Norwegian company Arbaflame has signed a letter of intent with the Romanian state to phase out the country’s coal consumption with ArbaCore pellets. The company plans to build a high number of factories in Romania, aiming at contributing to Romania’s green transition. The number is not known yet. “Based on the results of a feasibility study and the potential to obtain sufficient local raw material, Arbaflame will consider investing in several facilities to assist Romania in the transition to green energy. It is too early to say how many facilities it could be”, told Eirik Haugen, VP Business Development of Arbaflame, in an online interview.
However, the partnership implies massive decarbonization, have the Romanian Energy minister Virgil Popescu stated in November 2021 “because we will replace the burnt coal in Paroșeni Power Plant (Valea Jiului region) with sustainably produced pellets with a low rate of CO2 emissions”. Most probably, the success of a first unit might pave the way for others.
Patented technology for local use and export
Arbaflame has been producing its patented ArbaCore pellets since 2010 at full-scale test plant. ArbaOne, located outside of Kongsvinger, Norway, is its first full-scale commercial plant. Built during 2018-2020, the plant has an annual capacity of producing 70,000 tons of ArbaCore, as well as furfural, methane and methanol.
After 10 years of research and over 50 million euros invested, Arbaflame developed ArbaCore, patented technology to enable the production of black pellets derived from bio-waste. Arbaflame describes ArbaCore as the “next generation of wood pellets” and claims they can fully replace coal in coal-fired power plants globally, therefore enabling the long-term use of coal-fired power plants with minimal CO2 emissions “in a quick and cost-efficient switch from coal to a greener fuel source”.
The plan is to have the first plant testing to begin in Romania in 2022, to confirm the feasibility of replacing coal with ArbaCore pellets. In the long run, a factory to produce these pellets in Romania might be constructed in Paroșeni, for the local thermal plant needs.
Arbaflame’s pellets have been tested and verified at 14 energy plants operating in Europe, Japan, the USA and Canada. They proved to be a full-fledged green coal substitute product and can be transported, stored and handled in the same way as coal.
What are the black pellets
Compared to white pellets, advanced wood pellets are often called black pellets due to their appearance after thermal treatment. According to FutureMetrics, black pellet key advantages include the elimination of the need for dry storage and transportation, better grindability, less dust formation during handling and storage, and higher specific energy density. Black pellets generally refer to two distinct technological approaches to developing an advanced wood pellet: torrefaction and steam explosion (SE), a technology used and refined by Arbaflame.
Torrefaction is a form of pyrolysis that results in partial thermal decomposition in the absence of oxygen. Typically, torrefaction is conducted between 200 degrees Celsius and 300 degrees Celsius to remove volatiles from the wood, and the resultant material is then densified into pellets.
The SE method of wood fiber pretreatment involves exposing the material to saturated steam. The steam temperature and pressure, and the time in the reaction vessel, determines how much of the hemicellulose degrades, and what fraction of the feedstock matter gets converted into volatiles and biochemical compounds. The subsequent steam explosion is the rapid release of pressure. This explosive expansion of water in the cell walls of lignocellulosic feedstocks causes a breakdown of the wood fibers into very small particles. The severity of the steam treatment is controlled such that the cellulose and lignin are minimally affected, while the hemicellulose is partially degraded. When compared to white pellets, the resulting material, after densification in a pellet press, has a higher specific energy content (gigajoules per cubic meter (GJ/m3), improved grindability, is hard and produces fewer fines, and its affinity to water is changed from hygroscopic to hydrophobic. The steam explosion process causes the lignin to emerge on the surface of the fine wood fibers in the form of small beads. When the fiber is densified in the pellet press, these beads form a film-like surface coating of the broken-down wood fibers and result in hard, highly water-resistant pellets that produce almost no fines.
What sustainable means
Simply put, sustainable wood means it comes from sustainably managed forests. It is renewable because the forest stewards manage the landscape to prevent damage to eco-systems, taking a long term rather than short term view of the resource. Besides, using sustainable wood instead of coal, for example, vastly reduces CO2 emissions.
“We intend to only use certified wood waste (sawdust) which has a traceable chain of custody and can meet relevant international sustainability standards”, explained Eirik Haugen, VP Business Development of Arbaflame.
The average production capacity of the pellet plants Arbaflame has in mind is 100 to 200 thousand tons of pellets per year. Raw material (sawdust) would be sourced locally in Romania from sawmills in the proximity of the plant(s). Equipment and supplies to operate the plant will be sourced both locally and from abroad, he also said. “Construction will take from 12 to 15 months once started after detailed engineering, and each plant would employ directly 25 to 30 staff”, he added on the impact of Arbaflame planned plant in Romania. “Over the entire value chain significantly more employment is foreseen, as we do not intend to import any of the raw material (sawdust)”, Eirik Haugen said.
It is too early to say what exact equipment or supplies will be sourced locally or from abroad, but Arbaflame official talked about “establishing a certified supply chain of biomass to supply the plants and support the transition from coal to biomass”.
“At Arbaflame we are strong believers in renewable energy”, Eirik Haugen highlighted. “We believe that solar and wind will play a large role. Biomass can plan a vital role in allowing for the transition out of coal without having to significantly invest in new facilities while providing baseload energy which solar and wind cannot”, he concluded.
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This interview first appeared in the printed edition of Energynomics Magazine, issued in March 2022.
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