(193f) Biomass to Energy – a Novel Process

Lockheed Martin has partnered with Concord Blue, licensor of a novel technology to convert biomass to energy. The process utilizes a patented method of â??stagedâ? reforming to convert organic material into a hydrogen rich syngas. The organic material is initially pyrolyzed and then reformed using steam and heat. The syngas is cleaned in a scrubber system and then fed to a combustion engine to generate power, but ultimately the syngas could have other uses as well.
The process generates many valuable byproducts such as char than can be used for agricultural applications, steam for plant use and heat that could be used for applications such as hot water for district heating.
Lockheed Martin has just completed construction of a pilot scale plant in New York that is currently undergoing testing process. A utility scale plant is also being built in Herten, Germany.

The paper will discuss this technology, applications, and provides results from the performance tests being conducted in the pilot facility.