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Microwave technology for biocoal

Thanks to the use of non-fossil fuels, the company Rotawave biocoal Ltd aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with current European standards.
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Magazine: "The Bioenergy International"
Publishing house: "Bioenergy International"
Article title: "Microwave technology for biocoal"
Author: Bob Rooney
Translation and abstracts edited by: Paolo Simioni - Damiano Diprima (Class 3 ° C)
Institute: Liceo scientifico Tito Lucrezio Caro


Microwave technology for biocoal


The energy company Rotawave biocoal Ltd has patented a biomass drying process to produce high-potential bio-coal that can be used in energy production. Thanks to the use of non-fossil fuels, it is proposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with current European standards. Furthermore, the use of this new technology brings advantages, among which the possibility of increasing profits by reducing the size of the plants, transport costs and avoiding the fines imposed on the excessive production of carbon dioxide.


MICROWAVE TECHNOLOGY FOR BIOCOAL

A new technology that produces fuels is now available. According to the developer, Rotawave is ready to transform biomass and energy industries.
The Rotawave process, based on a microwave technology and covered by the "Oil and Gas" patent, allows the extraction of water, petroleum products and organic oils at very low cost from various sources, including drilling oil for drilling, refinery waste and food waste. This technology has now been adapted to convert biomass into coal.
Given the growing demand for energy all over the world, it is the opinion of the developers that the use of biocoal will grow exponentially.
Rotawave Biocoal Ltd, part of the EEG group, employing more than 80 people in Aberdeen and the Isle of Wight is the owner and developer of this technology.

TIES

A targeted and intelligent energy "targeted intelligent energy system" (TIES) has been developed to respond to the growing demand for non-fossil fuels.

TIES stands for:

- targeted: the selective nature of the microwaves focuses the energy in the biomasses, heating the number of particles needed
- intelligent: the microwave control system allows users to constantly monitor the amount of energy absorbed at the speed of light and, in turn, the - - computer system minimizes energy consumption
- energy: the process transfers energy, not heat, overcoming the typical insulating properties of biomass
- system: it is a safe and low-consumption integrated energy system.

Advantages

1) Reduces the dimensions of the plants: the technology is based on the advanced use of electromagnetic frequencies combined simultaneously with a continuous phase separation drum. This maximizes the transfer of heat and mass within the system, thus reducing the size of the plant, the interruption in the supply of materials and operating costs.
2) A wider range of raw materials: a flexible system that uses energy from microwaves, unlike normal thermal processes, makes it possible to have a wider range of types and sizes of raw materials available that must be treated.
3) Energy efficiency: since the thermal heat used in the process is generated from sustainable biomass sources, the system is very energy efficient because the biocoal contains more than 80% of all the energy fed into the process.
4) Reduces transport costs: the idea of building plants where there are plants will reduce the weight of transport costs.

Technology

The microwaves inside the continuous drum system are part of an integrated process that generates more thermal energy than it consumes. The high-density black pellet resulting from the TIES system has similar properties to coal, as it allows external storage and direct use by coal-fired power plants.

Coal plants can convert to organic coal

Biocoal is a sustainable and practical energy resource that offers a cost-effective route to coal-fired power plants to comply with the LCPD (European Large Combustion Plant Directive) and the sustainability limits for greenhouse gases, since the biocoal is characterized by low sulfur emissions and the absence of carbon dioxide emissions, by reducing the greenhouse gas emissions by 88% compared to the coal power plants of the European Union.
Many British and European coal-fired power plants do not comply with the emissions limits set by the LPCD and will therefore soon have to close, leading to a very real risk of lack of energy.
However, through the burning of large quantities of biofuels with traditional coal or 100% converted coal, such hazards can be avoided.
Co-burn allows us to use pre-existing plants with their annexed infrastructure and also offers a better alternative to the design and construction of a new low-carbon power plant, with potential savings of hundreds of millions of pounds in Great Britain.

Biomass demand

Concern for emission limits has led to a demand for biomass from coal-fired plant operators. So far their main choice was wood pellets, which however does not have the same properties as conventional coal. Biocoal, on the other hand, is more similar in composition to the latter and therefore more in demand. In North America, for example, many forests are sustainable and suitable for supplying materials for paper mills and timber industries, which in these areas have gone through a crisis; in this way, this new technology will give new opportunities to forests and workers

The future

Energy generators will use biomass combustion to reduce emissions, gain carbon credit and continue operations in the future. Given the growing demand for energy all over the world, it is our belief that the demand for biocoal will also grow exponentially.