language media, then edited and translated into English. In selecting and writing articles, JFS makes an effort to provide information that will convey the key trends and breakthroughs in a variety of fields.
* For readers who want more details, we have provided links to related JFS articles. If you find any failed links or have suggestions on other links to make, please let us know.
