ETI seeks partners for new biomass pre-treatment project

The UK's Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is seeking partners for a new biomass pre-treatment project, which intends to improve the feedstock process.

The organisation has called for expressions of interest from organisations that could develop and demonstrate a pre-treatment system incorporating biomass chipping, screening, washing and drying.

After finding a suitable partner, the ETI plans to procure a semi-commercial scale technology demonstration project involving pre-treatment operations.

The project will see at the costs and benefits of applying feedstock enhancement processes to a range of biomass feedstock types.

It also intends to focus the opportunities and challenges involved in any scale-up and commercial deployment of the process.

The ETI said interested parties will need to demonstrate their appropriate skills and competencies and show they have access to the required feedstocks, to a waste site with waste handling approvals and to test facilities.

It also added that the parties will also need to show how they would design, supply, install, commission and test the process and technology over course of the 12-18 month long project.

Biomass and waste wood feedstock

ETI bioenergy programme manager Geraint Evans said: “The ETI believes it has identified an opportunity to accelerate the demonstration of a biomass and waste wood feedstock improvement process.

“We therefore want to identify and understand both the opportunities and challenges involved in scaling up such improvement processes to commercial deployment. 

“The improvement process should be based on a complete system involving screening, comminution, washing, and drying. It is likely that it will involve commercially-viable technologies that have not yet collectively been commercially deployed in the UK in a biomass or wood waste feedstock improvement system environment.”