Development of an Efficient Small-scale Distributed Power Generation System Using Gasification of Woody Biomass

Unused woody biomass in Japan is currently available from various sources such as wood chips from sawmills, material left in woodland areas, pruned roadside trees, and builder's waste. Of these, wood chips from sawmills and material left in woodland areas are particularly plentiful, but since they are thinly distributed over extensive mountainous regions, these sources are not utilized effectively. This study is aimed at developing a small-scale (100kW similar to 1MW Class) distributed power generation system that can make effective use of the unused biomass in these mountainous regions more efficiently and economically than before by combining a fluidized bed gasification furnace with a gas turbine. In this paper, we report on the results of bench tests performed with a 20 kW class power generation and on a 150 kW prototype facility that is currently undergoing field test.