A shipping container-sized pilot plant that can process a variety of wastes into valuable biofuels will be shipped from Germany to Edmonton thanks to a new future energy research collaboration between the University of Alberta and Germany’s Fraunhofer Society.
The plant, known as Biobattery, uses thermo-catalytic reforming (TCR) technology developed by Fraunhofer bioengineering researcher Andreas Hornung to process a variety of wastes into three valuable products––bio-oil, char and gases––at a rate of 30 kilograms per hour.
A shipping container-sized pilot plant that can process a variety of wastes into valuable biofuels will be shipped from Germany to Edmonton thanks to a new future energy research collaboration between the University of Alberta and Germany’s Fraunhofer Society.
The plant, known as Biobattery, uses thermo-catalytic reforming (TCR) technology developed by Fraunhofer bioengineering researcher Andreas Hornung to process a variety of wastes into three valuable products––bio-oil, char and gases––at a rate of 30 kilograms per hour.
“Depending on the situation, the TCR unit could power itself with one of those products, while we utilize the others,” said Hornung. “With the correct feedstock, it could even produce viable jet fuel.”
The Biobattery project will test a variety of Alberta feedstocks such as municipal, agricultural and forestry waste. Hornung said he has begun testing this technology in Birmingham, UK, but in Alberta the TCR could allow communities to turn local waste products into energy. However, the technology’s practicality would vary across the province.
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Photo via University of Alberta.
