Technip Energies and BTG Bioliquids complete Swedish pyrolysis plant to produce bio-oil from sawdust
Technology firm Technip Energies together with BTG Bioliquids, have completed a Fast Pyrolysis Bio-oil (FPBO) project for Pyrocell AB in Gävle, Sweden, which successfully started up in September. Pyrocell is a company jointly owned by Setra AB, one of Sweden’s largest wood producers, and Preem AB, the largest fuels producing company in Sweden.
Technip Energies and BTG Bioliquids have an exclusive collaboration agreement, which combines BTG Bioliquids’ FPBO technology with Technip Energies’ Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) capabilities. The FPBO plant produces a renewable, second-generation bio-liquid used as a sustainable alternative for fossil fuels to produce renewable energy and chemicals. The feedstock for this plant is the waste sawdust from the adjacent sawmill of Setra AB. The bio-oil produced in Pyrocell’s plant will partly replace a fossil-based feedstock in the production of transportation fuels.
Pyrocell’s bio-oil production successfully started in September and Pyrocell held an inauguration ceremony to commemorate the start-up of the plant on 7 December, in presence of Technip Energies representatives.
The energy and CO2 stored in the biomass is liquified and densified into bio-oil, which prevents the biomass from emitting greenhouse gas and losing energy, which would occur when biomass decays in a solid state in the open.
A typical FPBO plant, with a production capacity of 24,000 tonnes/year, results in approximately 24,000 tonnes/year fewer CO2 emissions as compared to a comparable fossil fuel plant. A byproduct of the fast pyrolysis process is steam, which can be used in the process to dry biomass, generate green electricity or be exported to an external application like a municipal heat network. The minerals remaining from the process can be returned to nature to prevent soil mineral depletion. The FPBO plant is based on modular design, enabling a shortest site construction planning.
