Black Liquor Gasification Comsequences For Both Industry and Society

Energy 29 (2004) 581612
www.elsevier.com/locate/energy
Black liquor gasicationconsequences for both industry

and society
H. Eriksson, S. Harvey
Heat and Power Technology Group, Department of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Science,
Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Goteborg, Sweden
Received 1 December 2001
Abstract
The pulp and paper industry consumes large quantities of biofuels to satisfy process requirements. Biomass is however a limited resource, to be used as eectively as possible. Modern pulping operations have
excess internal fuels compared to the amounts needed to satisfy process steam demands. The excess fuel
is often used for cogeneration of electric power. If market biofuel availability at a reasonable price is limited, import/export to/from a mill however changes the amount of such biofuel available for alternative
users. This work compares dierent mill powerhouse technologies and CHP plant congurations (including conventional recovery boiler technology and black liquor gasication technology) with respect to
electric power output from a given fuel resource. Dierent process steam demand levels for dierent representative mill types are considered. The comparison accounts for decreased/increased electricity production in an alternative energy system when biofuel is imported/exported to/from the mill. The results
show that black liquor gasication is in all cases considered an attractive powerhouse recovery cycle technology. For moderate values of the marginal electric power generation eciency for biofuel exported to
the reference alternative energy system, excess mill internal biofuel should be used on mill site for gas turbine based CHP power generation. The remaining excess biofuels in market pulp mills should be
exported and used in the reference alternative energy system in this case. For integrated pulp and paper
mills, biofuel should be imported, but only for cogeneration usage (i.e. condensing power units should be
avoided). If biofuel can be used elsewhere for high eciency CHP power generation, mill internal biofuel
should be used exclusively for process heating, and the remainder should be exported.
# 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +4631-7728531; fax: +46-31-821928.

E-mail address: simon.harvey@hpt.chalmers.se (S. Harvey).
0360-5442/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.energy.2003.09.005
582
H. Eriksson, S. Harvey / Energy 29 (2004) 581612
Nomenclature
79
79 bar(a)
110
110 bar(a)
ADt air dried tonne
B
bark import/biofuel
D
dierence
BB
bark boiler
BIG biomass fuel gasication
BLG black liquor gasication
CC
combined cycle gas turbine
CHP combined heat and power
DH
district heating system
DS
dry solids
E
electric power
ECF elementary chlorine free
F
fossil fuel
GT
simple cycle gas turbine
H
heat produced
HP
high pressure
HRSG heat recovery steam generator
IP
intermediate pressure
ISO
International Standard Organisation, Standard air conditions
KAM Ecocyclic Pulp Mill
L
lignin import
LE
lignin export
LHV lower heating value
LLP very low pressure
LP
low pressure
MP
medium pressure
NGCC natural gas combined cycle
NO-GT no power production (heat only)
RB
recovery boiler
STIG steam injected gas turbine
TCF totally chlorine free
g
eciency
Superscript
v
base case (reference) value
Subscripts
biomass biomass fuel
583
DH
district heating
el
electricity
export export
tot
total
marginal marginal
mill
mill
RS
reference system
NG
natural gas
NGCC natural gas combined cycle
1. Introduction
Increased concern for climate change has lead to a variety of initiatives that aim to reduce the
emissions of greenhouse gas emissions. Biofuels are considered CO2 neutral, and as dierent
policy measures aiming to decrease greenhouse gas emissions are implemented, the demand for
biofuels is expected to increase substantially. It is therefore important that usage of such fuels is
as eective as possible. The Swedish pulp and paper industry is a substantial consumer of biomass fuels, including bark, forest logging residues and black liquor. These fuels are used to generate process heat and electric power. According to data presented in [1], the total Swedish pulp
production in 2000 amounted to 11.4 million ADt, of which 7.2 million ADt were chemical
pulp. 3.55 million ADt were sold as market pulp and 3.65 million ADt were used directly for
paper production integrated at the mill site. Fuel and electricity consumption amounted in 2000
to 77.76 TWh, of which 21.46 TWh was electricity corresponding to 40% of the total electricity
usage in the industrial sector. 41.7 TWh of mill fuel usage was based on internal biomass fuels
(i.e. black liquor and falling bark), mainly used for process steam and electricity production.
On-site generation of electric power (3.96 TWh in 2000) accounts for only a small fraction of
the total usage (21.46 TWh).
In a conventional mill powerhouse, black liquor is red in a recovery boiler to produce high
pressure steam which is thereafter expanded in a steam turbine CHP unit. Higher power-to-heat
ratios can be achieved if the black liquor is instead gasied and combusted in a gas turbine
CHP unit. This is particularly relevant for future pulp mills, for which available internal biomass fuels will be more than sucient to satisfy the mills heat demand. The excess biofuel can
therefore be used on-site to generate further amounts of electric power for export, or be
exported directly and used for other applications elsewhere.
Previous system-oriented studies of opportunities for increased electricity production with
black liquor gasication CHP systems have been performed by researchers in most major pulp
producing countries. Work performed in Sweden includes amongst others studies performed by
Berglin [24] and Maunsbach [5]. Refs. [6] and [7] illustrate the extensive work accomplished in
Finland in this area during the 1990s. Refs. [810] illustrate the work accomplished in the area
by North American researchers. All the cited studies include both market pulp mills and integrated pulp and paper mills. The congurations considered often have a low total eciency (e.g.
systems including condensing steam turbines) corresponding to a poor usage of the biofuel
584
resource. Furthermore, these studies do not compare biofuel usage within the mill powerhouse
with other potential uses (e.g. in district heating systems).
This study is a continuation of previous work by the authors [11,12]. The goal is to identify
mill powerhouse recovery cycle technology and CHP plant congurations that maximise the
total electric power generation from a given xed amount of fuel. A number of studies of biofuel availability in Sweden as a function of cost have been published recently; see e.g. ref. [13].
In this work, the availability of biofuel at reasonable costs is assumed to be limited in the
future. This assumptions has been made by a number of authors studying future energy system
options for Sweden, see for example ref. [14]. As a result of this assumption, import of
additional biofuel to the mill is assumed to correspondingly reduce the amount of biofuel available for a reference alternative biofuel user. Conversely, if excess biofuel is exported from the
mill, this biofuel can be used elsewhere. The assumption of limited availability of biofuel in the
long term is clearly politically challenging since this would result in signicant price increases
for biomass and biofuel, which could potentially lead to severe problems for the pulp and paper
industry. Such macro-economic issues are not discussed further in this work. An additional
assumption in this work is that changes in biofuel usage outside the mill as a result of biofuel
import/export to/from the mill aect the electricity production outside the mill. The goal of this
work is to identify ways in which the total electricity production can be maximised, including
production at both the mill site and in the reference alternative energy system. The main focus
is on electricity production based on black liquor gasication mill powerhouse recovery cycle
technology. The study compares the total electricity production related to dierent black liquor
gasication gas turbine CHP congurations with conventional recovery boiler congurations.
Some of the important assumptions made for this study are summarised below:
. Availability of biofuel at a reasonable price is assumed to be limited, therefore increased
import/export to/from the mill is assumed to correspond to decreased/increased usage elsewhere;
. Biofuel usage elsewhere is assumed to follow the same target as biofuel usage at the mill site,
namely high electricity production with high total eciency;
. Biofuel is particularly attractive for low temperature heat load applications (e.g. district heating), because it is a wet fuel and high total eciency values can be achieved if a ue gas condenser unit is used. A district heating system (including CHP units) is therefore retained as
the reference alternative biofuel user for this study;
. The reference alternative biofuel user is assumed to have access to natural gas fuel, whereas
this fuel is not assumed to be available for the mills. This assumption reects Swedish conditions, where natural gas is only currently available on the West Coast. It is possible that
this fuel will become more widely available in the future, particularly in other parts of Southern Sweden. However, it is not likely that natural gas will be available in the more remote
locations typical of pulp and paper mills.
. The mills are assumed to be equipped to handle large quantities of biomass. It is therefore
assumed that they will cover their energy demands exclusively with biofuel;
. Since the focus of the study is on high performance electricity production, it is important to
make assumptions regarding the most likely technology for new grid electric power generation capacity additions. Given that BLG technology is only likely to be commercially mature
585
within 1015 years, high performance natural gas red combined cycle technology (60% electrical eciency) is retained as the reference technology for added grid capacity.
Import and export of fuels to and from mills can occur in many dierent ways. Swedish pulp
mills traditionally select biomass as an import fuel due to the capability to handle large quantities of biomass in the mills and the high taxes on fossil fuel alternatives. Possible import biofuels include bark, sawmill and logging waste and lignin. Biofuel can be exported from the mill
as either bark or lignin. The market for primary forest fuels (i.e. bark, sawmill and logging
waste) is well established. Although it is technically feasible to extract lignin from the black liquor stream [15], large-scale extraction of lignin has not been implemented so far in the pulping
industry. It is however reasonable to assume that a market could be developed for lignin, since
processed lignin has similar properties to bark.
Finally, it should be noted that this study focuses on biomass energy conversion potential,
thus investment costs and other economic aspects are not explicitly taken into account. However, given the assumptions listed above, biofuel usage is primarily focused on CHP, either at
the mill site, or in the reference external energy system. Given that the investment and running
costs for biofuel CHP are to a certain extent comparable for the dierent technologies and congurations considered, not directly considering economic aspects should therefore not severely
bias the results in favour of certain congurations in relation to others.
2. Mill steam and power balances

The steam and power balances for the mill powerhouse congurations considered in this
study were obtained through collaboration with the Ecocyclic Pulp Mill (KAM) research program. The KAM program has so far focused on market pulp mills, and has dened a reference
mill that is assumed to incorporate best available technology for all process components. The
KAM reference mill has been used as a basis for a number of former studies of BLGCC
systems.
The energy consumption for the KAM reference market pulp mill (KAM pulp mill) is about
10 GJ/ADt compared to an average of 15.5 GJ/ADt for todays typical Swedish market pulp
mill [1,16]. The available incoming biofuel (bark and black liquor) is sucient to satisfy the
KAM pulp mills heat and electricity demand. The excess biomass fuel can in this case be used
to generate additional steam for expansion in a condensing steam turbine, thereby generating
surplus electricity for export from the mill. Excess biofuel could also be exported and used elsewhere. Most current Scandinavian pulp mills have a net fuel decit and have to import fuel. A
similar ongoing project aims to identify the key characteristics of an integrated pulp and paper
mill that uses best available technology. There is a large dierence in steam demand between a
pulp mill and a pulp and paper mill. Based on preliminary estimations extrapolated from the
results of the KAM pulp mill project, an integrated pulp and paper mill using best available
technology would have an even higher steam demand (15.8 GJ/ADt pulp) than the current
average Swedish pulp mill [2,12]. An integrated pulp and paper mill has therefore an energy
decit, and is dependent upon fuel import (biomass fuel) to meet its energy demands. To more
thoroughly investigate how the process steam demand aects the total electricity production, a
586
hypothetical future pulp mill with a low process steam demand was also dened. Assuming a
high degree of process integration, the process steam demand for this low-energy mill was set to
8 GJ/ADt, based on a study presented in [17]. Around 75% of the steam savings compared to
the KAM pulp mill are achieved in the black liquor evaporation plant. Since this mill has a
lower process steam demand, more fuel is available for electricity production.
2.1. Steam and power balances for the KAM98 reference pulp mill
The KAM98 reference pulp mill (see ref. [16]) is a sulphate (kraft) pulp mill that uses 70%
round wood and 30% chips from saw mills. The process includes continuous isothermal cooking
and delignication with two oxygen steps. The bleaching process is either totally chlorine free
(TCF) or elementary chlorine free (ECF). The mill produces 1000 ADt of pulp per day. All
available black liquor (1797 tonne DS/day) is red in a conventional recovery boiler, producing
v
steam at 79 bar(a) and 480 C. The black liquor has 80% dry solids content by weight and a
lower heating value of 12.1 MJ/kg DS. In addition, about half of the available falling bark is
red in a bark boiler, and the rest is used as fuel in a lime-kiln. The bark has 45% dry solids
content by weight and a lower heating value of 16 MJ/kg DS. A total of 210 MW of steam is
produced in the recovery boiler (RB) and 12.8 MW is produced in the bark boiler (BB). The
KAM98 mill generates an excess amount of steam, even without the bark boiler. Heat and
mass balances for the KAM98 reference mill have been dened for four dierent operating conditions, namely winter and summer operation with both ECF and TCF bleaching. The steam
demand varies between 108 and 126 MW for the dierent conditions. Powerhouse energy ows
for TCF summer operation are shown in Fig. 1.
2.2. Steam and power balances for the pulp mill congurations considered in this study
The steam and power balances for the dierent mill congurations retained for this study are
as follows:
Fig. 1. Heat and electricity production in the KAM98 reference pulp mill powerhouse (summer operation, TCF
bleaching).
587
. KAM98 pulp mill. The process steam demand corresponds to summer operation with TCF
bleaching: 116 MW (50 MW of 12 bar(a) MP steam and 66 MW of 4.5 bar(a) LP steam). The
electricity consumption in the mill is 29 MWel.
. Future process integrated pulp mills with reduced heat demand. The steam demand is assumed
to be decreased through process integration measures to 8 GJ/ADt compared to 10 GJ/ADt
in the reference KAM98 mill. One way to achieve such a decrease is by using waste heat for
black liquor evaporation, thus reducing the usage of live steam [17,18]. The steam demand
could thereby be reduced to 92 MW (45 MW of MP steam and 47 MW of LP steam). The
electricity consumption (29 MWel) is assumed not to be aected by such measures.
. Integrated pulp and paper mills using best available technology. Heat and electricity requirements for an integrated mill are so far not available from the KAM program. Indicative values were estimated based on the KAM98 reference pulp mill, and adding estimated steam
and power consumption data for a modern ne paper mill. The total steam demand for an
integrated pulp and paper mill was thus estimated at 15.81 GJ/ADt pulp. Further discussion
may be found in [2]. It is however clear that the heat requirements for a paper mill depend
very much on the paper quality being produced, and that calculations should be conducted
for a variety of paper mill types before drawing general conclusions. The mill size was chosen
identical to the KAM98 reference mill size, i.e. a kraft pulp production of 1000 ADt per day,
which corresponds to a paper production of approximately 1300 tonnes per day. For a mill
this size, the total process steam demand is 183 MW (87 MW of MP steam and 96 MW of LP
steam) and the electricity demand is 56 MWel.
3. Pulp mill powerhouse technologies and modelling assumptions

The powerhouse has two tasks to perform, one is to regenerate the cooking chemicals and the
other is to produce process steam and possibly electricity for the mill. This can be carried out in
a Tomlinson recovery boiler system or in a black liquor gasier system. Modelling of the two
systems was based upon the requirement that they be fully interchangeable with respect to the
associated pulp mill process. The two mill powerhouse recovery cycle technologies considered
are described below.
3.1. Conventional recovery boiler technology
The KAM98 reference pulp mill incorporates conventional Tomlinson recovery boiler technology, as depicted in Fig. 2 and described in the Swedish Ecocyclic Pulp Mill (KAM98) project [16]. The black liquor stream is red in a boiler, and used to generate high pressure steam at
v
v
79 bar(a) and 480 C from feed water at 140 C, which is then expanded in a back-pressure
steam turbine to produce both process steam and electricity. The cooking chemicals are recovered in from the bottom of the boiler and mixed with weak washing liquor in the quench, producing green liquor which is then removed for further processing (Fig. 2). If the steam produced
in the recovery boiler is insucient to meet the mills demand, additional steam is produced in a
power boiler, using bark or sawmill residuals as fuel. Recovery boiler technology with advanced
v
steam data (110 bar(a) and 530 C) is also considered in this study. Even the 79 bar(a) and
588
Fig. 2. Flowsheet schematic of a conventional Tomlinson recovery boiler system.

v
480 C steam data considered in the base case is advanced compared to standard practice in
v
many Swedish mills today (60 bar(a) and 440 C).
3.2. Black liquor gasication technology
Black liquor gasication technology results in higher power-to-heat ratios than conventional
recovery boiler technology. Furthermore, a higher degree of utilisation of the biofuel energy
content is achieved since it is possible to produce steam in the gas cooler by condensing a portion of the steam produced by gasication and in the gasier quench zone.
Fig. 3 shows the process layout of a black liquor gasication system, which includes the following operations:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
oxygen-blown, high-temperature (ca 950 C), pressurised (ca 25 bar(a)) entrained ow gasier;
rapid cooling of the product gas ow in a quench vessel;
further cooling of the gas in a waste heat boiler;
cryogenic air separation unit, partly integrated with the gas turbine;
acid gas removal system, with H2S recycle to the gasier;
combustion of the gas in an F class gas turbine, modied for air extraction;
cooling of the gas turbine exhaust in a three-pressure heat recovery steam generator
steam distribution system (including a back-pressure steam turbine).
A more detailed description of the black liquor gasication recovery cycle technology
together with the pertaining modelling assumptions may be found in refs. [4] and [12].
3.3. Gas turbines for black liquor gasication applications
The key focus of this study is on system aspects related to the potential for electric power
generation for a number of dierent conditions. Although the key components for BLGCC that
require further development are the gasier and pertaining gas clean-up equipment, the key
589
Fig. 3. Flowsheet schematic of a black liquor gasication combined cycle powerhouse system.
component for electric power production is the gas turbine. In this work, particular focus was
thus placed on estimating gas turbine performance and how integration of xed sized gas turbine engines with a xed sized mill can aect system performance.
For optimum system performance, it is important to select a gas turbine that is appropriately
sized with respect to the available gasied black liquor stream. The General Electric 6FA engine
was chosen for this study, on the grounds of good size matching for this engine with respect to
the available fuel stream if all black liquor is gasied. Furthermore, signicant experience has
been accumulated with this engine for low heating value fuel applications. The engine has a
v
design pressure ratio of 15:1, a design turbine inlet temperature of 1288 C and a power output
of 70 MWel at ISO rating conditions on natural gas fuel. The engine is slightly oversized with
respect to the available fuel, which implies that it should in principle operate at part-load. Performance modelling of o-design operation for the gas turbine operating on gasied black liquor fuel was based upon the following assumptions:
the gas turbine is assumed to be modied to allow air extraction for the ASU and steam
injection;
gasier air is extracted from the compressor discharge to supply approximately 1/3 of the air
needed in the air separation unit;
v
the combustor exit temperature is de-rated by 20 C to avoid blade cooling problems [19].
590
Furthermore, part-load operation of the gas turbine was modeled assuming the following
operating strategy:
the air inlet ow to the engine is rst reduced using the inlet guide vanes until the air ow to
the compressor is reduced by 20% while maintaining the design ring temperature;
further power reduction is achieved by reducing the engine ring temperature.
The GE 6FA gas turbine discussed previously is too big for some of the powerhouse congurations considered, especially those involving signicant amounts of lignin export from the
mill. To avoid severe part-load operation, smaller gas turbines are used instead. These include
the 43 MWel Alstom GTX100, the 23 MWel GE LM2500 and the 14 MWel GE LM1600, which
have similar turbine inlet temperatures and pressure ratios as the GE 6FA. All of these gas turbines engines are assumed to be suitable for both combined cycle and simple cycle operation.
For the cases where the gas turbine that best matches the available fuel stream is too small, a
fraction of the product gas is used for supplementary ring in the HRSG. In one extreme
powerhouse conguration, the product gas is red in a heat-only boiler (i.e. there is no on-site
cogeneration of electric power) and large quantities of biofuel (bark and lignin) are exported
from the mill.
The gas turbine cycle congurations considered are as follows (all congurations include a
heat recovery steam generator):
Combined cycle (CC), which consists of a gas turbine and a steam turbine for electricity
production;
Simple cycle gas turbine (GT) where only the gas turbine is present and producing
electricity;
Heat-only conguration (NO-GT) without on-site cogeneration of electric power.
3.4. Mill steam system characteristics
The other parts of the mill are modeled as set steam demands. The steam demand is dierentiated into IP (30 bar(a)), MP (12 bar(a)) and LP (4.5 bar(a)) levels, with varying degrees of
condensate return. In the market pulp mills, the condensate return temperatures were set at 124,
v
156 and 188 C for LP, MP and IP condensate, respectively. For the integrated pulp and paper
v
mills, these temperatures were set at 116, 126 and 200 C. Steam is generated in dierent parts
of the power island and fed into the mill steam system. Additional heat is recovered through
generation of very low pressure steam (LLP) at 1.5 bar(a) in the product gas cooling process.
This LLP steam is then mechanically recompressed to LP steam.
If the black liquor recovery boiler or gasication system cannot produce enough process
steam to meet the mills demand, additional process steam must be generated using one of the
technologies described below.
. Bark power boiler: high eciency bubbling uidised bed boiler, as described in [16].
. Biomass gasier: high pressure, air-blown gasier with hot gas clean-up as described in [5]. If
a biomass gasier is used, there is no need for a power boiler as all biomass fuel is gasied.
591
. Lignin and black liquor co-gasier: imported lignin is mixed with the available black liquor
and gasied in the existing black liquor gasier. Since the lignin is extracted from another
mills black liquor, it is reasonable to assume that the lignin gasication can be performed in
this way.
Both the biomass gasier and the power boiler use bark/sawmill residuals as fuel, while the
combined black liquor gasier and lignin gasier uses imported lignin as additional fuel. The
produced high pressure steam has the same pressure as the high pressure steam produced in
the black liquor gasier system.
3.5. Electricity consumption
The electricity consumption for the pulp and paper process (powerhouse internal consumption excluded) is independent of the powerhouse conguration. The powerhouse electricity consumption will however change with the powerhouse conguration. The largest contributor to
the variations in electricity consumption is the ASU compressors, since the dierent powerhouse
congurations have dierent gasier oxygen needs. The change in electricity consumption for
pumping the internal streams in the powerhouse, the LLP to LP heat pump and the H2S recycle
compressor are also accounted for.
3.6. Powerhouse performance estimation tools
The mill powerhouse performance was estimated using the following simulation tools:
. an in-house model for the gasier (see ref. [4]);
. a specialised power cycle simulation software package (GateCycle [20]) that includes gas turbine part-load and o-design simulation capability for gas turbine performance calculations;
. a general chemical process simulation program, HYSYS [21], for all other components of the
plant.
4. System aspects of biomass fuel import and export
As mentioned previously, biofuel is assumed to be a limited renewable fuel resource that
should be used as eciently as possible. It is therefore important to account for the impact on
global electricity production resulting from changed biofuel availability for other potential biomass fuel users as a result of dierent levels of biofuels usage at the mill site. Potential competing users of biofuels include mills with the possibility to export heat to a district heating
network, district heating networks, other industries, CHP plants or manufacturers of processed
biomass fuels (e.g. pellets, pyrolysis oil or methanol). District heating systems are widespread in
Sweden, and are particularly well suited to usage of biofuels given the possibility to achieve high
eciencies through implementation of boiler ue gas condensation. District heating systems
(including CHP capability) are thus retained as the reference alternative user for biofuels in this
study. It is important to note that biofuel transportation to and from the mill infers energy
losses, but these losses are negligible if the biomass can be transported by ship.
592
The focus of this study is to maximize high eciency electricity production from available
biofuel, accounting for both on-site and o-site production. Important assumptions for assessing system aspects are discussed below.
4.1. Availability of biomass and natural gas fuels

Biofuels are available at the mill in the form of bark and black liquor fuels. Excess biofuel
can be exported from the mill to the district heating system in the form of bark or lignin. Biofuel can also be imported to the mill but this will result in a corresponding decrease in biofuel
usage in the district heating system.
Natural gas is currently only available on the west coast of Sweden. In this study, it is
assumed that the natural gas grid is extended and is thus an available fuel option for most
major district heating systems (mostly located in the more densely populated southern part of
Sweden). As discussed previously, it is assumed that natural gas is not an available option for
most pulp mill locations. Natural gas can also be used for electric power generation in high
eciency combined cycle (NGCC) condensing power plants.
4.2. Heat and power production and fuel consumption: assumptions and denitions
The fuel and energy ows for the mill and reference energy systems considered in this study
are shown in Fig. 4. The dierent ows and related assumptions are discussed below:
Fig. 4. Overview of fuel and energy ows for the mill and reference energy systems.
593
. B0mill is the xed amount of internal biomass at the mill site in the form of black liquor and
falling bark;
. B0biomass is the xed biofuel resource that is available primarily as fuel for the district heating
network;
. DBexport is the amount of biofuel that is exported from the mill site. If it is negative, it means
that biofuel is imported to the mill;
. B0biomass DBexport is the total ow of biofuel to the district heating system. For the case where
biofuel is imported to the mill DBexport < 0, the amount of biofuel available for the district
heating system is therefore decreased compared to B0biomass ;
0
. FNG
is the xed amount of natural gas that can be used in the district heating system for
CHP or in the NGCC power plant for electricity production;
0
DHmill is the mill heat consumption that is xed for each of the three mill types, as
. Hmill
dened in Section 2.2. To account for the dierent heat demand in three mill types, the heat
0
and one part that
demand has been divided into two parts, one xed reference level Hmill
varies with mill type DHmill ;
0
DEmill is the net electricity production at the mill powerhouse (i.e. the powerhouse
. Emill
internal electricity consumption is deducted). To show the dierent electricity productions in
the dierent mill powerhouse congurations, the mill electricity production has been divided
0
into two parts, one xed reference level Emill
and one part that varies with powerhouse conguration DEmill ;
0
is the xed heat demand in the district heating system;
. HDH
0
0
is
. EDH DEDH is the electricity production from the district heating system CHP plant. EDH
the reference level of electricity production when no biofuel is exported from the mill to the
district heating system and DEDH accounts for the change in electricity production that relates
to the exported biofuel from the mill site. When fuel is imported to the mill, the electricity
production in the district heating system is reduced, and DEDH is negative;
0
0
DENGCC is the electricity production from the NGCC power plant. ENGCC
is the ref. ENGCC
erence level of electricity production when no biofuel is exported from the mill and DENGCC
accounts for the change in electricity production in the NGCC power plant that relates to the
exported biofuel from the mill site.
Since the goal is to maximise the total electricity production from the system shown in Fig. 4
0
), the goal function for this study is
with a xed amount of fuel (i.e. B0mill B0biomass FNG
dened as:
0
0
0
DEmill EDH
DEDH ENGCC
DENGCC
Goal function Emill
(1)
The base size of the district heating system and the NGCC power plant are not dened. The
district heating system and the NGCC power plant are however assumed to be large enough
that they can accommodate all the assumed changes in fuel ows. The district heating system
and the NGCC power plant may consist of one physical system or several systems within
reasonable transportation distance for the fuel considered. The mill, the DH system and the
NGCC do not necessarily need to be at the same site, since fuel and especially natural gas
are assumed to be easily shifted between dierent users. It is furthermore assumed that the
594
eciencies for the electricity and heat production in the district heating system (including CHP)
and the NGCC power plant are independent of size.
0
DEmill is known for a given powerhouse conThe size of the mill is known, therefore Emill
guration and mill type. Since the size of the district heating system and the NGCC power plant
0
are not dened, the reference electricity production in the district heating system EDH
and the
0
reference electricity production in the NGCC power plant ENGCC are not dened. However,
0
0
knowledge of the absolute value for EDH
and ENGCC
is not important since these values are
constant. The goal function dened in Eq. (1) is therefore maximised if the total electricity production dened in Eq. (2) is also maximised:
0
DEmill DEDH DENGCC
Etot Emill
(2)
The change in electricity production in the district heating system and the NGCC power plant
depends on the amount of biomass that is exported from or imported to the mill. The change in
electricity production in the district heating system and the NGCC power plant DEDH
DENGCC can be expressed according to Eq. (3):
DEDH DENGCC gel;marginal DBexport ;
(3)
where
gel;marginal
DEDH DENGCC
DBexport
(4)
The marginal electricity production eciency in Eq. (4) thus expresses the net total combined
potential for increase in electricity production in the district heating system and NGCC power
plant, associated with a given export of biofuel from the mill. It is important to note that realising this potential requires that the district heating system and NGCC power plant be modied
so as to maximise electric power production from the available fuel streams. Thus, gel,marginal
does not refer to the potential for power increase from existing equipment, but rather the potential for power increase if the plant is rebuilt under given conditions. Dierent scenarios and
resulting values for gel,marginal are discussed in the next section. The total electricity production
in Eq. (2) can be rewritten to include the marginal electricity production eciency, resulting in
the following goal function for this study:
Etot Emill DEDH DENGCC Emill gel;marginal DBexport LHV
(5)
4.3. Detailed discussion of the systems outside the mill that are aected by biofuel export
Since the goal of this study is to maximise the total electricity production from a given fuel
resource, it is assumed that biofuel exported from the mill site to the reference alternative biofuel user is used for increasing electricity production.
The potential for increased electricity production in a district heating system depends essentially on the extent to which CHP has been implemented in this system. Dierent degrees of
CHP implementation in the district heating system and the consequences for electricity production are discussed below.
595
The system outside the mill site includes both natural gas and biomass users delivering heat
to a district heating system and electricity to the power grid. The available production technologies are assumed to be state-of-the-art and include the following (all eciency values are
based upon the fuel lower heating value):
. Biofuel heat-only boilers with ue gas condensation units, gboiler 105%;
. Biofuel CHP based on uidised bed boiler technology with ue gas condensation, and steam
turbine CHP, gel 33%, gtot 105%;
. Natural gas combined cycle CHP, gel 55%, gtot 95%;
. Natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant, gel 60%.
It should be noted that the performance of the alternative energy system is computed based
upon appropriate eciency values. Detailed modelling of the dierent congurations considered
was not performed. Depending on how the alternative energy system is congured, i.e. how this
heat and electricity is produced, a marginal electricity generation eciency can be calculated for
biomass that is exported/imported from/to the mill to/from the alternative energy system. It is
assumed that biofuel exported to the alternative energy system is used for biofuel based CHP in
the district heating plant. Two scenarios are considered, as discussed below.
4.3.1. Scenario I: exported biofuel is used to increase the share of CHP in the reference external
energy system
This scenario is depicted in Fig. 5. The reference system initially includes a biomass heat-only
boiler and a NGCC condensing power plant. CHP is not implemented initially as a result of
limited access to biofuel at a reasonable price. The district heating system is thus assumed willing to purchase bark or lignin exported from the mill. Power generation in the NGCC plant is
assumed to be unaected by the biofuel export from the mill. The district heating plant is
Fig. 5. Fuel ow diagram for the scenario where exported biomass leads to increased biofuel red CHP in a district
heating plant.
596
assumed to be modied to use the biomass in a CHP unit with an electrical eciency of 33%
and a total eciency of 105%. The existing biomass boiler has a boiler eciency of 105%. If one
unit of biofuel is exported from the mill (i.e. DBexport 1) and red in the CHP unit, gel,CHP
(0.33) units of electricity are produced together with gtot;CHP gel;CHP (0.72) units of heat. 0.72
units less heat need to be produced in the heat-only boiler, corresponding to 0.72/gtot,blr (0.686)
units of biofuel. This biofuel is therefore also available for ring in the CHP plant. Further calculations show that balance is achieved when 3.18 units of fuel are red in the CHP plant per
unit of fuel exported from the mill. Under these conditions, the CHP plant produces 1.05 units
of additional electricity. The resulting marginal electrical eciency is therefore 105% for the biomass exported from the mill. The assumed performance data for the biomass CHP plant is representative of modern large-sized biofuel red steam turbine CHP units. Similarly, if biomass
fuel is imported to the mill, the biomass CHP will decrease in size, the biomass boiler will
increase in size and the NGCC unit is unaected. The result will be a 105% decrease in electricity production at the district heating system for each unit of biomass that is imported to the
mills powerhouse.
4.3.2. Scenario II: Exported biofuel leads to increased power generation in a natural gas red
condensing combined cycle
This scenario is depicted in Fig. 6. In this case, it is assumed that CHP capacity is fully
developed in the reference district heating plant, using natural gas red CHP technology.
Increased availability of biofuel can be used to increase the share of biofuel CHP and decrease
the share of natural gas red CHP. Assumed performance data for the CHP plant is that achieved by modern combined cycle cogeneration units, i.e. an electrical eciency of 55% and a
total eciency of 95%. The natural gas no longer need in the CHP plant is assumed to be used
for increasing electricity production in the NGCC power plant. Based on similar calculations to
those presented for Scenario I, the marginal eciency for increased electric power generation
from exported biomass is shown to be 49% in this case. Similarly, if the mill has to import
Fig. 6. Fuel ow diagram for the scenario where exported biomass creates the potential to increase electric power
generation in a condensing natural gas combined cycle power plant.
597
biomass for this scenario, the size of the biomass CHP will decrease, the size of the natural gas
CHP will increase and the size of the NGCC power plant will decrease. This leads to a decrease
in electricity production of 49% for each unit of biomass that is imported to the mill.
It should nally be noted that if all heat production in the reference district heating network
is accomplished in a biofuel CHP unit, increased electricity production from exported biomass
can only be accomplished by ring the biomass in a condensing power plant. In this case, little
to no increase in electric power production can be achieved compared to using the biomass fuel
in a condensing power plant unit at the mill site.
4.3.3. Future biofuel gasication based CHP technology
The biomass CHP technology considered in the reference district heating system is a uidised
bed boiler combined with a steam turbine unit and a ue gas condenser unit. Biomass integrated gasication combined cycle (BIGCC) CHP technology was not directly investigated in
this study. However, considering BIGCC CHP technology instead of steam turbine based CHP
technology, the highest value for the marginal electric power generation eciency gel,marginal
would decrease from 105% to 86% based on eciency values presented in [22] for mature
BIGCC CHP technology gel 45%; gtot 95%. This is because the BIGCC CHP unit cannot
achieve the high total eciencies achieved by the biofuel steam turbine unit. Therefore, the
range of marginal electricity generation eciencies considered in this study covers the case
where BIGCC CHP is available for CHP power generation in the district heating system.
5. Results and discussion

The electric power generation potential was investigated for a large number of possible mill
powerhouse congurations and technologies. In this section, only the most relevant results for
the dierent mill systems are presented. The dierent cases investigated together with the pertaining notations were as follows:
. For the KAM pulp mill:
Recovery boiler with standard steam data (79 bar(a) and 485 C) (RB 79)
v
Recovery boiler with advanced steam data (110 bar(a) and 530 C) (RB 110)
Black liquor gasier/combined cycle, with no fuel import or export (BLG CC)
Black liquor gasier/combined cycle, with lignin export (BLG CC LE)
Black liquor gasier/gas turbine simple cycle, with lignin export (BLG GT LE)
. For the future process integrated pulp mill with reduced heat demand:
Recovery boiler with standard steam data (79 bar(a) and 485 C) (RB 79)
Black liquor gasier/combined cycle, with no fuel import or export (BLG CC)
Black liquor gasier/combined cycle, with lignin export (BLG CC LE)
Black liquor gasier/heat-only boiler, with lignin export (BLG NO-GT LE)
598
. For the integrated pulp and paper mill:
Recovery boiler (standard steam data), bark fuel import (RB 79 B)

Black liquor gasier/combined cycle, bark import (BLG CC B)
Black liquor gasier/biofuel gasier/combined cycle, bark import (BLG/BIG CC B)
Black liquor gasier/combined cycle, lignin import (BLG CC L)
Black liquor gasier/heat-only boiler, with lignin export (BLG NO-GT LE)
It should be noted that gasication of biofuel is only considered as an option for the integrated pulp and paper mill. For both market pulp mill options, on-site biofuel usage is limited
to a bark boiler, as in the KAM reference mill conguration. Since fuel export is seen as the
most attractive option for market pulp mills, the amounts of biofuel combusted in the bark
boiler are relatively small. Gasication of relatively small amounts of biofuel would therefore
not aect the results of this study to any signicant extent.
The results for the dierent mill powerhouse congurations studied are listed in Tables 13.
The tables also list the main characteristics of the dierent mill powerhouse congurations considered. Gas turbine load is dened as the amount of fuel supplied to the engine compared to
the amount necessary to run the engine at full-load. The supplementary ring fraction is dened
as the fraction of clean syngas produced that is used for supplementary ring in the HRSG.
Since the BLG NO-GT LE congurations produce only process steam and consume electricity
to run powerhouse auxiliaries, electricity production at the mill site is negative for these cases.
Finally, it is important to point out that the mill powerhouse congurations (especially those
based upon back liquor gasication) have been modelled in detail, as opposed to the reference
system that was modelled more simply based upon representative values for heat, electrical and
total eciencies.
For the mill powerhouse congurations with conventional recovery boiler technology, it is
assumed that all internal biofuel Bmill is used at the mill site, regardless of the potential for more
eective alternative usage for part of the fuel elsewhere. The RB 79 and RB 110 cases therefore
include condensing steam turbine units for the market pulp mill cases. Import/export of biofuel
to/from the mill was not considered in these cases, which corresponds to current practise in the
pulp and paper industry. For most black liquor gasication congurations considered, import/
export of biofuel to/from the mill is considered, leading to a total electricity production Etot different from the mill site production Emill. As discussed previously, o-site usage of biofuel is
characterised by the marginal electricity generation eciency gel,marginal of the reference alternative energy system. With the exception of the BLG CC case, all BLG CHP congurations are
sized so as to exactly match the mill process steam demand. Excess fuel is assumed to be
exported, or the necessary amount of fuel is imported, as appropriate. Results for the BLG CC
case are presented, for which all mill internal fuel is used on-site. This result can therefore be
directly compared to those of other authors who have studied electric power generation using
black liquor gasication technology without considering system consequences due to limited
availability of biofuel. Finally, results are presented for mill powerhouse congurations that
produce heat only, so as to maximise fuel export.
Mill site steam and power production

Net process steam production (Hmill)
Electricity production
Gas turbine
Steam turbine
Auxilliaries
Net production (Emill)
267.28
267.28
0.00
55.82
3.70
52.12
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
MW
MW
MW
MW
267.28
267.28
0.00
59.79
4.09
55.70
115.56
15.80
18.11
15.80
18.11
115.56
251.68
33.71
15.80
301.19
RB
110
yes
no
no
yes
no
no
N/A
N/A
RB110
251.68
33.71
15.80
301.19
MW
Results for mill site only

Available biofuel at mill site
BL
MW
Bark
MW
Tall oil
MW
Total
MW
Biofuel not used for CHP
Tall oil, sold
MW
Bark to lime kiln
MW
Available biofuel for CHP at mill site
Total (Bmill)
MW
Exported biofuel
Bark
MW
Lignin
MW
Total biofuel consumption for
CHP production at mill site
Total Bmill DBexport
MW
Mill powerhouse conguration characteristics

Chemical recovery technology
RB
HP steam pressure
79
Steam turbine
yes
Gas turbine
no
Bark gasication
no
Bark boiler
yes
Bark import/export
no
Lignin import/export
no
Gas turbine load
N/A
Supplementary ring fraction
N/A
RB79
60.49
24.15
10.18
74.46
115.56
267.50
0.00
0.00
267.50
15.80
17.68
251.68
33.69
15.80
301.17
BLG
79
yes
6FA
no
yes
no
no
93%
0%
BLG CC
36.82
9.30
9.96
36.16
115.56
188.85
17.25
62.83
268.93
15.80
16.44
251.68
33.69
15.80
301.17
BLG
79
yes
GTX 100
no
no
export
export
100%
10%
BLG
CC LE
Table 1
Powerhouse characteristics and energy system performance results for the KAM pulp mill (heat demand: 10 GJ/ADt)
37.41
0.00
9.73
27.68
(continued on next page)
115.56
176.17
17.57
75.51
269.25
15.80
16.13
251.68
33.69
15.80
301.17
BLG
30
no
GTX 100
no
no
export
export
100%
10%
BLG
GT LE

599
Total electricity production

Marginal electrical eciency, ref. sys
Biofuel usage
Available at mill (Bmill)
Exported biofuel from mill
(DBexport)
Biofuel used at mill for CHP
Bmill DBexport
At Mill (Emill)
Contribution from o mill site
(gel,marginal DBexport)
Total (Etot)
Table 1 (continued )
267.28
0.00
267.28
52.12
0.00
52.12
MW
MW
MW
MW
MW
MW
49%
RB79
52.12
52.12
0.00
267.28
267.28
0.00
105%
55.70
55.70
0.00
267.28
267.28
0.00
49%
RB110
55.70
55.70
0.00
267.28
267.28
0.00
105%
74.46
74.46
0.00
267.50
267.50
0.00
49%
BLG CC
74.46
74.46
0.00
267.50
267.50
0.00
105%
75.40
36.16
39.24
188.85
268.93
80.08
49%
BLG
CC LE
120.25
36.16
84.09
188.85
268.93
80.08
105%
73.29
27.68
45.61
176.17
269.25
93.08
49%
BLG
GT LE
125.41
27.68
97.73
176.17
269.25
93.08
105%
600

Gas turbine
Steam turbine
Auxilliaries
92.41
0.00
61.37
3.70
57.67
MW
MW
MW
MW
60.49
29.69
10.18
80.00
92.41
21.12
4.97
9.59
16.50
92.41
135.65
267.50
270.31
18.63
116.03
267.50
267.28
15.80
15.06
251.68
33.69
15.80
301.17
BLG
79
yes
LM2500
no
no
export
export
100%
7%
BLG CC LE
0.00
0.00
15.80
17.88
15.80
18.11
0.00
0.00
at mill site
267.28
251.68
33.69
15.80
301.17
BLG
79
yes
6FA
no
yes
no
no
93%
0%
BLG CC
251.68
33.71
15.80
301.19
RB
79
yes
no
no
yes
no
no
N/A
N/A
MW

BL
MW
Bark
MW
Tall oil
MW
Total
MW
Tall oil, sold
MW
Bark to lime kiln
MW
Total (Bmill)
MW
Exported biofuel
Bark
MW
Lignin
MW
Total biofuel consumption for CHP production
MW

HP steam pressure
Steam turbine
Gas turbine
Bark gasication
Bark boiler
Bark import/export
Gas turbine load
RB79
0.00
0.00
13.93
13.93
92.41
93.15
19.88
158.53
271.56
15.80
13.81
251.68
33.69
15.80
301.17
BLG
30
no
no
no
no
export
export
N/A
100%
BLG NO-GT LE
Table 2
Powerhouse characteristics and energy system performance results for a future process integrated pulp mill with reduced heat demand (8 GJ/
ADt)

601
Biofuel usage
Exported biofuel from mill (DBexport)
Bmill DBexport
At Mill (Emill)
Total (Etot)

267.28
0.00
267.28
57.67
0.00
57.67
MW
MW
MW
MW
MW
MW
49%
RB79
57.67
5.67
0.00
267.28
0.00
267.28
105%
80.00
80.00
0.00
267.50
0.00
267.50
49%
BLG CC
80.00
80.00
0.00
267.50
0.00
267.50
105%
82.49
16.50
65.98
270.31
134.66
135.65
49%
BLG CC LE
157.89
16.50
141.39
270.31
134.66
135.65
105%
173.40
13.93
187.33
13.93
87.42
73.49
271.56
178.41
93.15
105%
271.56
178.41
93.15
49%
BLG NO-GT LE
602
no
yes
import
no
N/A
N/A
Bark gasication
Bark boiler
Bark import/export
Gas turbine load

BL
MW 251.68
Bark
MW 33.71
Tall oil
MW 15.80
Total
MW 301.19
Tall oil, sold
MW 15.80
Bark to lime kiln
MW 18.11
Total (Bmill)
MW 267.28
Exported biofuel
Bark
MW 14.39
Lignin
MW 0.00
Total biofuel consumption for CHP production at mill site
MW 281.66
RB
79
yes
no

HP steam pressure
Steam turbine
Gas turbine
RB 79 B
266.52
0.00
-46.54
267.50
83.33
0.00
350.83
267.50
-54.45
0.00
321.94
313.06
15.80
18.85
15.80
17.88
15.80
17.88
251.68
33.69
15.80
301.17
no
yes
no
import
100%
14%
BLG
79
yes
6FA
BLG CC L
251.68
33.69
15.80
301.17
BLG
79
yes
6FA,
LM1600
yes
no
import
no
100%
4%
BLG/BIG
CC B
251.68
33.69
15.80
301.17
no
yes
import
no
92%
N/A
BLG
79
yes
6FA
BLG CC B
181.70
0.00
87.86
269.56
15.80
15.81
251.68
33.69
15.80
301.17
no
yes
no
export
N/A
100%
BLG
30
no
NO
BLG NOGT LE
Table 3
Powerhouse characteristics and energy system performance results for a reference integrated pulp and paper mill (heat demand: 15.8 GJ/ADt)

603
Biofuel usage
Exported biofuel from mill (DBexport)
Bmill DBexport
At Mill (Emill)
Total (Etot)


Gas turbine
Steam turbine
Auxilliaries
105%
39.47
70.90
15.11 26.68
24.37
MW 39.47
MW 7.05
MW 32.42
44.23
267.28 267.50
14.39 54.45
281.66 321.94
MW 267.28
MW 14.39
MW 281.66
49%
49%
60.26
21.00
10.36
70.90
MW
MW
MW
MW
0.00
43.22
3.74
39.47
182.97
49%
91.77
20.08
15.90
95.95
182.97
13.74
55.12
70.90
95.95
57.17 40.83
49%
65.47
21.16
10.26
76.38
182.97
BLG CC L
8.45
53.57
95.95
76.38
87.50 22.80
267.50 266.52
83.33 46.54
350.83 313.06
105%
BLG/BIG
CC B
267.50 267.50
54.45 83.33
321.94 350.83
105%
BLG CC B
MW 182.96
RB 79 B
27.51
29.26
78.46
13.79
92.25
76.38
13.79
48.87 43.05
105%
269.56
87.86
181.70
49%
266.52 269.65
46.54 87.86
313.06 181.70
105%
0.00
0.00
13.79
13.79
182.97
BLG NOGT LE
604
605
The KAM pulp mill and the future pulp mill with a reduced heat demand (process integrated
mill) have a net surplus of biomass fuel at the mill site. If this surplus fuel is used on-site, there
is no import or export of biomass. If the biomass fuel export gures in Tables 1 and 2 are negative, biomass fuel is imported to the mill.
As discussed previously, the GE 6FA gas turbine is too big for some of the powerhouse congurations considered, especially those involving signicant amounts of lignin export from the
mill. To avoid severe part-load operation, smaller gas turbines are used instead. These include
the 43 MWel Alstom GTX100, the 23 MWel GE LM2500 and the 14 MWel GE LM1600, which
have similar turbine inlet temperatures and pressure ratios to the GE 6FA. For example, the
smaller Alstom GTX100 engine was selected for the BLG CC LE and BLG GT LE cases in the
KAM pulp mill to avoid severe part-load operation (a GE 6FA engine would have operated at
around 55% load for these cases).
If large amounts of biofuel are to be exported from the mill, signicant quantities of lignin
must be extracted from the black liquor. For example, exporting 178 MW of biofuel for the
BLG NO-GT LE case considered for the process integrated pulp mill with reduced heat demand
would require extracting approximately 65% of the lignin content of the black liquor. The
remaining black liquor has a low heating value, which may lead to combustion problems in a
conventional recovery boiler. The gasication reactor is however oxygen-blown, resulting in a
syngas that has a heating value that is suciently high for usage as boiler fuel (3.7 MJ/kg
(LHV)).
As discussed previously, an integrated pulp and paper mill using best available technology
must import fuel in order to cogenerate both heat and electricity in the mill powerhouse. This
can be seen in the negative biomass fuel export gures in Table 3.
5.1. Total combined electricity production at the mill site, the reference district heating CHP plant
and the NGCC power plant
In this section, the total electricity production (Etot) results presented in Tables 13 and in
Figs. 79 are discussed.
5.1.1. Results for market pulp mills
The results show that if the marginal electrical eciency is high (105%) for the reference alternative biofuel user, the highest total electricity production is achieved by powerhouse congurations that export large amounts of biofuel from the mill. For example, for the process
integrated pulp mill, the BLG CC LE conguration achieves a total electricity production of
158 MWel assuming a marginal electricity eciency of 105% for the 135 MW of exported biofuel. This can be compared to the BLG CC conguration for the same mill-type, that does not
export any fuel at all, and achieves a total electricity production of 80 MWel (including power
generated in a condensing steam turbine unit). Therefore, when the 135 MW of excess biofuel
that could potentially be exported are used instead on site to increase electric power generation,
63.5 MWel of additional power are produced, corresponding to a marginal mill electric power
generation of 47% for this case.
The powerhouse conguration that has the highest total electricity production for the process
integrated pulp mill is the BLG NO-GT LE conguration. On-site biofuel usage is restricted to
606
Fig. 7. Total electricity production potential for dierent pulp mill powerhouse congurations (results presented for
the KAM pulp). The two dierent colours on the bars represent dierent marginal eciencies for the biofuel used o
mill site.
Fig. 8. Total electricity production potential for dierent pulp mill powerhouse congurations (results presented for a
future process integrated pulp mill with reduced heat demand). The two dierent colours on the bars represent dierent marginal eciencies for the biofuel used o mill site.
Fig. 9. Total electricity production potential for dierent mill powerhouse congurations for a reference integrated
pulp and paper mill. The two dierent colours on the bars represent dierent marginal eciencies for the biofuel used
o mill site.
607
production of mill process steam, and the remaining biofuel (178 MW) is exported to the alternative biofuel energy system, where it can be used to achieve a total electric power production
of up to 173 MWel when the marginal electrical eciency is 105%. It should be noted that the
BLG NO-GT LE conguration would also result in the highest total electricity production for
the KAM pulp mill. This case was however not included in this study and specic results are
therefore not available.
Conversely, if the marginal electricity generation eciency for exported biofuel is low, powerhouse technologies that consume larger quantities of fuel at the mill site become more favourable. This can be seen for example by comparing the BLG CC LE conguration with the BLG
CC conguration for the process integrated pulp mill. If the marginal electrical eciency for
exported biofuel is 49%, the BLG CC LE has a total electricity production of 82.5 MWel compared to 80 MWel for the BLG CC. In this case, the on-site electricity production for the BLG
CC LE amounts to only 16.5 MW. The remaining 66 MW of electricity are produced in the reference alternative energy system from the 135 MW of exported biofuel. In this case, it is clear
that the gain in total electricity production is essentially insignicant in comparison to the eort
required to extract and transport the excess biofuel.
When gel,marginal for electric power generation from exported biofuel to the alternative energy
system is low, the following analysis can be performed to determine if excess biofuel should be
used at the mill site for electricity production or exported and used elsewhere. First, the marginal electricity generation eciency from excess biofuel is computed for the mill site. This marginal eciency is then compared with the marginal electrical eciency for exported fuel in the
alternative energy system. Dening an appropriate value for the marginal electrical eciency for
usage of excess biofuel at the mill site is not simple. This is because the fuel is in many cases
used in a number of dierent operations at the mill site (e.g. bark boiler and black liquor gasication gas turbine CHP plant). The marginal eciency can in theory only be dened for a given
usage of a given fuel. An indicative value can however often be obtained by comparing the millsite electric power outputs and fuel consumption of two dierent powerhouse congurations.
When the indicative mill-site marginal electric power generation eciency for excess biofuel has
been determined, this can be compared to the marginal eciency value for o-site power generation. Conclusions can then be drawn as to which usage of excess biofuel leads to the highest
total electricity production. This can be illustrated by the following example assuming a 49%
marginal eciency for exported biofuel. The process integrated pulp mill uses 93 MW of fuel in
order to cover its heat demand only (BLG NO-GT LE case). To cogenerate 30.5 MWel
(16.5(14)) of electricity, an additional 42.5 MW of biofuel is needed (the BLG CC LE case
compared to the BLG NO-GT LE case), resulting in a marginal electrical eciency of 72%.
This can be compared with the 49% marginal eciency that can be achieved if this part of the
excess fuel is exported. This higher marginal electrical eciency is achieved because the electricity is produced using the mills heat load for ecient CHP production. If more electricity is
generated at the mill, it is necessary to partially implement condensing power generation operation, leading to lower eciency. So by comparing the BLG CC case with the BLG NO-GT LE
case, it is possible to produce 94 MWel (30.5 MWel from CHP and 63.5 MWel from condensing
power) using 178 MW of extra biofuel resulting in a marginal electrical eciency of 54%. However, the 63.5 MWel of condensing power produced using an additional 135 MW of biofuel
compared to the BLG CC LE case will only result in a marginal electrical eciency of 47%
608
which is lower than the marginal electrical eciency for exported fuel in the alternative energy
system. Hence it is theoretically better to export 135 MW of biofuel than to use it at the mill
site for electricity production in order to achieve a higher total electricity production (82.5
MWel).
The results presented in Tables 1 and 2 can also be used to analyse the implications for electricity production potential when the process steam demand at the mill is reduced. As expected,
if all mill internal biofuel is used for on-site electricity generation, more electricity can be produced. For example, the BLG CC powerhouse conguration (that does not export biofuel) produces 74.5 MWel in the KAM pulp mill, compared to 80 MWel in the process integrated pulp
mill, i.e. a gain of 5.5 MWel. If excess biofuel is exported, a reduced mill heat demand increases
the amount of excess fuel available for export. Considering the BLG CC LE conguration, the
gain in total electricity production is shown to be 7.1 MWel for gel,marginal equal to 49% and 37.6
MWel for gel,marginal equal to 105%.
The powerhouse conguration that has the highest total electricity production for the process
integrated pulp mill is the BLG NO-GT LE conguration. On-site biofuel usage is restricted to
production of mill process steam, and the remaining biofuel (178 MW) is exported to the alternative biofuel energy system, where it can be used to produce up to 173 MWel when the marginal electrical eciency is 105%. It should be noted that the BLG NO-GT LE conguration
would also result in the highest total electricity production for the KAM pulp mill. This case
was however not included in this study and specic results are therefore not available.
To summarise the results for the market pulp mills with a net excess of mill internal biofuel,
total electricity production can substantially be increased by exporting excess biofuel from the
mill to the alternative biofuel user when gel,marginal is equal to 105% and biofuel usage at the mill
site is restricted to production of process steam. When gel,marginal is close to 50% or lower, biofuel export is not advantageous, and high total electricity production gures are achieved by a
black liquor gasication combined cycle conguration, with or without a condensing steam turbine unit.
5.1.2. Results for integrated pulp and paper mills
For integrated pulp and paper mills (results shown in Table 3 and Fig. 9), the results show
that if gel,marginal is high for alternative usage of biofuel, import of biofuel to the mill for CHP
should be as low as possible. Cogeneration of electric power at the mill site should in fact be
avoided, as for the market pulp mills, and fuel usage should be restricted to production of mill
process steam. In this case gel;marginal 105%, the BLG NO-GT LE powerhouse conguration
that exports 88 MW of biofuel and achieves a total electricity production of 78.5 MWel clearly
outperforms the other cases by 200%. If the powerhouse at the mill has to produce both electricity and heat, then the BLG CHP congurations with biofuel import will not perform better
than the RB congurations. This can be seen for the conventional recovery boiler conguration
(24.4 MWel total electricity production with 14 MW of imported biofuel) that performs better
than most of the BLG systems with imported biomass. Only the BLG CC L system performs
better (27.5 MWel total electricity production with 46.5 MW imported biofuel). The BLG/
BIG CC B conguration performs least well of all (83 MW biofuel import, 8 MWel electricity
production).
609
When the marginal electric power generation eciency for alternative o-site usage of biofuel
is low, it is possible to determine the mill-site marginal electrical eciency for the integrated
pulp and paper mills, as performed previously for the process integrated pulp mill. In this case,
it is important to account for the decrease in electricity production outside the mill due to the
import of biofuel. For example, the BLG CC L case produces 90 MWel more electricity than
the BLG NO-GT LE case using 131 MW more biofuel gel;marginal 69% not accounting for
the decrease in electricity production outside the mill because of the 46.5 MW of imported fuel.
When a marginal electrical eciency of 49% is assumed for the imported biofuel, the total electricity production will decrease from by 23 to 67 MWel. It is nevertheless favourable to import
the 46.5 MW of biofuel to the mill, since it is used with a marginal electrical eciency (69%)
that is higher than 49%. Assume that the BLG/BIG CC B technology which imports more biofuel than the BLG CC L technology was chosen instead. Using 38 MW more biofuel, 20 MWel
more electricity can be produced, leading to gel;marginal 52% compared to the BLG CC L case,
which is higher than 49% and hence it is favourable to use that technology. It should however
be mentioned that compared to the BLG NO-GT LE case, 110 MWe more electricity is produced with gel;marginal 65% which is lower than the 69% achieved for the BLG CC L case.
Using the same reasoning for an o-site marginal electrical eciency of 105% leads to the conclusion that no electricity should be produced at the mill (69% < 105%) and that only heat
should be produced at the mill site, exporting 88 MW of biofuel.
5.2. Electricity production at the mill site

Black liquor gasication is only likely to be commercially mature within 1015 years. Current
availability of biofuel at a reasonable price is essentially unlimited in most Swedish biofuel markets. In the future, when black liquor gasication technology is likely to become mature, it is
reasonable to assume that demand for biofuels will be signicantly stronger than today, and
that availability of biofuel at a reasonable price will be limited. Despite this outlook, many studies presenting electric power generation potential in the pulp and paper industry with black liquor gasication do not account for alternative uses of biofuels. In this section, the electric
power production at the mill site (Emill) is compared with the total electricity production (Etot)
with a view to illustrating the major dierences that can result.
If alternative biofuel usage is not considered, excess biofuel in market pulp mills is clearly
used for increased on-site power generation involving condensing steam turbine units, corresponding to a low eciency usage of the biofuel, which was not the aim of this study. For integrated pulp and paper mills, it is necessary to import biofuel to operate a CHP plant that is
sized to cover the full mill heat demand. Dierent mill powerhouse congurations furthermore
require dierent amounts of imported biofuel, which makes comparisons dicult. High on-site
electric power output can be achieved by importing large amounts of biofuel and running condensing steam turbine units. In this section, the discussion is therefore limited to market pulp
mills, for which the amount of mill internal biofuel is constant, and for which it is assumed that
additional biofuel is not imported to the mill.
For market pulp mills, excess internal mill fuel can only be used for on-site power generation
if alternative usage is not considered. In this case, the results show for example that the
610
potential for increasing on-site electric power generation by implementing black liquor gasication technology instead of advanced recovery boiler technology is large. For the process integrated pulp mill, the BLG CC powerhouse conguration is shown to produce 22 MWel more
electricity than a conventional RB powerhouse. If alternative usage for biofuel is now considered, very dierent conclusions may be drawn. In the most extreme case (i.e. BLG NO-GT
LE conguration with a marginal eciency for alternative biofuel usage of 105%), the increase
in total electric power production compared to a conventional recovery boiler conguration
where all mill internal fuel is used at the mill site is 116 MWel, i.e. 94 MWel more than when
alternative biofuel usage is not considered!
This section is included to show what happens when dierent amounts of fuel are used, and a
comparison is made of the electricity production. If the analysis is restricted to electricity production at the mill site only for the integrated pulp and paper mill, the highest on-site electricity
production is achieved by the BLG/BIG CC B conguration (96 MWel) not taking into account
the decrease in electricity production outside the mill because of the imported biofuel. The lowest on-site power production is achieved by the RB 79 B conguration (39.5 MWel), as seen in
Table 3. This is expected, since this BLG powerhouse conguration has the highest fuel consumption and only the mill site is included for energy performance assessment. These results
should be compared to 8 MWel for the BLG/BIG CC B conguration and 24 MWel for the
RB 79 B conguration, if the decrease in total electricity production is included with
gel;marginal 105%.
6. Conclusions
In this study, the performance of dierent black liquor recovery powerhouse systems were
examined. The objective of the study was to identify mill powerhouse congurations that maximise the total electric power production whilst satisfying the mills process heat demand and
taking into account the eects that export or import of biofuel has on the electricity production
from alternative biofuel users outside the mill. In this study, we assumed that exported biofuel
could be used in an alternative energy system consisting of a district heating network and a
natural gas combined cycle power plant. Dierent marginal electric power generation eciencies
for exported biofuel were considered, namely 49% and 105%. Similarly, when biofuel was
imported to the mill, the decrease in o-site electric power generation potential due to reduced
availability of biofuel was considered.
The results can be summarised as follows:
. Black liquor gasication technology performs better than conventional and advanced recovery boiler technology in all cases considered;
. For both market pulp mills and integrated pulp and paper mills, excess biomass fuel export is
the best way to achieve high total electricity production if the marginal electricity generation
eciency for the exported fuel is higher than that for on site usage (~50% for condensing
power generation). This is the case if biofuel exported from the mill can be used to increase
the degree of CHP in a district heating system. Biofuel usage at the mill site should then be
restricted to the amount necessary to satisfy the mills heat load, i.e. CHP should be avoided.
611
For the process integrated market pulp mill for example, 178.4 MW of biofuel can be
exported and used to cogenerate 173 MWel o-site in district heating CHP plant, assuming a
marginal electrical eciency value of 105% for biofuel usage in the district heating plant. If
all fuel is instead used on-site (which would include condensing power generation) at most 80
MWel can be produced with the BLG CC technology.
. For market pulp mills, all internal mill biofuel should be used to fuel a black liquor gasication combined cycle if the marginal electricity generation eciency for exported biofuel is
lower than that for on-site usage (~50%). This is the case for example if CHP is fully built out
in the reference district heating system, based on natural gas fuel. Exported biofuel can be
used to partly replace natural gas red CHP with biofuel CHP, and the natural gas no longer
needed for CHP in the district heating plant can be used for electric power generation in a
natural gas combined cycle condensing power plant instead.
. For the integrated pulp and paper mills, fuel can be imported to the mill for use in a black
liquor gasication CHP powerhouse conguration, provided that the incremental marginal
electric power generation eciency for each additional unit of imported fuel is higher than
that achieved by the alternative energy system. Since the marginal electrical eciency is
between 60% and 70% for the black liquor gasication based CHP powerhouses compared to
heat-only powerhouse congurations, biofuel should be imported if gel;marginal 49% for the
alternative energy system (the highest total electricity production that can be achieved is in
this case equal to 55 MWel for the BLG/BIG CC B case).
These conclusions are clearly only valid for the conditions assumed in this study. The district
heating system chosen in this study for alternative usage of biofuel was chosen as relevant for a
future situation in Sweden, but in other countries with other resources and dierent energy policies, a totally dierent alternative biofuel user may well be more relevant. It is important to
point out for example that the results of this study are in part due to the assumption that an
alternative use for biomass is combustion in a district heating system with a very high eciency
(due mainly to ue gas condensation that is possible given the low temperature level of the district heating heat demand).
Finally, it is important to note that this study was restricted to energy aspects of fuel usage.
In practise, economic aspects will play an important role in determining the choice of technology conguration. New energy policies (e.g. joint implementation measures as provided for
in the Kyoto protocol or trading of renewable electricity certicates [23]) can also encourage
interaction between dierent biofuel users with an aim to share costs and prots from investments made to increase the total electricity production from available biomass fuel resources.
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the Swedish National Energy Administration as a part of the
Bioenergy Systems research program.
612
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[3] Berglin N, Persson L, Berntsson T. Energy system options with black liquor gasication. Pulp and Paper Canada
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Energy 29 (2004) 581612

Black liquor gasicationconsequences for both industry

Corresponding author. Tel.: +4631-7728531; fax: +46-31-821928.

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2. Mill steam and power balances

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3. Pulp mill powerhouse technologies and modelling assumptions

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Fig. 2. Flowsheet schematic of a conventional Tomlinson recovery boiler system.

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4.1. Availability of biomass and natural gas fuels

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5. Results and discussion

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. For the integrated pulp and paper mill:

Recovery boiler (standard steam data), bark fuel import (RB 79 B)

Mill site steam and power production

Results for mill site only

Mill powerhouse conguration characteristics

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Total electricity production

Mill site steam and power production

Results for mill site only

Mill powerhouse conguration characteristics

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Total electricity production

Results for mill site only

Mill powerhouse conguration characteristics

(continued on next page)

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Total electricity production

Mill site steam and power production

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5.2. Electricity production at the mill site

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